Keeping Your Balcony Garden Safe This Summer

With schools about to break up for the summer holidays, there will be plenty of children ready to enjoy their time off. Hopefully, the weather will be warm and they’ll want to spend time outdoors. If you have a balcony or a raised decking area, then it’s important that you make it safe for children to play on.

Whatever age your children are, there can still be dangers around if you don’t take the right precautions. It doesn’t take long to make sure that your balcony is child-proof, and it could end up saving a life or limiting the impact of an injury. Once your balcony is safe, it will provide you with additional peace of mind and allow you to make the most of the summer months.

Secure the Doors and Windows

The first job is to make sure that children can’t get outside without checking with an adult first. The main access door should have a secure lock and any keys need to be kept away from the door or high up so that children can’t reach. If you have any inside locks on the doors, these should be positioned at a suitable height to stop children opening them. Windows that provide access to the balcony also need to be secured. You can either ensure that they only open a certain amount or fit child-proof devices to them.

Keep Items Locked Away

If you enjoy gardening, then you will undoubtedly have some tools and chemical products that need storing. These can pose a danger even to older children if they were to be left lying around. You need to have a secure storage area for these items and ensure that they are always tidied away when you’ve finished with them. This area should be somewhere that your children can't access.

Safety of Railings

However old your children are, you should check the balcony railings regularly for signs of wear and tear, lose sections or areas of rust. When you’re choosing a design for your balustrade steel railings are a safe and low-maintenance choice. All railings should be a maximum of four inches apart, as should the space from the bottom rail to the floor. Most new balconies will conform to this, but if there is too much space you can fill it in with netting.

Don’t Place Items at the Edge

Even if the overall structure of the balcony is safe and secure, you can make it dangerous simply by positioning items in the wrong place. You need to ensure that there are no pots, chairs or other items that children can climb on by the side of the railings. These can be used to climb over the balustrade steel railings or other access point. Also check that any pots are stable and can’t be pulled over easily.

Balconies are there to be enjoyed. By taking a few moments to check all the safety angles, you’ll be able to have a more pleasurable summer.