Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hey Sunrico, thanks for all of the valuable storm readiness information. It is really helping scare the pants off of me! Really though, it is helping me know what and have on hand in the event that a major storm comes through. Considering I just moved here and didn't know a thing about what to do.
I did notice your thread about garage doors. What I need to know though, is how do I know if my garage door is built to withstand high winds. My house is new construction in Hernando County. I did check the wind code sticker on the garage and it says that it meets all standards for 2000 criteria. Weren't there new building codes after 2002?
Also, does the window film really work to prevent wind damage to your windows? I don't have storm shutters or the $$ right now to invest in them. Do I really need to get go get plywood ~ which brings me to another question, won't drilling holes in the stucco of your house to put up the plywood damage the house for further moisture in the future? Or is is the lesser of two evils?
No hurricane has ever hit Hernando Cty......we did have the no name storm in 93 but it affected the homes west of 19, where people over on Pine Island
were on their roofs the water rose so high in the night, I believe that it was around 2/3 in the morning that the water rose. Helicopters had to evacuate
those poor people, but they stayed, put their homes on stilts and are still there today.
Any storm that ever came through here......there was wind at about 50 mph
roofs lose shingles, trees uprooted and a tornado or two......other than that
nothing much else happened.
Two yrs ago, we lost power for two nights, first time in nearly 20 yrs. that ever happened. I don't have any ply wood for my home, my garage door is fine and I don't have film on my windows. I've lived here long enough not to get bent out of shape over a little rain and wind. Don't panic, the weather
here isn't really all that bad. You will survive
I have a hurricane bar that goes on my garage door...it mounts in a metal bracket in the cement floor and one in the masonary of the house in the top...it keeps the garage door from blowing in.
I saw last night that there are many ways to acheive this rigidness with your garage door, the special on TV last night showed bars running vertically that did the same thing, I imagine they might be better then the one I had because there were several bars.
Some people (who shall remain nameless) like to stir up people about hurricanes...just know your facts...prepare, get a weather radio and you will be fine, listen to what the officials in your area tell you...
We have an area in the garage AND in the house where we keep our hurricane supplies...I have flashlights that hang on the doors to each room just in case we loose power, I have LOTS of candles and matches, I have a battery operated TV and radio, I have LOADS of batteries as well.
I even have tarps and bungie cords in case there is damage to part of the house, I have extra plywood in the garage as well as gas cans so I can get extra gas. I keep extra empty water bottles that I freeze when a hurricane is headed this way, then I place them in the frig in among the food, I als have a ice chest that I take food out and put in, so I don't loose the cold in the frig by opening it all the time...since I have a gas stove, I can cook without electricity but I prefer to make sure I have food that requires very little preparation...AND in the worse case, I have a generator and a window unit so I can cool one room of the house and hook up the TV, satelite receiver and the frig...
I moved to Florida in 2001 from Texas (tornado alley) and 2004 season really frightened me because I had never been through anything before but now I am used to it.
One of the biggest things I have found people don't pay attention to is trees too close to a house, my neighbor had a dead sand pine in their back yard...I knew it was going to come down and it finally did and damaged their pool enclosure...there are some kinds of trees that are more likely to be a problem then others, in this area its Sand Pines hands down...shallow root system and so tall its amazing.
Hey Sunrico, thanks for all of the valuable storm readiness information. It is really helping scare the pants off of me! Really though, it is helping me know what and have on hand in the event that a major storm comes through. Considering I just moved here and didn't know a thing about what to do.
I did notice your thread about garage doors. What I need to know though, is how do I know if my garage door is built to withstand high winds. My house is new construction in Hernando County. I did check the wind code sticker on the garage and it says that it meets all standards for 2000 criteria. Weren't there new building codes after 2002?
Also, does the window film really work to prevent wind damage to your windows? I don't have storm shutters or the $$ right now to invest in them. Do I really need to get go get plywood ~ which brings me to another question, won't drilling holes in the stucco of your house to put up the plywood damage the house for further moisture in the future? Or is is the lesser of two evils?
Hope this helps, if your door meets the 2000 codes, you might want to reinforce the door. This is your option. My garage door is from 1998 and did great during the hurricanes that hit our area in 2004 & 2005.
If you are interested I listed one vendor. I'm sure that you can get a kit from Lowes or Home Depot and they can help. Also contact the garage door manufacturer, they might have an upgrade kit.
I used plywood on my windows, next year I'm getting some type of shutter, I think will be metal. I don't trust the other systems.
See below for codes: got to search a bit difficult....
eCodes (http://ecodes.iccsafe.org/icce/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=icc:flo rida_hurricane - broken link)
If you want to reinforce your door use the following:
Secure Door® is designed for do-it-yourself installation by most homeowners. Set up and installation requires an electric drill, a ½" masonry bit, a 5/16 inch socket driver, a crescent or socket wrench, a hammer, scissors or utility knife, and a single blade screwdriver. The set-up and installation of the first brace typically can be completed in about 45 minutes with additional braces taking less time. A handyman or service can be hired usually at a very reasonable cost if the homeowner does not wish to install the brace(s) or our dealers (see “Dealers†page) can install the product.
Once the initial installation is complete, Secure Door® is removed until needed. When not in use, only the top bracket (attached to the wall above the garage door) and the bolts for the floor anchor remain permanently in place. The floor anchor bolts fit flush and inconspicuously out of the way on the garage floor. After the initial installation is complete, each Secure Door® brace can be put in place should a hurricane threaten (and subsequently taken down) in less than three minutes.
Hurricane protection without replacing your existing garage door
* Product Benefits: Provides protection against up to 180 mph winds (dependent upon the quality, condition type of material used in the fabrication of your garage door).
* Much less expensive than hurricane-resistant garage doors and garage door shutters
* More effective than retrofitted horizontal garage door braces
* Can be set up in three minutes or less should a hurricane threaten
* Does not attach permanently to the garage door; stores inconspicuously and conveniently out of the way
* Does not require a building permit for purchase or installation
* May qualify you for some type of homeowners insurance discount
* Fits almost all garage doors
* Lightweight, requires no maintenance
* Reinforces the garage door and provides an anchor and support in addition to the garage door tracks
Also, does the window film really work to prevent wind damage to your windows? I don't have storm shutters or the $$ right now to invest in them. Do I really need to get go get plywood
The window film will work to prevent damage to your house, but it does not stop damage to your windows.
Think about that happens in a storm. The wind blows debris, which could hit your windows and shatter them. If you install any kind of external shutter, including plywood, the shutter will deflect the debris and prevent your window from being damaged. If you have hurricane resistant glass or window film, the debris will hit the window itself, and will likely damage the glass or even the frame, but the window will not shatter -- the film will hold the pieces of broken glass together, much like a broken windshield in a car. There are limits to all of the protection, of course, with the limits of film or resistant windows usually a little lower than exterior shutters. Plywood is usually below the limits of purpose-designed shutters.
Moreover, film is expensive -- the 3M film on our house was about $3,000, installed. We went with the film for several reasons -- it is always in place, you can see out of it during the storm, and we used the tinted film which cuts UV and saves energy. We probably have saved the cost of the film just in reduction of fading of upholstery, etc., but that is because of the tint. We did not use the hurricane resistant glass because it was an existing house and we did not want to replace all the windows.
On our new house about to be built, we will be using shutters, probably the clear polycarbonate shutters you can see through, although we are also considering operating colonial style shutters that are hinged permanently on the house. The reason is, during hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma, we discovered that while the film (or resistant glass) is certainly strong enough, it does NOT prevent water from infiltrating the window. Rain driven by 100 mph winds WILL find the tiniest crack, even the lip where the window closes at the bottom -- and WILL blow enough water through those cracks to ruin your floors. I guarantee it. Shutters deflect that wind-driven water before it gets to your windows.
By the way, through those 3 hurricanes in two years (the only hurricanes we have experienced in Florida in 35 years), no debris hit any of our windows, none were shattered, and we would have been just as well off without protection of any sort. Of course, that could change in an instant, which is why we had the film.
Many places, including the big box home stores, are selling do-it-yourself hurricane shutters, now. You permanently install a track above and below your windows, and slide in the individual shutter pieces, which stack for easy storage. You use wing nuts to hold them in place. Often cheaper than plywood, and much easier to handle.
If you are concerned about drilling into stucco, use a silicone sealer when you install the anchors. Even with plywood, you leave the anchors (bolts) in place when you take the shutters down, so they are there the next time.
The window film will work to prevent damage to your house, but it does not stop damage to your windows.
Think about that happens in a storm. The wind blows debris, which could hit your windows and shatter them. If you install any kind of external shutter, including plywood, the shutter will deflect the debris and prevent your window from being damaged. If you have hurricane resistant glass or window film, the debris will hit the window itself, and will likely damage the glass or even the frame, but the window will not shatter -- the film will hold the pieces of broken glass together, much like a broken windshield in a car. There are limits to all of the protection, of course, with the limits of film or resistant windows usually a little lower than exterior shutters. Plywood is usually below the limits of purpose-designed shutters.
Moreover, film is expensive -- the 3M film on our house was about $3,000, installed. We went with the film for several reasons -- it is always in place, you can see out of it during the storm, and we used the tinted film which cuts UV and saves energy. We probably have saved the cost of the film just in reduction of fading of upholstery, etc., but that is because of the tint. We did not use the hurricane resistant glass because it was an existing house and we did not want to replace all the windows.
On our new house about to be built, we will be using shutters, probably the clear polycarbonate shutters you can see through, although we are also considering operating colonial style shutters that are hinged permanently on the house. The reason is, during hurricanes Frances, Jeanne and Wilma, we discovered that while the film (or resistant glass) is certainly strong enough, it does NOT prevent water from infiltrating the window. Rain driven by 100 mph winds WILL find the tiniest crack, even the lip where the window closes at the bottom -- and WILL blow enough water through those cracks to ruin your floors. I guarantee it. Shutters deflect that wind-driven water before it gets to your windows.
By the way, through those 3 hurricanes in two years (the only hurricanes we have experienced in Florida in 35 years), no debris hit any of our windows, none were shattered, and we would have been just as well off without protection of any sort. Of course, that could change in an instant, which is why we had the film.
Many places, including the big box home stores, are selling do-it-yourself hurricane shutters, now. You permanently install a track above and below your windows, and slide in the individual shutter pieces, which stack for easy storage. You use wing nuts to hold them in place. Often cheaper than plywood, and much easier to handle.
If you are concerned about drilling into stucco, use a silicone sealer when you install the anchors. Even with plywood, you leave the anchors (bolts) in place when you take the shutters down, so they are there the next time.
Excellent post....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hernando Cty
