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Hal Norman – Illinois

Home Safe Home Childproofing

I’m Hal Norman, proud owner of Home Safe Home Childproofing. We are a family operated company that’s been dedicated to the needs of the safety conscious since 1992. We provide services to the greater Chicagoland area, as well as most suburbs in Cook, Lake, DuPage and McHenry counties.

What are your favorite experiences working as a Childproofer?

I’m always tickled when children (no longer the toddlers I initially met) greet me at the door wearing their tool belts, ready to give me a hand, when I return to install additional devices for the newest member of their family. Over the years, a great many of my clients have told me how having the proper types of childproofing devices already professionally installed have made the selling of their homes quicker and easier for the next family moving in with toddlers. There have also been countless occasions when I’ve been asked to either remove devices when no longer needed or re-install the same devices in their next homes. Over the years, I’ve scheduled many a road trip to childproof the seasonal homes of many clients, too.

Describe one of your most challenging situations.

I think most of our challenges come from custom mounting safety gates. Many parents feel that “a gate is a gate” and because it won’t be up forever, aren’t too concerned with its appearance. They may not understand that they’ll be using it dozens and dozens of times a day (every day) for a couple of years. I insist that it not only be sturdy, but visually pleasing, and do not use “one size fits most” clamps. I’ll cut, rip and bevel a length of lumber that’s stained or painted to match their newel post, which not only looks finished, but allows me to attach the gate mounting hardware to it, not drill holes into their wood. For every device I install, I try to make the fewest and smallest holes that are needed.

What benefits do your clients experience from using your services?

Our mission statement, and one of the first lessons we’ve tried to teach our children, has always been to “treat people the way you’d expect to be treated.” That mindset begins with a prompt returned call or email to set an appointment, and arriving on time. Respecting the client’s home and toddler’s sleep schedule, as well as cleaning up after installation, is probably why over 90% of our business is repeat and referrals. We want clients to rave about our attention to detail and reliable product recommendations!