06:21PM | 05/05/06
Member Since: 05/12/03
67 lifetime posts
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of roll-down shutters vs. hurricane glass (such as StaySafe)?

These are for protecting my upstairs windows. The first floor was easy enough to do with Plylox or (with significant difficulty) screwing into the Hardie. However, the upstairs windows wound up unprotected for Rita (the fact that I live alone doesn't help here).

I live 20+ miles inland, but we did have 120 MPH gusts from a Cat 3 that blew into the west end of Galveston Island some 20 years ago (before this house was built).


Never buy a house built by an oil company...


03:36PM | 05/08/06
Member Since: 05/13/05
40 lifetime posts
Impact glass -

It is passive protection, you don't have to be there to be protected.

It has significant sound-deadening ability.

It blocks 99% of UV light.

It protects you from the storm and from the looters after the storm.

With impact glass in place, you don't have to live in a "sunless cave" to be protected.

But, you cannot simply install "hurricane glass" in existing frames. The glass is part of a window system that includes upgraded frame components and hardware. It has to be installed correctly or it could fail in a storm. It isn't cheap and it isn't a DIY project.

Shutters -

Cheaper than impact windows IF you aren't planning to replace the windows anyway.

That's about the only advantage.

If you were planning to replace the windows anyway, and you were planning high end windows in the replacement, then the cost of new windows with shutters versus impact windows is about the same.



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