Alarms, Smart Homes and Home Theater for Elmhurst, IL
Elmhurst grew fast in the middle of the last century, and its houses show it: prewar homes near downtown and the college, a big ring of houses built from the 1940s through the 1960s, and a steady run of new two-story homes going up where older ones stood. There are condo buildings near downtown too. We plan monitored security for whichever of those you live in, then add the Control4 and theater pieces you want, all from our office in Forest Park.
A local Forest Park team serving Chicagoland and the western suburbs since 2009. Real people answer the phone, and we plan every system with you in person.
Call 708-705-9665Send us a message
Planning security for an Elmhurst home
The plan depends on the house. A prewar home near downtown often has plaster walls, an old front door and a basement with windows at ground level, so we lean on wireless sensors and pay attention to the basement. A 1950s ranch or a story-and-a-half has most of its doors and windows on one floor, which makes it simple to cover but easy to reach from the yard. A new two-story usually has a big wall of glass at the back, an attached garage and bedrooms all upstairs, so the keypad, the glass-break coverage and the motion sensor on the stairs carry most of the weight.
Whatever the house, we walk it with you first, count the openings and settle on what really needs a sensor before we talk about anything else.
What we install in Elmhurst
- Burglar alarms: Contacts on every exterior door, including the one from the garage, plus glass-break and motion coverage sized to the house. We use 2GIG for clean wireless installs and DSC or Honeywell when the house is wired. If you want cameras, we add them as part of the security system: a video doorbell and a view of the back yard or the alley, with clips in the same app.
- Monitored smoke and carbon monoxide: Smoke and heat detectors that report to a monitoring center, with carbon monoxide sensing near the furnace and the bedrooms.
- Alarm monitoring: Professional monitoring through Alarm.com over a cellular link, so a signal still goes out if the internet or the phone line drops.
- Control4 smart home: Control4 runs the music, TVs, lighting and shades. Security stays on its own Alarm.com system beside it. The two are separate, and each has its own app.
- Home theater: A finished basement theater, or a family room TV with the speakers in the ceiling and the equipment in a cabinet.
- Pre-wire: When you build new or gut a house, we run wire for keypads, sensors, speakers, TVs and the network while the walls are open.
Local considerations in Elmhurst
Elmhurst started as Cottage Hill, named for a tavern and stagecoach stop that Gerry Bates opened in the 1840s. The railroad arrived in 1849, the town took the Elmhurst name in 1869 for the elm trees planted along its streets, and a seminary founded in 1871 grew into today's Elmhurst University. Elmhurst incorporated as a village in 1882 and as a city in 1910.
Elmhurst is also a train town, with a Metra station downtown, and plenty of houses sit empty through the workday. That makes phone alerts and arming from the app worth having. In the condo buildings, we keep everything inside your unit and check the association rules first.
For Elmhurst shops and restaurants
Downtown Elmhurst has shops and restaurants around the train station. For a shop, office or restaurant, we plan around closing time: an alarm the last person out can arm, monitored smoke detection, and a user code for each employee that can be shut off the day someone leaves. See business security.
ZIP code: 60126
Questions from Elmhurst homeowners
We are tearing down and building new. When should we call you?
Before the drywall. The right time is when the framing is up and the electrician is roughing in, so we can run wire for the alarm, speakers, TVs and network at the same time.
Our house is from the 1950s and all on one floor. Does it need a lot of sensors?
Usually less than people expect. Contacts on the doors, glass-break detection in the main rooms and one motion sensor in the hall cover most ranch homes well.
Our older house has plaster walls. Will you have to cut into them?
Rarely. Wireless contacts and detectors cover most older homes, and when a wire is needed we look for a path through the basement or an attic first.
Can Control4 run our alarm too?
No. Control4 runs your music, TVs and lighting. Your security system works alongside it in its own app. They sit side by side, so a problem with one never takes down the other.
We live in a condo near downtown. Can we have a monitored alarm?
Yes. A wireless alarm for the unit, a monitored smoke detector and a camera on your own door are common choices, and we follow the association's rules.
You are in Forest Park. Do you come out to Elmhurst?
Yes. We plan every system in person, so we come to the house, walk it with you and go over the plan before anything is installed.
Building new in Elmhurst, or living in an older home near downtown? Phone 708-705-9665, tell us about the house, and we will set up a visit.
Call 708-705-9665Send us a message
Our office is at 7340 Harrison St, Forest Park, IL 60130. By appointment only, no walk-in visitors.
Illinois Private Alarm Contractor 124.002139. Founded in 2009.
Nearby towns we serve: Oak Brook · Lombard · Hinsdale