Repair & Improve

Storm Plan

Protect your windows and doors

By Bernie Pisczek

Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with September as the most active month. It¹s a stressful time if you are one of the millions of residents in the Eastern United States, from the Texas Gulf Coast to New England, who reside within 100 or so miles from the Atlantic Ocean. You quickly learn to keep a close eye on developing Caribbean weather patterns.

Pressure
Residents in Florida and along the North Carolina Outer Banks actually plan for a visit from a major named storm sometime during the season. For them, securing vulnerable doors and windows is a snap. But for most folks in hurricane-prone areas, a quick review might be in order.
The main word that needs to be directly associated with hurricanes is "pressure." Pressure is created when the path of rapidly moving air is blocked or otherwise obstructed.

When hurricane-force winds are propelled against a tree, a sign or your house, the pressure builds up and pushes until it finds a path around an obstruction. We¹ve all seen the videos where a sudden gust knocks over a tree or a sign and the wind resumes its path of least resistance.
Now think about the wind pushing against your house.

Some of the most vulnerable parts are the doors and windows and are the areas that require extra protection in the event of an approaching hurricane.

Doors
Let¹s look at one of the most vulnerable areas ­­ your garage door. The larger it is, the more vulnerable it is. It doesn¹t take much of a gust to push in the center of a double-wide garage door and pop it off its roller tracks.

Most manufacturers make reinforced garage doors for potential high-wind environments. But if you bought a cheap one, upgrade kits are available.

These kits consist of several horizontal metal braces that can easily be installed with a drill or screw-driver. To determine how many braces you need, just count the number of panel sections that make up the door and install one brace across the center of each panel.
As an added precaution, park your vehicles inside the garage, close the door, and then carefully back the vehicles tight against the door for additional support.

Glass Doors and Windows
The next problematic areas involve sliding glass patio doors, large picture windows and really, all windows. These need to be protected from both pressure and debris.

Project:  Make storm shutters for your windows.
Options here range from professional storm shutters to simple plywood covers. But the most important part of this job involves the fastening system. A surprisingly large number of plywood shutters get blown off houses during hurricanes because of a failure in the fastening process.

Step 1: If you¹re making your own shutters, your best choice is 5/8-inch exterior grade plywood. Measure the size of the window or door and add 8 inches to both dimensions. This will provide an ideal 4-inch overlap on all sides.

Step 2: Depending on the size of the piece, drill between four and six half-inch holes across the center of the plywood panel. These will equalize the pressure in the cavity between the window and the shutter.
 
Step 3: Now it¹s time for the fasteners. If you have a wood-frame house, it¹s fairly easy. For windows that measure 4¹ by 4¹ or smaller, use 1/4-inch lag screws, 2 inches long. These will penetrate the wood window frame at least 1-1/4 inches. For larger windows, use 3/8-inch lag screws that are 3-1/2 inches long. You want these to penetrate the frame at least 2-1/2 inches.

For installation into masonry walls, it¹s a bit more difficult. You¹ll need expansion bolts and galvanized permanent expansion anchors. Use the same data listed above in terms of fastener size, but 1-1/2 inches of penetration is adequate for all window sizes.

Step 4: Install fasteners around the perimeter of the plywood, between 2- and 2-1/2 inches from the edge, at intervals of no more than 12 inches.

In the case of wood-frame construction, use a stud finder or other method to make sure you are drilling into the window frame.
  
Step 5: In the case of picture windows and glass doors, install plywood as described above but you¹ll need to reinforce the plywood with 2x4 horizontal studs. Cut the studs so they extend at least 2 inches past the plywood on each side. Add extra screws to hold the studs in place and, once again, make sure the fasteners are penetrating a suitable substrate.

If you have double-entry front doors, you may wish to add extra support in the center, where the two doors meet. This can range from adding extra deadbolts or barrel latches at the top and bottom of each door, or the much easier alternative of pushing a heavy piece of furniture against the doors when the storm approaches. For added insurance, tie the two doorknobs together.

Step 6: Before you put away your shutters, be sure to mark top and bottom as well as the specific window that matches each panel. All the holes will match up when the next hurricane threatens.

Tip: There is usually a lot of stress and anxiety associated with an oncoming storm. Start this project early and allow enough time to do it right. You don¹t want to have flimsy shutters or none at all because the home-improvement center ran out of the right materials.

And if you think this is all a grand waste of time and that all you really need to do is place an "X"of duct tape across each window pane, remember the only thing duct tape accomplishes in a storm is that it keeps the glass from shattering as it blows out of the frame.

Print Version

Search Related Topics: Doors, Energy Savings, Storm Proofing, Windows & Skylights...