Strength and Beauty of HULK proportions

Schalk Burger

Rugby icon Schalk Burger shares how Blockhouse Shutters have improved the beauty and enhanced the security of his Cape Town home. A truly South African product for a true South African legend.

You’ve recently returned from the UK where you lived in a small town just outside of London. How did your security needs differ to that of South Africa, particularly in your cape town home?

Well, obviously there are big differences. London is not a place where one can just leave your doors unlocked and windows standing wide open. Whereas when we lived in Japan a few years prior, you can indeed leave your house unlocked.

Cape Town homes need layers of security - you’ve got walls, electric fencing, beams, burglar bars and shutters. In the UK you do not need all of those layers, you can simply lock your house when you go out, and perhaps activate an alarm at most. I suppose a big thing being back in SA is that we have to be more vigilant. Luckily, growing up in SA it’s not a dramatic lifestyle change for my family and I.

How did you hear about Blockhouse Shutters?

My wife is often left at home alone when I travel for work, and being an interior designer, and very artistic, she was looking for something stylish and beautiful that can serve as a security barrier, and that’s how we discovered Blockhouse Shutters.

What were the boxes you needed to tick when choosing a shutter supplier?

Absolutely we had a few boxes to tick. We needed something that suited our home’s interior and exterior style. Security was also very important to me. Being married to a creative, it’s tricky to match both form and function, but Blockhouse Shutters is a great product, offering the best of both worlds. Both beauty and security.

What were your colour requirements?

Blockhouse Shutters offers five standard colours but we were only looking at white shutters. Our home is light and decorated in a natural colour scheme so the white was the obvious choice.

Which window openings in your home required shutters?

We were looking for a shutter solution for the kids bedroom, and also the guest room where doors lead from the room out onto the patio. We also needed shutters for the bay window in our open plan living area, specifically in the dining room. Our home is an old Victorian house with large bay windows, and the shutters are a much more attractive solution than old-fashioned burglar bars.

Tell us about the ‘before’. What were your security measures previously in place in the bay window and spare bedroom?

Well, it was pretty much a security gate in the guest bedroom, and we had large steel burglar bars over the bay windows. Both did the job security-wise but unfortunately not the most aesthetically pleasing. Whereas a solution like Blockhouse Shutters adds to the character, style and decor of our home. It is awesome having the bay window louvres that can now open up plus add the security needed on top of that.

What was your overall customer experience like?

Really good. My wife was very involved throughout the process and managed the installation on our side. Customer service was superb, really seamless, and the lead-time wasn’t long at all. We were both very impressed overall.

Elaborate on how the shutters were customised for your home?

We dealt with a difficult bay window design, where we have a large double window in the centre, flanked by two side windows. This required customised design by the Blockhouse Shutters team. We were also after a set up whereby louvres are able to close on the bottom half and keep the top open, in order to create privacy from neighbours.

How is your experience with regards to operating the shutters?

The mechanism is easy and smooth to operate. We know from a few years back where we had shutters in a previous home, that they can be a hassle to operate. But with the Blockhouse Shutters it has been effortless to open and close. I also find the one-key one-lock very convenient, so we are able to use one master key for all the Blockhouse Shutters throughout the home.

Would you recommend Blockhouse Shutters to friends and family?

Absolutely, we have a fair amount of shutters in the home now which soften feature windows. Friends always comment on how the shutters compliment the Victorian cottage-style feel of the house and we are already recommending Blockhouse Shutters to those closest to us.

Any plans for future installations in your home? Would you consider installation of Blockhouse Shutters in the future?

Well, I will definitely consider it. Anything and everything which revolves around decor and design of our home is my wife’s department and she is a huge fan of Blockhouse Shutters. She loves the look and feel they create throughout the home and from my side, security is of course the number one priority. We have a few small windows which still require some form of security or window dressing, and shutters would suit the space very well.