Installing storm panels on a wood frame home?
June 10, 2010 7:55 AM Subscribe
How do I install hurricane panels to my wood frame + stucco home?
All the information I've found is for concrete block homes. I found a few comments that suggest wood frame requires precise sizes and can only use track mounting? The panels I inherited have no hardware, and fit some of the windows vertically, but some would require mounting them horizontally.
Is this all ok? Where do I find info on installing them? I have 10 windows requiring maybe 20 panels. Any rough idea of cost of the hardware?
thanks!
All the information I've found is for concrete block homes. I found a few comments that suggest wood frame requires precise sizes and can only use track mounting? The panels I inherited have no hardware, and fit some of the windows vertically, but some would require mounting them horizontally.
Is this all ok? Where do I find info on installing them? I have 10 windows requiring maybe 20 panels. Any rough idea of cost of the hardware?
thanks!
Response by poster: The aluminum panels, not shutters. Panels are the interlinking metal piece ones. In the web page you gave they're the ones called "storm panel shutters".
posted by aussicht at 10:58 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by aussicht at 10:58 AM on June 10, 2010
Response by poster: Those plylox ones are just for plywood right?
posted by aussicht at 10:59 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by aussicht at 10:59 AM on June 10, 2010
Best answer: I work in building supplies in the Caribbean so hurricane shutters are something that I am pretty familiar with.
The shutter system you have identified works with tracks that are permanently attached to the building. Each opening will need an upper and lower track. The upper track is "C" shaped and is attached with the open part facing down. The lower track is "L" shaped, the shorter leg gets attached to the wall and has a row of 1-1/4" threaded rods protruding from it. This row of threaded studs should correspond to the spacing of a row of holes that are drilled into the bottom edge of each storm panel. I have never seen this type of panel mounted horizontally but apparently it can be done using two sections of "L" shaped track mounted to either side of the window.
If your house is wood these tracks should be attached to framing members with suitable length lag bolts. I would guess that 1/4"x4" galvanized lags every 18" should do the job.
When a storm is approaching the panels are slid up into the upper track, the holes along the bottom edge are lined up with the threaded studs on the bottom track and then secured with washer based wingnuts. Each panel should overlap the adjacent panel by at least one corrugation (or "interlock") and the overlaps should face away from the direction the majority of wind is expected to come from. For your own peace of mind test fit all your panels well before storm season and then label them with the window that they belong to and the order that they should be mounted (for example "living room east 1" "living room east 2" etc etc.) When you put the panels away for the season put them away in the order that you will be installing them and make sure you know where your wingnuts are.
I'm assuming that since you "inherited" these you are not in possession of the tracks, so I would estimate you are looking at hardware costs somewhere between $100-$300 but really its kind of hard to estimate since I am not familiar with OR prices and I don't know what kind of measurements we're dealing with.
Here is a link about storm panels that shows some pictures of the hardware you're going to need.
posted by Bango Skank at 1:11 PM on June 10, 2010
The shutter system you have identified works with tracks that are permanently attached to the building. Each opening will need an upper and lower track. The upper track is "C" shaped and is attached with the open part facing down. The lower track is "L" shaped, the shorter leg gets attached to the wall and has a row of 1-1/4" threaded rods protruding from it. This row of threaded studs should correspond to the spacing of a row of holes that are drilled into the bottom edge of each storm panel. I have never seen this type of panel mounted horizontally but apparently it can be done using two sections of "L" shaped track mounted to either side of the window.
If your house is wood these tracks should be attached to framing members with suitable length lag bolts. I would guess that 1/4"x4" galvanized lags every 18" should do the job.
When a storm is approaching the panels are slid up into the upper track, the holes along the bottom edge are lined up with the threaded studs on the bottom track and then secured with washer based wingnuts. Each panel should overlap the adjacent panel by at least one corrugation (or "interlock") and the overlaps should face away from the direction the majority of wind is expected to come from. For your own peace of mind test fit all your panels well before storm season and then label them with the window that they belong to and the order that they should be mounted (for example "living room east 1" "living room east 2" etc etc.) When you put the panels away for the season put them away in the order that you will be installing them and make sure you know where your wingnuts are.
I'm assuming that since you "inherited" these you are not in possession of the tracks, so I would estimate you are looking at hardware costs somewhere between $100-$300 but really its kind of hard to estimate since I am not familiar with OR prices and I don't know what kind of measurements we're dealing with.
Here is a link about storm panels that shows some pictures of the hardware you're going to need.
posted by Bango Skank at 1:11 PM on June 10, 2010
« Older Why do my ears produce differently colored wax? | Need help learning the details of cellular... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by SpecialK at 9:46 AM on June 10, 2010