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Wind Protection

Beach Crab
7,497 views
I would value perspective - experiences with different hurricane protection choices for windows and doors. I am considering several different options. One of these is a wind abatement fabric to enclose the decks and protect against window breakage. Does anyone have experience (good or bad) with this approach or other approaches such as roll-down shutters, accordian shutters, panels, etc.?

Replies

33
TooFarTampa avatar
SoWal Insider
#27
How the roof is attached to the walls or how the sheathing is attached to the rafters is the bigger story than the roof style. Any roof will lift if not properly screwed down.

Hinges have never been a weak link in a door from my experience unless very short screws have been used. You would literally need to shear the hinge to make it fail due to how it sits when the door is in a closed position. Hinges transfer the load to the frame and therefore to the structure much better than the locking system on the opposite side of the panel because locking systems are smaller in size and usually less locking points than the door will have hinges.
The usual failure mode for a 2-panel door is that the top and bottom locking rods either bend to the point that they bypass the frame or the steel rods rip right through the frame at the top or bottom and let the door fly open.
Been there, seen that.....makes a lot of noise. :shock
:


Oh, so THAT's what happened to our house during Ivan. :eek::eek::eek::eek:

What is the best way to protect them?
ASH avatar
Beach Fanatic
#28
The truth.....upgrade. Or shutter them. Door manufacturers use hardened steel locking rods. Standard locking rods will bend. I've seen the hardened ones bend. They are also typically longer to hold onto more frame. I can show you what the end of my doors look like. There is a reinforced stainless steel sleeve inside the top and bottom of the panel and sometimes there is even a steel plate in the frame so that you don't rely just on wood to not rip out under load.
If you have existing, non-impact doors, the fabric shield product is made to retro-fit your situation as it is really meant to cover larger openings where a sheet of plywood or a shutter system are less realistic to assemble.

Edited

ASH avatar
Beach Fanatic
#29
And no......I do not sell the fabric shield product. It is a great idea in the right application.
TooFarTampa avatar
SoWal Insider
#30
The truth.....upgrade. Or shutter them. Door manufacturers use hardened steel locking rods. Standard locking rods will bend. I've seen the hardened ones bend. They are also typically longer to hold onto more frame. I can show you what the end of my doors look like. There is a reinforced stainless steel sleeve inside the top and bottom of the panel and sometimes there is even a steel plate in the frame so that you don't rely just on wood to not rip out under load.
If you have existing, non-impact doors, the fabric shield product is made to retro-fit your situation as it is really meant to cover larger openings where a sheet of plywood or a shutter system are less realistic to assemble.

Where is the "Thanks, I think" button? :floor: :eek:
ASH avatar
Beach Fanatic
#31
Unless your insurance company is forcing you into reinforcing the home, I'd go with retro-fit and save the money on an older home.
Consider the whole building envelope in a retro-fit.
Rule #1: The roof must be tied to the top floor must be tied to the bottom floor must be tied to the foundation must be tied to the center of the earth or they each will act alone when they get scared by the nature lady.

Won't do you any good to make the roof stronger if the windows blow out.

Won't do you any good to update the windows just to have your roof sucked off.

And don't forget that garage door of an attached garage because when the garage pressurizes and gets ripped off the home, it takes that "internal built" shared with the home wall with it and....then you...probably exceed....that 10% rule I mentioned earlier.
Alright, enough education for today. My brain hurts and I'm going home. I'll be back in the morn.
AAbsolute avatar
Banned
#32
Windy, windy morning in Watersound Beach today.
Matt J avatar
SWGB
#33
TFT, the other option is quite the redneck option I saw once. It involved 2x4's stacked to come out past the trim and placed over the center of the two doors. This was then attached to a 2x6 backed by a 4x4. This whole contraption was then anchored into the ceiling floor and had a 45 degree brace also attached to the floor. This was all done on wood floors. The funny thing is that while it works it was probably the cost of 3/4 plywood to cover the whole door.

I've actually seen rentals that left the lexan on highup hard to reach windows, windows with no view, and windows to rooms that don't need windows like bathrooms and closets.

ASH is very right in post 31, if you've seen those pictures of whole roof systems sitting down the block from the original house it really illustrates his point. Great trusses and roofing subcontrator, bad framer who didn't attach the rafters very well.
AAbsolute avatar
Banned
#34
TFT, the other option is quite the redneck option I saw once. It involved 2x4's stacked to come out past the trim and placed over the center of the two doors. This was then attached to a 2x6 backed by a 4x4. This whole contraption was then anchored into the ceiling floor and had a 45 degree brace also attached to the floor. This was all done on wood floors. The funny thing is that while it works it was probably the cost of 3/4 plywood to cover the whole door.

I've actually seen rentals that left the lexan on highup hard to reach windows, windows with no view, and windows to rooms that don't need windows like bathrooms and closets.

ASH is very right in post 31, if you've seen those pictures of whole roof systems sitting down the block from the original house it really illustrates his point. Great trusses and roofing subcontrator, bad framer who didn't attach the rafters very well.

There are a number of vendors out now who specialize in hold down protections. We used the threaded rod method from the foundation through the entire uplift path to the top plate for years. Then an H-10 or H-14 for rafters. We've found that using one of the specialty contractors probably does a better job. Their work also comes with Stamped Engineered as builts when complete.

Edited

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