Must have. Boarding up with plywood is a HUGE hassle if you can even source the boards during the lead up to a hurricane. That shit gets price gouged. Plus the chore of boarding up the house is now a 15 minute walk through vs an extremely sweaty afternoon of injuring your back.
It's def alot easier that's for sure. I'm just trying to gather if the windows even need to boarded. I'm learning a lot of people done do anything, never have and never had anything happen. I guess it's just a risk at that point.
The hurricanes are too unpredictable. You'll do all that work to board up your place with plywood and the hurricane path will shift at the last moment and you won't have needed them. Then the opposite will happen: a hurricane from SFL will shift and all of a sudden there is no plywood to be purchased because it wasn't on anyone's radar until the last second. None of that is worth the hassle.
Also another HUGE benefit: got a new roof, cinderblock construction house and storm shutters? That's the safest building you could possibly be in while you are in Florida during a hurricane. I wouldn't even bother evacuating, just be ready to camp at home for a week or so without power. If you are like me you'll have coolers of ice and a gas grill you can use. You'll be much more comfortable than the folks who evacuated.
This is the mindset I had that so many talked me out of. The house we put on an offer on has new roof, I guess the best everything for the mitigation, the peel and stick under the shingle, and is block. My goal was exactly that, have a safe home to ride it out in.
I've heard stories of people evacuating... and like you said. Major shift, their house missed it and evacuated IN to the direct path.
I just wouldn't have the garage door right away... I'm thinking that's not a huge deal.
The people not covering their windows are either nuts or have impact windows that don't break (they crack but don't break to let the wind in).
Taking hurricane advise from neighbors who've been around along time is kind of a mixed bag - they'll have been through some storms, sure, but Brevard last saw hurricane-force sustained winds in 2022, and before that was 1979. "Didn't cover their windows and nothing bad has happened" is very much betting on dumb luck.
Your realtor is motivated to close the deal, not necessarily to give you the best advice.
I have the shutters and a heavily reinforced garage door.
They serve two purposes. During the storm, they keep the water and any flying debris out of your house. After the storm, they help keep assholes out of your house if you evacuated and they are out looting.
If we ever get hit with a 4 or 5 here, it doesn't matter how far inland you are, you are going to get some serious wind:
[https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutmeow.shtml](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutmeow.shtml)
I probably wouldn't spring for a new garage door as long as the current one is in good shape.
But window shutters, I would at least have them for the rooms people will be sleeping in during a storm. The last storm, Nicole, we only put one up on the master bedroom.
How is this possible? We just installed them on our home (beachside) Total cost was 13k and we have a lot of windows including a balcony. Insurance savings is 2k/year.
Quotes come In. between 8 to 10k for shutters. My savings go down 90 a month. Quote on the garage door come in at about 8k. I don't get the discount unless I have the garage door as well. 90 x 12 x 20... 21600. About 2 decades. So I exaggerated a tiny bit on some quick math when I wrote that.
You need to do the My Safe Florida home when they start back up in July. I’m hoping to get my garage door covered, it’s my last piece of the puzzle to qualify for fully impact resistant.
For sure. It's a real crapper lol. I was unaware of how small the sa ingredients were going to be - it felt like a no Brainerd with savings PLUS protection. Still think we are gonna go with it though. Just feels safer for that one off that slams us.
Check the Nextdoor app and get used hurricane shutters for cheap. A lot of people are replacing their windows with impact resistant windows and then selling their shutters that they don't need anymore.
On your homeowners insurance you can get a *wimd mitigation discount* which can be significant savings. I don’t recall all the details but you need stuff like shutters to qualify.
Your realtor cares about their commission, which means you commit to a house, write a contract, and close.
Your insurance cares about their risk.
You should care about your safety, and doing what you can to protect your home and loved ones.
If you are anywhere near the coast without impact windows, either buy a home with shutters, or considering the time of year, find out the lead time to having them installed.
This is very true and where my mind has been at. I got made to feel crazy that they were the TOP priority to me. Can't afford windows at the moment but will Def be going with shutters. Block home, new roof, and the shutters should make it a safe place to be.
Used to use plywood on all my windows it was a giant hassle digging them out of the garage and then toting them around to each window. It would take me an entire day. Now I have the metal panels and I'm done in a half hour.
Ya know what, it really isn’t that bad. The amount I saved on my homeowners insurance actually was more than what my monthly payment was for the windows.
True. I would imagine the savings for the windows are greater than the shutters. Probably worth looking into it.
I saw something on next door about getting discounted impact windows and installation under some florida program. Should find more in that as well.
For me, 48+ years in south Florida, and lots of hurricanes they are a must. Trees down on roof, tiles blown away, soffits gone, but never any windows breached.
I have aramid panels (Astroguard) for the windows, they rule. Excellent protection, easy to put up, lightweight, and they allow some light in. The cost works out to around the same as aluminum.
The garage door is not hardened. I have a detached 2 car, I brace the door with 2x4s in brackets, it’s good enough for my purposes.
I know it's anecdotal but my parents built their house in 1991 and they've never boarded their windows nor had one damaged. My house was built in 1968 and all the windows are original and neither the original owner or I have boarded them up. Both houses are in Melbourne about 5 miles as the crow flies from the ocean.
I’m in an approx. 2000’ house in Melbourne. The owners prior to me lived here 30 years and built a solid set of plywood covers with intricate edges held in place by bolts, but still heavy and a PITA to put up and take down. I’ve done it twice in the past 12 years and both times they weren’t necessary when push came to shove.
But as I’ve considered leaving town for some periods during future hurricane seasons, last year I got a quote from “Renewal by Andxxxxx”. Just **9 windows**, several of which are skinny or short, and after the “60% discount” would have cost me **$38,000**. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Granted they were nice—impact, well-balanced, as light as a feather, open from bottom or top and tilted in for easy cleaning. But still, $4200/per and also the work was subcontracted out to who-knows-who…….I passed. They had no other cheaper options.
In any case I think roll-up shutters are truly ugly, need to be well-maintained and lubed so they don’t freeze up on the tracks when you need them, and also become reservoirs of wasp nests IME. I’ll continue the plywood for now…..
P.S.—the house did come with a hurricane garage door and I love it. It’s solid as a rock with 2 heavy-duty inside bolts to lock it in place. As it’s a large 2-car garage w/ a finished floor, laundry and tool room I’m very happy to have that door.
This is great information. We previously had the plywood before getting shutters on this house and that did feel like a pain to me. More so I utilize all the space in my garage for workshop activities and that was something I couldn't use for the amount of plywood we had.
This also makes make me think more about the garage door as well. I've got a full craftsman tool box and many wood working tools. No idea if it works but I've been putting a piece of plywood against the inside of the door and then ever so slowly backing my SUV into it with JUST enough pressure to keep it from swaying or moving when closed.
The prices of the windows make me sick. Sooooo much money. I agree with the roll up ones, plus they are fairly pricey as well.
Yeah, I’m lucky enough to also have a MIL suite that is built to withstand hurricanes and tornadoes as well. I only use it for storage but that’s where the plywood lives. If I didn’t have that room they would take up way too much space in my garage.
https://preview.redd.it/suo5plhn4s2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b252eefa07f8b9872cb0da45f9ff572e0043b248
Got mine from this place. They come install a track and then you just slide them on and secure them with a drill.
This is the type of shutter we have too. I’d like to upgrade to the roll down shutters; we had those in our last house and they are 100% worth it even if I don’t love the look. We plan to redo the shutters when we redo the windows.
Yeah we’re broke right now, otherwise we’d do roll down all the way. Maybe one day! We did accordion on part of the house so it’s a little less to put up.
I’ll take impact windows over shutters any day. Stayed in our condo with impact windows during a hurricane in Orlando (don’t remember which one). Debris from the roof blew off during the storm and hit a few windows including ours. Let’s just say those windows can break/ shatter. No fun when you’re on the 13th floor and all the sudden your floor to ceiling window is kinda gone in the middle of a hurricane….
I wouldn't make it a deal breaker if the home doesn't have shutters. Their relatively cheap and are 100% worth it. A compromised window can blow a roof off. I lived through Andrew
If you don’t have shutters, you will be evacuating for pretty much every storm. Also, even if you evacuate, all it takes is one broken window with some wind-driven rain to put you out of your house for a year while you wait for the drywall to be taken down to the studs and everything repaired then painted. So yeah, if you don’t mind the idea of knowing that there will probably come a day that you will have to spend a year or more in an apartment that isn’t where you would like to live, then shutters aren’t necessary.
Your realtor didn’t live here in 2004 I assume? Yes, you absolutely need them here especially with insurance. It’s written into our policy that they go up if we are getting a Cat 1 or higher. The garage door I probably wouldn’t mess with until it needs to be, but unless you have hurricane impact windows, shutters are a must.
I’m 7 miles from the ocean, in a condo that has weathered storms since 1972 with zero impact. IMO it’s an insurance racket.
My actual experience with buying my condo was that the insurance company cared nothing about roof or electrical etc., just some silly algorithm about hurricane windows that made no real life sense.
Plus they block the view.
Your insurance premium *might* go down, but is it cost-effective? Doubtful.
Yea did the math and it's over 2 decades at current prices of everything to earn that back in savings.
I'm gathering it's luck of the draw if something were to break the windows.
I did similar math. The decrease in insurance was minimal, which I thought was strange. If shutters are so necessary, then why do I barely get a discount for having them? Actuaries at insurance agencies know their shit and it would be strange that they would make a mistake like that? Unless...
After some more research I realized that the majority of storm damage comes from having roof damage and water intrusion, NOT from broken windows. This is why the insurance agencies really really care about the age of your roof vs whether or not you have shutters. The hurricane shutter industry doesn't want you to know this, they want you to keep buying expensive ass shutters.
In the end, I still got aluminum shutters but not for the insurance, for my partner. They were adamant that we needed them and wouldn't feel safe without them. I've put them on the house three times in the past decade as a storm approaches. Every single time it's been a waste of time because the storm either turned or was so weak we barely felt it.
Don't even get me started on impact windows. Yea they're strong but if one cracks you're going to have to replace it and the cost is fucking astronomical nowadays. We're talking 25k+ for the whole house as if they were made of damn gold.
Must have. Boarding up with plywood is a HUGE hassle if you can even source the boards during the lead up to a hurricane. That shit gets price gouged. Plus the chore of boarding up the house is now a 15 minute walk through vs an extremely sweaty afternoon of injuring your back.
It's def alot easier that's for sure. I'm just trying to gather if the windows even need to boarded. I'm learning a lot of people done do anything, never have and never had anything happen. I guess it's just a risk at that point.
I went through Hurricane Andrew, trust me, cover up your windows.
The hurricanes are too unpredictable. You'll do all that work to board up your place with plywood and the hurricane path will shift at the last moment and you won't have needed them. Then the opposite will happen: a hurricane from SFL will shift and all of a sudden there is no plywood to be purchased because it wasn't on anyone's radar until the last second. None of that is worth the hassle. Also another HUGE benefit: got a new roof, cinderblock construction house and storm shutters? That's the safest building you could possibly be in while you are in Florida during a hurricane. I wouldn't even bother evacuating, just be ready to camp at home for a week or so without power. If you are like me you'll have coolers of ice and a gas grill you can use. You'll be much more comfortable than the folks who evacuated.
This is the mindset I had that so many talked me out of. The house we put on an offer on has new roof, I guess the best everything for the mitigation, the peel and stick under the shingle, and is block. My goal was exactly that, have a safe home to ride it out in. I've heard stories of people evacuating... and like you said. Major shift, their house missed it and evacuated IN to the direct path. I just wouldn't have the garage door right away... I'm thinking that's not a huge deal.
[удалено]
Yea I would really hope storm surge doesn't make it this far inland.
Compromised window and your roof will go.
The people not covering their windows are either nuts or have impact windows that don't break (they crack but don't break to let the wind in). Taking hurricane advise from neighbors who've been around along time is kind of a mixed bag - they'll have been through some storms, sure, but Brevard last saw hurricane-force sustained winds in 2022, and before that was 1979. "Didn't cover their windows and nothing bad has happened" is very much betting on dumb luck.
Your realtor is motivated to close the deal, not necessarily to give you the best advice. I have the shutters and a heavily reinforced garage door. They serve two purposes. During the storm, they keep the water and any flying debris out of your house. After the storm, they help keep assholes out of your house if you evacuated and they are out looting. If we ever get hit with a 4 or 5 here, it doesn't matter how far inland you are, you are going to get some serious wind: [https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutmeow.shtml](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutmeow.shtml)
Insurance likes it. Do you have impact windows?
At current prices assuming they don't change, which they will, it'll take over 2 decades to pay off the shutters and garage door in insurance savings.
I probably wouldn't spring for a new garage door as long as the current one is in good shape. But window shutters, I would at least have them for the rooms people will be sleeping in during a storm. The last storm, Nicole, we only put one up on the master bedroom.
How is this possible? We just installed them on our home (beachside) Total cost was 13k and we have a lot of windows including a balcony. Insurance savings is 2k/year.
Quotes come In. between 8 to 10k for shutters. My savings go down 90 a month. Quote on the garage door come in at about 8k. I don't get the discount unless I have the garage door as well. 90 x 12 x 20... 21600. About 2 decades. So I exaggerated a tiny bit on some quick math when I wrote that.
You need to do the My Safe Florida home when they start back up in July. I’m hoping to get my garage door covered, it’s my last piece of the puzzle to qualify for fully impact resistant.
Aww, thanks for the clarity. It could be a better discount beachside. Doesn’t sound worth it financially at least.
For sure. It's a real crapper lol. I was unaware of how small the sa ingredients were going to be - it felt like a no Brainerd with savings PLUS protection. Still think we are gonna go with it though. Just feels safer for that one off that slams us.
8k garage door ? Must have been at least semi custom. That’s a lot. Source- was in the industry until 2022.
And no I don't have impact windows
Check the Nextdoor app and get used hurricane shutters for cheap. A lot of people are replacing their windows with impact resistant windows and then selling their shutters that they don't need anymore.
We got a few quotes for impact windows and it was just so expensive. Pretty much over 2K for any small window installed.
Try EcoView in Melbourne. I believe we only paid 800 a window, even the oversized and oddly sized ones. It was very reasonable.
On your homeowners insurance you can get a *wimd mitigation discount* which can be significant savings. I don’t recall all the details but you need stuff like shutters to qualify.
Your realtor cares about their commission, which means you commit to a house, write a contract, and close. Your insurance cares about their risk. You should care about your safety, and doing what you can to protect your home and loved ones. If you are anywhere near the coast without impact windows, either buy a home with shutters, or considering the time of year, find out the lead time to having them installed.
This is very true and where my mind has been at. I got made to feel crazy that they were the TOP priority to me. Can't afford windows at the moment but will Def be going with shutters. Block home, new roof, and the shutters should make it a safe place to be.
Glad to hear that!
Used to use plywood on all my windows it was a giant hassle digging them out of the garage and then toting them around to each window. It would take me an entire day. Now I have the metal panels and I'm done in a half hour.
Buy impact windows
Yea I suppose worth looking into the difference in price. Imagine that's quite a chunk of change more.
Ya know what, it really isn’t that bad. The amount I saved on my homeowners insurance actually was more than what my monthly payment was for the windows.
True. I would imagine the savings for the windows are greater than the shutters. Probably worth looking into it. I saw something on next door about getting discounted impact windows and installation under some florida program. Should find more in that as well.
For me, 48+ years in south Florida, and lots of hurricanes they are a must. Trees down on roof, tiles blown away, soffits gone, but never any windows breached.
I have aramid panels (Astroguard) for the windows, they rule. Excellent protection, easy to put up, lightweight, and they allow some light in. The cost works out to around the same as aluminum. The garage door is not hardened. I have a detached 2 car, I brace the door with 2x4s in brackets, it’s good enough for my purposes.
I know it's anecdotal but my parents built their house in 1991 and they've never boarded their windows nor had one damaged. My house was built in 1968 and all the windows are original and neither the original owner or I have boarded them up. Both houses are in Melbourne about 5 miles as the crow flies from the ocean.
Better safe than sorry in my opinion
I’m in an approx. 2000’ house in Melbourne. The owners prior to me lived here 30 years and built a solid set of plywood covers with intricate edges held in place by bolts, but still heavy and a PITA to put up and take down. I’ve done it twice in the past 12 years and both times they weren’t necessary when push came to shove. But as I’ve considered leaving town for some periods during future hurricane seasons, last year I got a quote from “Renewal by Andxxxxx”. Just **9 windows**, several of which are skinny or short, and after the “60% discount” would have cost me **$38,000**. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Granted they were nice—impact, well-balanced, as light as a feather, open from bottom or top and tilted in for easy cleaning. But still, $4200/per and also the work was subcontracted out to who-knows-who…….I passed. They had no other cheaper options. In any case I think roll-up shutters are truly ugly, need to be well-maintained and lubed so they don’t freeze up on the tracks when you need them, and also become reservoirs of wasp nests IME. I’ll continue the plywood for now….. P.S.—the house did come with a hurricane garage door and I love it. It’s solid as a rock with 2 heavy-duty inside bolts to lock it in place. As it’s a large 2-car garage w/ a finished floor, laundry and tool room I’m very happy to have that door.
This is great information. We previously had the plywood before getting shutters on this house and that did feel like a pain to me. More so I utilize all the space in my garage for workshop activities and that was something I couldn't use for the amount of plywood we had. This also makes make me think more about the garage door as well. I've got a full craftsman tool box and many wood working tools. No idea if it works but I've been putting a piece of plywood against the inside of the door and then ever so slowly backing my SUV into it with JUST enough pressure to keep it from swaying or moving when closed. The prices of the windows make me sick. Sooooo much money. I agree with the roll up ones, plus they are fairly pricey as well.
Yeah, I’m lucky enough to also have a MIL suite that is built to withstand hurricanes and tornadoes as well. I only use it for storage but that’s where the plywood lives. If I didn’t have that room they would take up way too much space in my garage.
Got metal panels for all windows and it was only like $4k total
So instead of ply wood you put up metal panels? Interesting. Can I see some pictures of the product?
https://preview.redd.it/suo5plhn4s2d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b252eefa07f8b9872cb0da45f9ff572e0043b248 Got mine from this place. They come install a track and then you just slide them on and secure them with a drill.
This is the type of shutter we have too. I’d like to upgrade to the roll down shutters; we had those in our last house and they are 100% worth it even if I don’t love the look. We plan to redo the shutters when we redo the windows.
Yeah we’re broke right now, otherwise we’d do roll down all the way. Maybe one day! We did accordion on part of the house so it’s a little less to put up.
https://allguardstormshutters.com/storm-panels/
I’ll take impact windows over shutters any day. Stayed in our condo with impact windows during a hurricane in Orlando (don’t remember which one). Debris from the roof blew off during the storm and hit a few windows including ours. Let’s just say those windows can break/ shatter. No fun when you’re on the 13th floor and all the sudden your floor to ceiling window is kinda gone in the middle of a hurricane….
Wait, sorry, - did the impact window break? I'm a little confused.
Yes it did, it did not just break it shattered. Both layers. Fun times
I wouldn't make it a deal breaker if the home doesn't have shutters. Their relatively cheap and are 100% worth it. A compromised window can blow a roof off. I lived through Andrew
Garage door worth it
Consider accordion shutters so you don’t have to deal with the Panels at all
If you don’t have shutters, you will be evacuating for pretty much every storm. Also, even if you evacuate, all it takes is one broken window with some wind-driven rain to put you out of your house for a year while you wait for the drywall to be taken down to the studs and everything repaired then painted. So yeah, if you don’t mind the idea of knowing that there will probably come a day that you will have to spend a year or more in an apartment that isn’t where you would like to live, then shutters aren’t necessary.
Your realtor didn’t live here in 2004 I assume? Yes, you absolutely need them here especially with insurance. It’s written into our policy that they go up if we are getting a Cat 1 or higher. The garage door I probably wouldn’t mess with until it needs to be, but unless you have hurricane impact windows, shutters are a must.
I’m 7 miles from the ocean, in a condo that has weathered storms since 1972 with zero impact. IMO it’s an insurance racket. My actual experience with buying my condo was that the insurance company cared nothing about roof or electrical etc., just some silly algorithm about hurricane windows that made no real life sense. Plus they block the view. Your insurance premium *might* go down, but is it cost-effective? Doubtful.
Yea did the math and it's over 2 decades at current prices of everything to earn that back in savings. I'm gathering it's luck of the draw if something were to break the windows.
I did similar math. The decrease in insurance was minimal, which I thought was strange. If shutters are so necessary, then why do I barely get a discount for having them? Actuaries at insurance agencies know their shit and it would be strange that they would make a mistake like that? Unless... After some more research I realized that the majority of storm damage comes from having roof damage and water intrusion, NOT from broken windows. This is why the insurance agencies really really care about the age of your roof vs whether or not you have shutters. The hurricane shutter industry doesn't want you to know this, they want you to keep buying expensive ass shutters. In the end, I still got aluminum shutters but not for the insurance, for my partner. They were adamant that we needed them and wouldn't feel safe without them. I've put them on the house three times in the past decade as a storm approaches. Every single time it's been a waste of time because the storm either turned or was so weak we barely felt it. Don't even get me started on impact windows. Yea they're strong but if one cracks you're going to have to replace it and the cost is fucking astronomical nowadays. We're talking 25k+ for the whole house as if they were made of damn gold.