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Ron White, talking about trying to ride out a Hurricane
"It's not THAT the wind is blowing, it's WHAT the wind is blowing. If you get hit with a Buick, it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you did that morning."
Hurricanes were part of the reason I moved out of Florida in 2007. Anything solid and permanently affixed will be expensive and visually bulky. It comes with the territory. I know shuttering up repeatedly is a pain. I've done it many many times.
That's why I broke down and bought impact resistant windows, however, they are not cheap. Ten windows cost me $9K but at least I'm not in the dark when the power goes out in a hurricane. And the power always goes out unless the power lines are underground.
Ron White, talking about trying to ride out a Hurricane
"It's not THAT the wind is blowing, it's WHAT the wind is blowing. If you get hit with a Buick, it doesn't matter how many sit-ups you did that morning."
We use a retractable hurricane-rated screen on our lanai. We have a screen pool enclosure for mosquitoes. In the pic below you can see our three sliders. Replacing those with impact doors would have been 16-20k and the roll down screen was $5k. We opted for the screen. It has a 10 year warranty and is used to keep rain and sun out also. It’s electric roll down but has a crank for manual lowering/raising. The sliders are in great shape, we’ll see in another eight years if we want another screen or if the doors need replaced.
OP, call your insurance company, they will tell you what is acceptable or not, but there is no insurance discount unless all openings are covered with hurricane-rated and approved covers. We put in the hurricane screen, impact windows, impact garage doors and our roof nails/tie downs met the current hurricane code to get the maximum discount. Better yet though, after moving the outside furniture/plants into the lanai and with the press of a button for the screen, we are ready for a hurricane.
As Rocky, from the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" might say - "I see you shutter with antici...
pation."
I had to look back to see what I wrote. It was just a phrase, honestly. Being inside a house with shutters and a hurricane blowing outside is an experience. There is a feeling of being shut in and a darkness.
Entombed is the word. Our son and his family rode out Irma in a totally dark house with shutters and yeah, they won’t forget that anytime soon. We had our impact windows installed two weeks before Irma. I’m not so sure being able to see our huge bamboo stand bending down and touching the ground first to the the left, then the right and finally split down the middle during Irma was a good thing.
We use a retractable hurricane-rated screen on our lanai. We have a screen pool enclosure for mosquitoes. In the pic below you can see our three sliders. Replacing those with impact doors would have been 16-20k and the roll down screen was $5k. We opted for the screen. It has a 10 year warranty and is used to keep rain and sun out also. It’s electric roll down but has a crank for manual lowering/raising. The sliders are in great shape, we’ll see in another eight years if we want another screen or if the doors need replaced.
OP, call your insurance company, they will tell you what is acceptable or not, but there is no insurance discount unless all openings are covered with hurricane-rated and approved covers. We put in the hurricane screen, impact windows, impact garage doors and our roof nails/tie downs met the current hurricane code to get the maximum discount. Better yet though, after moving the outside furniture/plants into the lanai and with the press of a button for the screen, we are ready for a hurricane.
That is a nice set up you have there.
Mine is similar though a wider area, your route perhaps I would have done if not for my slow progression from screened in, to half wall with windows and accordion shutters, to full impact sliding doors that make a wall, but this was over the course of years.
I am wondering....couldn’t you replace blown down screens a few times with the money it would cost to cover the screens with something?
Windstorm insurance - in Florida, it is expensive, hard to get, and you don't want to dip into it repeatedly, lest your premiums go sky high. The time to get a repair done after a major hurricane is measured in months. My neighbor was still having finishing work done a year after one hurricane.
We use a retractable hurricane-rated screen on our lanai. We have a screen pool enclosure for mosquitoes. In the pic below you can see our three sliders. Replacing those with impact doors would have been 16-20k and the roll down screen was $5k. We opted for the screen. It has a 10 year warranty and is used to keep rain and sun out also. It’s electric roll down but has a crank for manual lowering/raising. The sliders are in great shape, we’ll see in another eight years if we want another screen or if the doors need replaced.
...
So, you keep that roll down screen in the down position constantly?
Was it $5k for one roll down screen or 3 screens?
What happens to pool screen enclosures and screened porches in a hurricane? If there is no additional protection. Will the mosquito nets blow away, and the screen doors fly off?
What is realistic in my case? Keep my mosquito net and add a roll down hurricane screen? Or remove the mosquito screen and use the roll down hurricane screen as double purpose while keeping it down? Or add an accordion metal cover to the whole porch? That might cost too much as it is 40ft wide and 8-9ft tall.
The original solution the previous owner used was metal panels that they can put up on the windows and doors, and I dont know what happened to the mosquito screen.
Anotehr issue is the L-shaped patio, with a convex and a concave corner, that would make it hard to install anything there.
So, you keep that roll down screen in the down position constantly?
Was it $5k for one roll down screen or 3 screens?
What happens to pool screen enclosures and screened porches in a hurricane? If there is no additional protection. Will the mosquito nets blow away, and the screen doors fly off?
What is realistic in my case? Keep my mosquito net and add a roll down hurricane screen? Or remove the mosquito screen and use the roll down hurricane screen as double purpose while keeping it down? Or add an accordion metal cover to the whole porch? That might cost too much as it is 40ft wide and 8-9ft tall.
The original solution the previous owner used was metal panels that they can put up on the windows and doors, and I dont know what happened to the mosquito screen.
Anotehr issue is the L-shaped patio, with a convex and a concave corner, that would make it hard to install anything there.
I apologize, I didn’t see that you had a corner screen, I just saw your long area which is like ours. That’s a tough one. Our one screen cost 5k and protects the three sliders behind it.
A hurricane screen like ours would not do double duty for you. It’s a hurricane screen, it cuts down significantly on air flow and the lanai gets no air flow when it’s down. The pool enclosure keeps out insects and tree debris, but requires an additional insurance rider as they are no longer included on policies. There is no way to protect it.
Last edited by jean_ji; 03-19-2021 at 06:00 AM..
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