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Storm Shutters


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Does anyone have an experience with hurricane shutters? I have a condo in S/W Fl. (Englewood) and although we did not have any structural damage, all units had water damage. The water was pushed between the sliding glass doors and the door track. We have five sliding glass doors per condo unit. So, wind pushing on one side and wind pulling on the other side just sucked the water right under the sliding glass doors. Under normal circumstances (average afternoon thunderstorms with wind) these doors don't leak.

Upgrading the sliding glass doors is really expensive and still no guarantee that they won't leak in a hurricane. So, I thought hurricane shutters might be a better alternative and much cheaper.  I'm leaning toward accordion shutters, but would like some guidance or examples from anyone who has experience.

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I had accordion shutters installed on the house which made it easier for my wife if I was out of town traveling. I had changed from sliders to French doors which sealed completely. I can't say that the shutters made a difference in preventing water intrusion. They rattle some in storms and are mainly for debris protection. The replacement to French doors helped us the best.

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I too have accordion shutters. they will not keep water out, may slow it down a bit. as stated above, for debris and wind protection. even sliding glass doors, hurricane proof and rated will not keep the water out. also live in condo and wife looked into this very much as she was president of assoc. at time of Charlie and after. 

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i leave my FL house for the summer and install steel shutters in steel tracks with wing bolts. nothing goes through those,but they get put up once  and taken down in fall.  I would get electric shutters on tracks if I lived in Fl 24/7.  Make sure whatever you use for glass doors are rated 140mph or higher.  All it takes is one flying object to open the house up.  we survived 140+ winds in Naples eye of Irma,no structural damage or water,we were lucky. 

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We are in the process of  building a new home in North Port Fl and we opted for impact windows and French doors.  They are suppose to keep everything out, or so they say.  We are getting older now and steel shutters are a big hassle to put up and down every time a storm nears.  We are also opting for a 22k Generac generator with buried 500 gallon tank.  Hopefully we won't have anymore storms for a while,  but in the event that we do,  we thought that this is the best way to prepare.   This last storm we put up the shutters and ran to Panama City beach to hide.  My thought was that if the storm changed course,  we could always head further west and or North.  The winds only reach about 45 in PCB and our home in North Port and zero damage....lost power for about 12 hours.  We were very lucky this time.  Thank God

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Can't change the sliding glass doors to French because it's a condo. All windows have to look the same and I don't think they make a series of French doors that are 12 ft. wide. Anyone have experience with the roll-down type shutters. Seems like they would have a better seal at the bottom, but they are about 50% more expensive.

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As mentioned I doubt shutters will do anything for keeping water out. 

Honestly easiest  solution that would actually work would be tape. A lot of people in my area learned from Matthew and kept from flooding from Irma  due to taping doors and windows. If it kept out flood water it will keep out wind driven water no doubt.

 Gorilla and 3m "duct" tape seemed most popular.  A lot of folks also used zip tape intended for zip boards 

All of em are easy to put on, the cleanup is a bit of work tho. 

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Yep, that would work, but all sliding glass doors lead to balconies or lanais on my second and third floors.  I have a townhouse (3 floors), so there is no way to get back in the condo after taping unless I repel off the balcony railing.  Going to visit the only storm shutter retailer I could find in the Orlando area. Will try to determine which shutter would stop wind driven rain.

Another thing I'm considering is to install Polycarbonate (Lexan) panels available at Home Depot. They would bolt tight to the walls and sit tight on the floor. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get back in the condo after bolting the panels to the wall. Maybe I could cut a small door to crawl through, but can't figure how to secure that piece back in place.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/48-in-x-96-in-Multiwall-Hurricane-Panel-GEMW96/202482761

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Haha glad you got it before some of these guys thought I was crazy.  I haven't seen one since fire school and thank goodness never used one! 

What about visqueen taped up a few feet on glass and  and sandbags  on the visqueen on bottom? Seems you could do most of it outside leaving a flap of visqueen to be taped up once you got inside. Then close the door. 

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During Dolly in Texas I had water driven around casement window seals, those windows were protected by roll up plastic hurricane shutters. Occurred with gusts to 125. The windows were flexing in and out with the gusts and after the eye passed.

my house in Key West has impact windows and doors with FAA sound proof rating due to proximity to airport. Windows and  French doors are covered by aluminum accordion shutters. I duct taped the lower half of the door for flood protection. After the storm I found water droplets

 at the top of the door frame above the seal and cracking of the seam where the door frame abuts the cbs opening presumably reflecting a suction effect on the door frame allowing water entry. This house was rebuilt to cat5 in 2009. No water penetrated the door or window seals.

 I remain amazed at the difference in damage sustained between Key West and Cudjoe versus the flooding experienced to the east of the storm. The Comcast office in Marathon had a water line inside 9ft off the floor. My canal in Key West saw water at the top of the sea wall.

 

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Just came back from checking my townhouse in Marathon. We have shutters over the windows and French doors and not a drop of water got in. The shutters extend several inches beyond the doors and windows so nothing gets in. Our front door is solid wood  so no shutters, and some dirt and debris got in.

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Just a thought: have French doors on back patio. Rain (and pool) pushed 2-3" of water to patio and during Irma water did come under door frame (not much but PIA). Previously I had put plastic sheet up 3', taped to floor and a couple sandbags and that kept out water.

my son's house is low and during Mathew water came into garage (faces NE).  Sandbags didn't help.  This time we put a sheet of plastic over door & about 3' into drive. Instead of sandbags (time & work) we filled big black plastic bags with water and made a ***.  Worked great!  Plus each bag could do 3 toilet flushes after storm & no power or water.  Idea came from "water ***" we saw on tv.

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1 hour ago, johnd said:

Just a thought: have French doors on back patio. Rain (and pool) pushed 2-3" of water to patio and during Irma water did come under door frame (not much but PIA). Previously I had put plastic sheet up 3', taped to floor and a couple sandbags and that kept out water.

my son's house is low and during Mathew water came into garage (faces NE).  Sandbags didn't help.  This time we put a sheet of plastic over door & about 3' into drive. Instead of sandbags (time & work) we filled big black plastic bags with water and made a ***.  Worked great!  Plus each bag could do 3 toilet flushes after storm & no power or water.  Idea came from "water ***" we saw on tv.

Interesting idea. Wonder what bags you used and how you prevented them from leaking. Previously I have bought top soil in bags, put garbage over them  and used them as sandbags in front of garage. After the season I use the soil around the yard to fill in low areas.

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Bought the thickest black yard trash bags at BJ's.  Kind you use for grass & yard trash or construction waste.  Didn't put too much water in.  I'll ask my son, but think he just twisted really tight.   I'm going to try and find the commercially made one that looks like a hot dog.

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On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 6:10 PM, B2TB said:

Just came back from checking my townhouse in Marathon. We have shutters over the windows and French doors and not a drop of water got in. The shutters extend several inches beyond the doors and windows so nothing gets in. Our front door is solid wood  so no shutters, and some dirt and debris got in.

What type of shutters do you have? Roll-down or accordion?

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On 10/1/2017 at 5:59 PM, johnd said:

Bought the thickest black yard trash bags at BJ's.  Kind you use for grass & yard trash or construction waste.  Didn't put too much water in.  I'll ask my son, but think he just twisted really tight.   I'm going to try and find the commercially made one that looks like a hot dog.

Please pm me or  post if you find the bags.

Thanks

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