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Cairns, QLD

Security Doors in Yorkeys Knob

Made to measure security screens and doors for a suburb with open surf on one side and a working marina basin on the other.

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Yorkeys Knob has salt water on two sides of the same locality: Yorkeys Knob Beach and Sims Esplanade facing the Coral Sea, and a 197 berth marina at Buckley Street run by the Yorkeys Knob Boating Club. The stainless steel industry's own guidance treats a surf beach and still marine water as two separate exposures rather than one, which changes what a security screen here should be made from. Cairns Security Doors makes doors and window screens to measure for Yorkeys Knob houses, townhouses and units, in 316 marine grade stainless mesh, perforated aluminium, diamond grille and colonial casting, and repairs existing doors and sliding screens on site. Ask us for a measure.

Two storey modern home with security screens enclosing the poolside patio

Two questions decide a security screen in this suburb, and neither of them is about the door. The first is which salt water the opening faces, because Yorkeys Knob has a surf beach on the seaward side and a working marina basin at Buckley Street inside the locality. The second is what kind of dwelling it is: only 36.9 percent of homes here are separate houses, with 37.4 percent semi-detached or townhouses and 23.9 percent flats. Answer those two and the product choice mostly answers itself.

Why security doors matters in Yorkeys Knob

The stainless steel industry publishes two coastal distances, not one. The Australian Stainless Steel Development Association's guidance on tea staining says the problem is most likely up to five kilometres from a surf beach and one kilometre from still marine waters, and that it becomes progressively worse the closer you are to the marine source. The association is careful to add that there is no hard and fast rule, because wind and weather do a lot of the work, and that the effect is much less severe around sheltered bays.

Both of those descriptions apply inside the one suburb boundary here. Yorkeys Knob Beach and Sims Esplanade face the Coral Sea on the seaward side, and a marina of 197 berths with a fuelling wharf, a dry store and a haulage service sits at Buckley Street on the other. That is a permanent second body of salt water inside the locality rather than a view of one, and it decides which of the association's two descriptions a given street belongs to.

That is a materials question before it is a product question. The association recommends grade 316, or a grade with equivalent corrosion resistance, as a minimum within five kilometres of the surf, and says the lower alloyed grades such as 304 or 430 will probably tea stain or corrode more severely in a marine environment. Its own wording separates tea staining from more severe corrosion, which is the honest way to put it: staining is a surface appearance problem rather than a loss of structural integrity, but it is the thing you notice from the kitchen window every morning.

It is a measuring question too, because the housing here is not what a security screen catalogue assumes. Separate houses are the minority of the stock, attached dwellings and flats together are the majority, and close to half of it is tenanted. That is three kinds of opening and two kinds of decision maker on the same street.

What we do about it stays narrow and practical. We make to measure in 316 marine grade stainless mesh, perforated aluminium, diamond grille and colonial casting, we repair existing doors and sliding screens on site rather than quoting a replacement first, and we will name which of the two salt sources your openings actually face before we talk about mesh.

Salt lands on the screens and then never properly dries

Sea salt stays wet down to very low relative humidity, and high humidity generates a film of moisture that dissolves the salt deposits into a corrosive solution on the surface; the stainless association names hot, humid tropical conditions as the worst case for tea staining. At the Bureau of Meteorology's Cairns Aero station the mean 9am relative humidity is 72 percent across the year, peaking at 78 percent from February to April, with a mean maximum of 29.1 C. A screen only stops corroding once the salt sitting on it dries out, and for months at a time here it does not get the chance. That is the real reason grade selection matters more on this coast than inland, and it applies on the marina side of Yorkeys Knob as much as the beach side. We specify 316 marine grade stainless mesh in the SCREENGUARD system rather than a cheaper grade, and we are straight about the upkeep instead of leaving it on a warranty card: salt has to be washed off a screen, and the routine the warranty asks for is the one the national stainless steel association recommends anyway.

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Dark security screens on the sliding door and windows of a white painted brick home with a tropical garden bed

Two quotes both say marine grade and the prices are different

Marine grade is a nickname rather than a specification. Grade 316 differs from grade 304 by the addition of 2 to 3 percent molybdenum, and that addition is what gives 316 its increased resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in warm chloride environments. The association's marine guidance puts it more bluntly again: grade 304 is usually only suitable for fittings that are washed frequently with fresh water, while 316 suits places where salt concentrates by evaporation and lies in crevices. A screen on a Yorkeys Knob window is not being washed with fresh water on any schedule you control, so the grade has to carry the difference on its own. The association still describes 316 as the first step up from 304 rather than the top of the range, which is worth knowing when a quote presents it as the premium option. Ask any quote you receive, including ours, which grade the mesh actually is. Our SCREENGUARD screens use 316 marine grade stainless mesh. Where someone would rather not pay for stainless, we say so and put the perforated aluminium and diamond grille options in front of them instead of dressing a lower grade up as marine.

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A house, a townhouse and a unit on the same street are three different jobs

Yorkeys Knob holds 2,794 residents in 1,586 dwellings, and at the 2021 Census the separate house was the minority dwelling type rather than the default one. Balcony sliders, courtyard doors and stairwell windows in attached dwellings are rarely the sizes a stock leaf is cut to. An off the shelf door either will not fit those openings or fits them badly, and a badly fitted screen becomes a hardware problem on a coast where the hardware is already working hard. Owners in attached dwellings also tend to want the new screen to match what is already on the complex rather than stand out from it. Everything we make is made to measure rather than supplied in stock sizes, and the range runs from 316 stainless mesh through perforated aluminium and diamond grille to colonial casting. That is what lets one supplier match an existing look across a complex instead of adding a fourth style to it, and it is why the openings get measured as built rather than sorted into the nearest stock size.

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Nearly half the dwellings here are tenanted, and it is the hardware that wears out

At the 2021 Census 45.9 percent of occupied private dwellings in Yorkeys Knob were rented, against 26.0 percent owned with a mortgage and 25.2 percent owned outright. The faults people ring about are consistent: a door not locking or closing properly, a broken handle, a jamming key, and sliding doors that roll incorrectly, jam, bounce, will not close or jump off the track. Salt sitting in a lock cylinder or a roller track is the usual reason those faults turn up in a coastal suburb, and it turns up on the marina side as readily as the beach side. An owner who is not living in the property does not see any of it until a tenant reports it, which is rarely a convenient moment. A changeover between tenants is the practical window for hardware work rather than waiting until a door has to be replaced, because nobody has to be worked around. Repairs happen at the property rather than coming back as a replacement quote, so a lock or a set of rollers is a visit rather than a project.

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Screening the openings that face the water feels like giving up the view

It is the objection the business answers first in its own product copy, phrased there as no longer having to look at ugly grills, bars or similar obstructions that spoil your view. Older security screens answered that outlook with grills and bars, and for a lot of people that is still the mental picture of a security door. An owner who will not fit a screen because of the view usually ends up leaving the openings they use most, the ones onto the deck and the water side of the house, with no screen at all. The choice is not really view against security; it is which product you use to keep both. SCREENGUARD is a finely woven 316 stainless mesh that the manufacturer describes as designed to protect your view rather than obstruct it. Where someone wants more shade or privacy than a fine mesh gives, PERFGUARD perforated aluminium is the powder coated panel option, and its view through is published as a figure rather than a promise, so the trade off can be weighed before anyone commits to it.

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SCREENGUARD 316 Stainless Steel Mesh Screens

316 marine grade stainless steel mesh in T6 grade high tensile extruded aluminium frames, manufactured and finished in Queensland in a variety of colours, tested for dynamic impact, knife shear, anti-jemmy, pull and probe. Yorkeys Knob has a surf beach and a 197 berth marina basin inside the one locality, so an opening here can be exposed to salt from two directions at once. That is why the conversation on this suburb starts with the grade of the mesh rather than the colour of the frame.

Talk to us about stainless mesh
Dark security screens on the sliding door and windows of a white painted brick home with a tropical garden bed

PERFGUARD Perforated Aluminium Screens

2mm perforated aluminium mesh, powder coated black, 40 percent view through and corrosion resistant, with a 7 year product warranty from the date of installation, conditions apply. Window grilles and hinged and sliding doors have passed dynamic impact, pull, jemmy, knife shear and probe testing, with the doors tested using three point locking hardware. Townhouses and flats together outnumber separate houses in Yorkeys Knob, and their windows often look straight at a neighbour, a shared path or a car park. The 40 percent view through figure is the useful one there, because it states how much outlook you keep instead of promising it.

Side by side comparison of a garden view seen directly and through black perforated aluminium screen mesh

Diamond Grille Security Screens

The diamond pattern security screen, and the cost effective option in the range. It can be combined with fibreglass, pet mesh or DVA one way vision mesh behind the grille. Diamond grille is the cost effective line in the range, which matters on a property where several openings have to be done to one budget rather than one front door to a good one. DVA one way vision mesh can go behind the grille where a window faces a neighbour at close range.

Colonial Casting Security Doors

Decorative cast security doors in a modern style or a heritage range, used on a front door or to enclose a patio. Colonial casting is the decorative line, used on a front door or to enclose a patio. In the attached dwellings that make up most of the stock here, a patio or courtyard usually faces a shared boundary, which is the case for pairing it with DVA one way vision mesh behind the casting.

Pair of cream decorative cast security screen doors with a scroll pattern over timber windows

Onsite Repairs and Hardware Replacement

Repairs to existing security doors and screens at your property: lock cylinders and complete locks, wheels and tracks on sliding doors, door closers, hinges, triple locks and patio bolts, plus pet doors fitted to existing security doors. Salt sitting in a lock cylinder or a roller track is the usual reason a coastal door starts to stick, and it does not much matter which side of the suburb the water is on. On a tenanted property a changeover is often the easiest time to get it done.

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Hinged security screen door fitted over a grey front door on a brick home entry

Flyscreens and Specialty Mesh

Flyscreens and the mesh options behind them: fibreglass, pet mesh, DVA one way vision privacy mesh, perforated aluminium and woven 316 marine grade stainless. Worth saying plainly in a suburb where windows sit close together: DVA one way vision lets you see out with reduced visibility in, but it is a privacy mesh and not a security product, so it goes behind a diamond grille or colonial cast screen when you want both. Pet mesh is the other specialty infill, and which opening needs it is a question for the measure.

Open plan living room looking through black-framed security screen doors to a pool and palms
Licensed, tested, locally made

Credentials you can check

The grade is the fact worth checking first here. SCREENGUARD screens use 316 marine grade stainless mesh on T6 grade high tensile extruded aluminium frames manufactured and finished in Queensland in a variety of colours. Everything is made to measure rather than supplied in stock sizes, and the products have passed dynamic impact, knife shear, anti-jemmy, pull and probe testing. On the warranties, SCREENGUARD carries a full 10 year manufacturer's warranty conditional on regular maintenance with SCREENGUARD Powawash, and PERFGUARD a 7 year product warranty from the date of installation, conditions apply. We hold QBCC licence 1199847, published on our own site, and you can check it yourself on the QBCC online licence search before you let anyone measure your doors. We measure and fit on site and do not run a showroom.

QBCC Licensed Contractor
Queensland Building and Construction Commission licence 1199847
Verify this
Tested Security Screens
SCREENGUARD states its stainless steel mesh screens pass dynamic impact, knife shear, anti-jemmy, and pull and probe testing. PERFGUARD adds a probe test, with hinged and sliding doors tested using three point locking hardware.
10 Year Manufacturer's Warranty
SCREENGUARD products carry a full 10 year manufacturer's warranty. Regular maintenance with SCREENGUARD Powawash is required to comply.
Locally Made
Family owned and operated. Doors and screens are made to measure and manufactured in Cairns; SCREENGUARD frames are manufactured and finished in Queensland.

Questions we get asked

Does being near the marina matter as much as being near the surf?

They are treated as two separate exposures rather than one. The stainless steel association gives still marine water its own exposure band, closer in than the band it sets for a surf beach, and it adds that the effect is much less severe around sheltered bays. What sits at Buckley Street is a 197 berth basin with a fuelling wharf and a haulage yard on it, so it is a permanent body of salt water inside the suburb rather than a view of one. Treat it as a second salt source rather than a worse one, and get the exposure named before the mesh is chosen.

What actually makes 316 different from 304?

Molybdenum. Grade 316 differs from grade 304 by the addition of 2 to 3 percent molybdenum, and that is what gives it increased resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in warm chloride environments. Those are the localised kinds of corrosion that start where salt concentrates and sits, in a fold or a join rather than across a whole surface. The association's marine guidance adds that 304 is usually only suitable for fittings washed frequently with fresh water, which a screen on a coastal house is not.

Is there a number that compares one stainless grade against another?

There is. The stainless association ranks grades by a Pitting Resistance Equivalent, calculated from the chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen content, and says a figure of roughly 18 is typically adequate away from marine influences, roughly 24 is required for marine atmospheres, and severe marine atmospheres may require roughly 34. It is useful mainly as a way of seeing that grade selection near salt water is a calculated decision rather than a sales label. We will not publish a figure for our own mesh, because no mill certificate for the supplied product is in front of us.

The 10 year warranty depends on maintenance. Is that just fine print?

No, and an independent body says the same thing. The SCREENGUARD warranty is conditional on regular maintenance with SCREENGUARD Powawash, and the national stainless steel association's own position is that stainless is a low maintenance material but not maintenance free, that a light and regular wash is what it wants, and that lower grades need more regular maintenance than higher ones. Its method is soap or mild detergent and warm water, then a rinse with clean cold water, and never an abrasive cleaner or anything containing chlorides or bleach. So the condition is asking for the care the material needs rather than for a product upsell.

How are your security doors tested?

SCREENGUARD stainless steel mesh doors are put through dynamic impact, knife shear, anti-jemmy, and pull and probe testing. PERFGUARD window grilles and hinged and sliding doors pass the same set plus a probe test, with the doors tested using three point locking hardware. Ask us for the current test certificate for whichever product you are considering and we will pass it on.

Can you repair my existing security door?

Yes, and we repair onsite. The common jobs are replacing a lock cylinder or the complete lock when a door will not close properly or the key jams, and replacing the wheels or track work on sliding doors that bounce, jam, or jump off the track. We also replace door closers, hinges, triple locks and patio bolts.

Are your security doors made to measure?

Yes. Every door and screen is made to measure rather than bought off the shelf, and it is manufactured here in Cairns. SCREENGUARD aluminium frames use T6 grade high tensile extruded aluminium, manufactured and finished in Queensland in a range of colours. Get in touch to arrange a measure for your doors or windows.

Which Cairns suburbs do you service?

We service Cairns and the surrounding areas. That covers the northern beaches from Machans Beach up to Palm Cove, the northern suburbs around Smithfield, Redlynch and Freshwater, the Cairns city suburbs, and the southside through to Gordonvale. Check our service areas page for the full list of suburbs, or call us to confirm your street.

Can you fit a pet door to my security door?

Yes, though there is a trade-off worth knowing first. Industry guidance from the National Security Screen Association is that cutting a pet door into a security door voids its compliance, because the door is no longer the product that was tested. Plenty of people still choose it. Talk to us about where the pet door goes, and ask about pet mesh if you have animals.

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Need security doors in Yorkeys Knob?

Two things are worth asking for on a Yorkeys Knob measure. First, which exposure the property actually sits in, because the stainless association separates a surf beach from still marine water and this suburb has both. Second, what the screens you are comparing were actually tested for, and ask to see the certificate rather than take the word for it. If you own a rental here, the useful question is what is worth doing between tenancies rather than at the end of a door's life. Call us or send the quote form and we will arrange a measure.

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