From the Workshop

Practical security advice, pricing guides and product know-how — written by the people who manufacture and install every day.

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Guides & Advice

Product guides

Steel balustrade and staircase design guide

How to plan balustrades, handrails and steel staircases with Robo Door: separating the three scopes, choosing infill and material, measuring, compliance and warranty.

Cost and pricing

Burglar bar prices in South Africa: what determines your quote

Burglar bar prices in South Africa in 2026: Robo Door's R1,000 anchor, the six cost drivers, product lines with their warranties, and how to compare quotations.

Product guides

Welded vs fixture-fitted burglar bars: which to specify where

How to choose between Robo Door's fixture-fitted burglar bars and welded burglar bars by window frame, appearance, warranty and fixing method.

Production floor at the Robo Door factory in Alrode

Installation and setup

Buying Robo Door products outside South Africa

Who measures and installs Robo Door products in each of the 12 countries, where they are made, how buying through a distributor works, payment terms by market and supply-only.

Prepared steel sections at the Robo Door factory in Alrode

Cost and pricing

How to compare security gate quotes like for like

A ten-line checklist for comparing security gate, trellis door and burglar bar quotes, the five finish tiers and their paint warranties, and how a Robo Door quotation answers each line.

Robo Door DuPlus Trellis Door, the kind of retractable barrier fitted inside a sliding patio door

Home and business safety

How to secure sliding doors: six options ranked

How to secure a sliding patio door: six options ranked by what they stop, how a trellis door works on a slider, which Robo Door trellis line to choose, and keeping an escape route.

Installation and setup

DIY installation guide: fitting Robo Door supply-only products

A practical guide to fitting Robo Door supply-only products yourself: the Robo Clear polycarbonate kit, fixture-fitted burglar bars, welded bars, trellis doors and hinged burglar doors, with tools, step-by-step checks, the products to leave to a contractor, and the installation faults that void the warranty.

Product guides

Slam lock or deadlock? Choosing the lock on a security gate

How to choose the lock on a security gate or trellis door: what a slam lock and a deadlock each do, where each suits, multi-point locking on wide leaves, keys and escape routes, and why Robo Door states the lock type and number of locking points on every quotation.

Installation and setup

How security gates are measured and fitted: what happens on site

What happens at a Robo Door site visit and on installation day: what is measured on doors, sliders, windows and driveways, how each product is fitted, the installation faults the Terms and Conditions exclude from warranty, and what the customer should check at handover.

Cost and pricing

Is a cheap security gate worth it? What the low price usually leaves out

How to tell a cheap security gate that is good value from one that will cost more within two years: the lines a low quotation usually leaves out, what Robo Door's Econo range is and is not, and when spending more on Deluxe, aluminium or galvanised steel pays back.

Product guides

Sliding, swing or retractable: which gate mechanism fits your entrance?

A decision guide to gate mechanisms: sliding driveway gates for entrances with side run, swing gates for level entrances with arc space, the sliding-and-turning gate for constrained sites, and retractable trellis doors for pedestrian openings, with Robo Door's products, automation notes and warranties.

Installation and setup

Installation or supply-only: which Robo Door option suits you?

Supply-only is available in all 12 markets; installation by our own teams in South Africa and Zambia. What each option includes, which products are practical to fit yourself, how supply-only measuring works, and how the choice affects the manufacturing, paint and Break-In Repair warranties.