Think you're safe with a cage? Think again...Make sure there is plenty of lighting and that there is not a "drive way" or access for a truck to reach your units.
That is exactly why we don't install small cages to protect AC units, unless someone insists that we do. We charge a bit more that some folks do but our work is substantially better and more durable. In the case of the cage being removed from the ground, our rule of thumb is 2' in the ground with at least one full 80lb bag of concrete for the footer. What we really like is a full slab under the unit and we will anchor into that slab.
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The one pictured is not anchored at all but it has never been violated, yet. Three years and counting.
This is partially why I stopped investing intown Atlanta...crackhead steal everything. I installed a custom metal cage set over concrete with rebar set 2' underground....crackheads came in broad daylight, hooked chains to the back of a truck parked in the yard behind, wrapped my cage and ripped the whole thing out of the ground. Cages only deter fairly honest folks!
Years back I installed a commercial condensing system at a local bank in a town near by. Got it running and everything. Next day early afternoon got a call from branch manager it was not cooling. Needless to say they came by that night and quickly removed it. They cut through the 220 volt power service cable as the cutters were nearby and fried. Unit long gone.
We installed another one next day, bolted it down to cement slab, whole thing. Guess what,
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gone again less then a week. Finally we installed one, installed steel posts around it and placed steel beams around and across the top. Pleased to say, its still there 18 years later!
God Bob....can you imagine! I was thinking about electrifying the unit instead. I just gave up on that property. At one point I owned or managed about 350 rentals in Sw Atlanta...someday, it will be a gem...now, it's just a war zone. I invest in the suburbs now and have very few problems.
As there are still a lot of foreclosed properties around here, this is a big problem in Florid (along with all the copper being ripped out of the interior). Sometimes it is quite a while before somebody even notices things have gone missing.
Parts of Florida have 3 to 5 years of foreclosed properties just sitting.....Atlanta isn't as bad except in the higher end of the market. Bankers know how to lend & service a loan but they have no clue when it comes to actually handling the real estate
And the way things are going those homes will be sitting another 3 - 5 years (due to so many out there). On the plus side, if you are in the market to buy, you can get REALLY good deals. For instance there is a really nice 6bed/4bath 5,000 sqft house (built in 2002) up the road going for around $150k, and they still can't seem to sell it!
The one pictured is not anchored at all but it has never been violated, yet. Three years and counting.
We installed another one next day, bolted it down to cement slab, whole thing. Guess what, ...»