What Do I Do with My Vinyl Windows in a Hurricane?

What Do I Do with My Vinyl Windows in a Hurricane?

A couple of weeks ago our area here in Myrtle Beach got spared from the wrath of Hurricane Irma. It was a good wake up call, though, as most of us went ahead and completed some much needed preps on our homes and businesses.

We tied things down. We got rid of things laying around in yards. A few customers bought last minute storm panel installations. Everyone stocked up on bottled water.

And we got a lot of phone calls from our customers and even some of our competitor’s customers. Apparently, some of our competitors wouldn’t offer any help with the big pre-hurricane question…

What Do I Do with My Vinyl Windows in a Hurricane?

Here’s my advice.

Vinyl windows go by different names, but they’re all mostly the same, whether you call them vinyl windows, porch panels, vinyl panels, Eze-Breeze, or something else.

Almost all of them are rated for a certain wind speed. This means that during testing, some of the panels probably blew out of the frame. It also means they won’t warranty damage to the window panels if you leave them in during a hurricane.

Here’s a sticker from a window in our showroom that is on all of our vinyl windows.

The 65 mile per hour winds would place it in the tropical storm and above range.

This would mean that you should take all your panels out and put them in a big stack in the garage. Now, if you think about it, this is a pretty tedious process, especially if your forget to mark where they go. I mean, it would take you days to get them all figured out.

I don’t recommend taking them all out.

Here’s my recommendations on what to do, based on 30 years installing them, too many hurricane and tropical storm experiences, and having them on my own house.

If you have a lot of nice stuff in the room with vertical sliding windows, like a TV, expensive outdoor furniture, breakables, a mini bar, carpet, etc, leave the windows up. Don’t remove them. Don’t push them down. Take your chances. Honestly, I’ve seen very few of these ever blow out of the frame. I would rather protect what’s in the room from as much rain and wind as possible.

If the room is a basic outdoor use room with vertical vinyl windows and you’re worried about them, push them all to the bottom. By pushing them all down, you’ve strengthened the entire configuration by putting all the windows together in one section.

If you have large horizontal sliding panels like garage screens or sliding door sized sections, remove them and store them in the garage. These tend to blow out much easier and also make up a huge surface susceptible to puncture from blowing debris.

If you happen to have any windows damaged by blowing debris or wind blowing them out, once the hurricane has passed and we resume normal operations again, just bring them by. It doesn’t cost much to reroll new vinyl into the panes.

If you have any other questions leading up to or after a hurricane, please give us a call.

You can find us at…

Ocean Breeze Exterior Remodeling

843-238-4798

www.oceanbreezeexteriors.com

Our showroom is located at 739 Sandy Lane in Surfside Beach, SC