The cheapest sensible way to secure a Wollongong house.

The reference house for every figure on this page is a single-storey three-bedroom brick veneer, the sort you find right through Figtree, Unanderra, Corrimal and Dapto: a hinged front door, a two-panel sliding door at the back, and six ground-floor windows a person could climb through. Bigger house, more openings, scale it up. Second storey or a steep block, add for access.

Where money can safely be saved

These four levers cut the bill without touching anything that keeps the house secure or makes the screens last.

1. Stage the work. Doors now, windows later. A forced entry through a Wollongong house almost always uses a door or a rear window that cannot be seen from the street, so the front and back doors are the first $1,500 and everything else is the second stage. There is no penalty for coming back: we hold your measurements and the second visit is quoted at the same rates.
2. Book off-peak. The rush here runs from about October to Christmas, when everybody wants screens open for summer. Lead times stretch from 1 or 2 weeks out to 3 or more, and there is no room to move on price. Autumn and winter, roughly May to August, is when the calendar is soft. Our timing guide goes through the trade-offs.
3. Use standard sizes. A hinged door made to the standard 820 x 2040 leaf in a standard frame is the cheapest thing we build. A custom-width double door, an arched head or a screen over a raked opening adds fabrication time and sometimes a second person to hang it. If you are replacing a door anyway, a standard opening keeps every future screen cheap too.
4. Do the prep yourself. Take the old flyscreens out, unscrew the old screen door, clear the garden bed and the pot plants from under the windows, pull the curtains back and clear a car space near the front door. That is half an hour of labour per visit you are not paying for, and on a small job half an hour is real money. Re-meshing a sound existing flyscreen frame is $35 to $70 against $90 to $160 for a new one, so bring us the frames rather than binning them.

One more that people miss: do it in a single visit. Every separate trip carries a minimum charge, and on a $300 job that minimum is most of the price. Three windows done together cost far less per window than three windows done across three Saturdays.

What a suspiciously low quote is usually leaving out

When a quote lands dramatically under the others, it is almost never because somebody found a cheaper factory. It is because five line items are missing:

• The installation. A supply-only price is not a comparison. Fitting a hinged door is typically $120 to $220 of the job and a slider more.
• The mesh grade. If the quote says “security mesh” with no grade, assume the cheapest thing available. Ask for “grade 316 woven, 0.8 mm wire” or “1.5 mm perforated aluminium” in writing.
• The hardware. Three-point lock or single deadlock, egress release or not, stainless or plated hinges. Three separate line items that are easy to leave off a page.
• Removal and disposal. Taking the old doors and screens away is $60 to $180 on most jobs. If it is not in the quote, they are going to be leaning against your fence.
• GST. Residential prices should be quoted GST inclusive. A number that turns out to be plus GST is 10 per cent of a surprise.

Ask every quoter for one all-in number with those five things named. That single request usually closes most of the gap between the cheap quote and the honest one, and it makes the remaining difference a real comparison.

NSW programs and concessions that change the maths

There is no general New South Wales rebate for security doors, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. There are, however, four things worth checking before you settle on a tier.

• Home modification services for older people. Home modification and maintenance support accessed through My Aged Care can cover door locks, security screens and similar safety work for eligible older Australians, with the assessment done first. If a parent in Corrimal or Unanderra is on a home support package, ask their assessor before you pay privately.
• Victims of crime and domestic violence programs. NSW Victims Services can fund immediate safety needs after a violent crime, and the Staying Home Leaving Violence program supports people who remain in their own home after domestic violence, which routinely includes locks, lighting and security screens. These go through the relevant service rather than through us.
• Investment properties. For a rental, screen work is generally either a deductible repair or a capital item written off over time, depending on whether you are replacing like for like or improving the property. That treatment can change which tier is the better buy. Your accountant will settle it in five minutes.
• Strata and units. In a strata scheme, screens fixed to the building usually need owners corporation consent, and many schemes already have a by-law specifying an approved style and colour. NSW strata law limits an owners corporation from unreasonably refusing consent to a safety device. Check the by-laws first so you do not pay for a screen that has to come off.

Insurance is the other half of the maths. Screens rarely move a premium much, but the corrosion exclusion in most home policies matters a great deal on this coast. The insurance page walks through it honestly.

When you should not spend anything at all

Three situations where we will tell you to keep your money. If your existing screens are sound stainless and only look tired, a wash-down and a hardware service costs a fraction of replacement and the maintenance guide shows you how to do it yourself. If the frames are fine and only the mesh has gone, a re-mesh at $35 to $70 per frame beats a new screen. And if you are selling in the next few months, screening the whole house rarely returns what it costs; do the front door so the place presents well and leave the rest to the buyer.

We also do not chase the very bottom of the market. If your budget is a $320 supply-only door from a warehouse and a mate with a drill, that is a legitimate choice, but it is not what we sell and we would rather say so than quote something we would not fit on our own house.