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Captain Tropic's

Hurricane Storm Shutters

It's time to stop a myth. People used to think that they were supposed to put masking tape on windows when a hurricane watch or warning was issued. This is a completely useless measure, a shameful waste of good masking tape. It was thought tape would keep glass shards in check. It will not. A mail box that has been ripped from the ground, post and all, by a 120 mph wind gust, will not even slow down as it passes through your little masking tape X. Then after that mail box has impaled itself in you 48" flat screen TV, hurricane force winds will enter your home and that's when the real property damage begins.

During Andrew (1992), ceiling fans spun so fast because of these winds that the blades spun off hub and all. In some cases they chewed walls in the process and many were flung outdoors and never found. When your windows are breached, high wind pressure will then press on your homes inside walls, ceiling and eventually the underside of your roof. High wind pressure inside a home will often cause the roof to blow off, followed by interior and exterior wall failure. See the figure below. Preventing this destruction through preparedness is what this page is all about.

Make storm shutters part of your emergency plan. Remember bad weather, hurricanes and tropical storms are likely to be in your future, stay safe, and avoid a disaster.

According to FEMA, the best way to protect your home is to install professionally made storm shutters that are rated to withstand winds of 120 mph or more. You should cover all windows, French doors, sliding glass doors, and skylights. There are many types of manufactured storm shutters available. For more information on manufactured shutters, check with your local building supplies retailer. If you install manufactured shutters, follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully. Before installing shutters, check with your local building official to find out if a building permit is required. For your safety, it is important that you have your shutters ready now, and that you mark and store them so they can be easily installed during a hurricane watch.

If you can not afford professionally made storm shutters (most of us can't), you can build some yourself. Plywood shutters, if installed properly, can offer a very high level of protection during a hurricane. Not only that but can be very cost effective. The price of lumber and plywood goes down during the winter months and this is the best time to start this project. Make storm shutters for every opening in your home. What I mean "opening" is every window, door, gable end vent, sky light, roof vent, or any other opening that if damaged would allow wind to enter your home. Homemade plywood shutters can be installed over all types of openings.

If we all lived in a perfect world this is how we would make and install hurricane shutters:

Measure each window and each door that has glass, and add 8 inches to both the height and width to provide a 4-inch overlap on each side of the window or door. Sheets of plywood are generally 4x8 feet. Tell your local building supply retailer the size and number of openings you need to cover to determine how many sheets to buy. The big retailers will cut them for you, but you will be charged for this service. My best advice is that you purchase 1/2 to 5/8" cdx plywood. Marine plywood is better but is very expensive. If you paint standard plywood with exterior grade paint it will weather and store nicely. It will cost alot less to.

To install plywood shutters you will need bolts, wood or masonry anchors, large washers, and 5/8 - inch exterior-grade plywood.

For windows 3 feet by 4 feet or smaller installed on a wood frame house, use 1/4 -inch lag bolts and plastic-coated permanent anchors. The lag bolts should penetrate the wall and frame surrounding the window at least 1 3/4 inches. For larger windows, use 3/8 -inch lag bolts that penetrate the wall and frame surrounding the window at least 2 1/2 inches.

For windows 3 feet by 4 feet or smaller installed on a masonry house, use 1/4-inch expansion bolts and galvanized permanent expansion anchors. The expansion bolt should penetrate the wall at least 1 1/2 inches. For larger windows, use 3/8 -inch expansion bolts that penetrate the wall at least 1 1/2 inches.

The plywood panels should overlap the windows by 4 or more inches on every side. The tools you will need are a circular or handsaw, a drill with the appropriately sized bits, a hammer, and a wrench to fit the bolts. This is another project where a good screw-gun would come in pretty handy. To be safe, use eye protection and work gloves. Also watch out for that saw blade and don't jury rig the blade guard open.

Cut the plywood to the measurements for each opening. Drill each hole 2 1/2 inches from the outside edge of the plywood at each comer and at 12-inch intervals. Drill four 1/4" holes in the center area of the plywood to relieve pressure during a hurricane.

Place the plywood over the opening and mark each hole position on the outside wall. Drill holes with the appropriate size and type of bit for the anchors. Install the anchors, the plywood, and the bolts to make sure they fit properly. On wood-frame houses, make sure that the anchors are secured into the solid wood (studs) that frames the door or window and not into the siding or trim. Mark each shutter so you will know where it is to be installed and store them and the hardware in an accessible place so you can complete you emergency storm preparation quickly.

If the opening is larger than one sheet of plywood, you will need to make shutters with 2x4 bracing. This bracing can be two 2x4s in the middle and bottom of the two sheets of plywood, evenly spaced, with the 2-inch side attached to the inside of the storm shutter. Attach the 2x4s to the outside of the storm shutter with 2-inch, 10-gauge wood screws before installing the shutter.

What follows is how I made hurricane storm shutters for our home, and I don't live in a perfect world:

When I decided to make Hurricane Shutters for my home I wanted to find a way to install them so that they would not leave noticeable holes all over the house. My concern was hurting the resale value of my largest investment and i think most people would agree.

There are other considerations as well, such as overall strength of the shutter, ease of installation, ease of removal and store ability. Our home was built in 1969; most of it is wood frame with a brick veneer. This is one tough house. This page will explain how I made storm shutters for the openings in the brick veneer. I didn't want to drill a lot holes into the brickwork, they are unsightly and can in some situations let water and moisture into the structure.

So lets get started.

Pictured in the photo above are some of the tools and materials I used to install my shutters. The long drill bit in the center is a masonry bit I used to drill holes in the brick mortar to mount the red plastic screw anchors in. The smaller drill bit to the left was used to drill pilot holes into the large support board. The long screws are used to mount the support boards. The smaller screws are used to attach the hurricane shutter to there support boards. Not pictured are fender washers I added to the short screws. All of these materials can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowes, or any well stocked hardware store.

Here is one of the bedroom windows in our home. If you look real closely across the top just above the window note the strip of wood I attached. This board has been permanently installed, painted and caulked. As you will see further down this board is used for the top support of the storm shutter. This board was cut to fit from a 2X4.

This is a close up shot of the window ledge of the same window. In the center of this photo please note the installed red screw anchor. Next to it is the drill bit used and two extra anchors. Note how the anchor is install in the mortar and not in the brick. It was much easier to drill the hole in the mortar than in the much harder brick. When drilling in morter, be very careful not to let the drill bit drift. Keep your drill vertical and under control.

Here is a much wider view of the same window. I installed three anchors in this ledge. The ledge is pretty far off the ground and the anchors will never be seen from the ground. You could put a drop of paint on each anchor to hide them. These three anchors will be used to install the bottom support board

Here is a wide view of the bottom shutter support board installed. This board comes off when not in use. It's mounted with 3, three-inch long screws. If you wanted more strength you could add anchors and screws, they don't cost very much.

Because the window ledge slopes away from the house to let rainwater run off, the bottom surface of the bottom support has to be cut at the same angle. I did this so the front surface of this board would match up in the same plane with the front surface of the top support board. If you don't cut this angle the bottom support board will be cocked and the storm shutter will not fit flush. This will weaken the whole shutter system.

Here is a shot of the storm shutter installed. I used ten good quality screws to hold it to the support boards. Later after these pictures were taken I added fender washers to the design. These washers will help the screws hold the shutters in place. Note that the shutter is painted. This helps keep the wood in good shape while in storage and when it's being rained on.

In this photo I've added two boards to the unsupported edges. The two boards will stiffen the shutter and keeps it from shaking around in high winds. You could add several of these boards and this would make the storm shutter stronger with each additional board. The added boards pictured above are 1X2's. You could use 2X2's or 2X4's and these larger boards would make the overall shutter system stronger. At the very top and bottom of these boards long screws were used and they pass through the shutter into the support boards. Short screws were used in the center area and only go into the shutter.

Here is a longer shot of the window showing the final installation and some of the tools I used to put all this together. It took less than five minutes to take the shutter down and store it. As you might guess it took a little longer than that to put this all together. With that in mind please remember there will not be enough time after a hurricane warning is issued to design build and install your shutters before a storm strikes.

Make storm shutters part of your emergency plan. Remember bad weather, hurricanes and tropical storms are likely to be in your future, stay safe, and avoid a disaster.

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Thanks, Captain Tropic

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