As Hurricane Ike approaches the gulf coast, we are trying to figure a quicker way of putting up boards over our windows. During Hurricane Gustav we bought 1/4" exterior plywood and also bought Plylox clips to attach the boards. Problem, we don't have brick or stucco (which is obviously what you need for those clips).

Our house is aluminum siding with metal window frames, which have about 1.5" inset. These boards have to be put up and taken down approximately 2-4 times per year (May 15- Nov 30... hurricane season). I read on a site where you could use "eye hooks" and bolts... kinda got confused on it. :o

Any ideas for us?

I screw mine to block, so I'm afraid I don't have any advice. But, I will say that the 1/4" plywood is too thin. I think the experts say that it needs to be at least 5/8.

Stay safe! For now, it looks like it is going to miss us in Tampa area. We are sure praying that the thing dies down some!
Al

Opps, sorry... I listed this size wrong. It is 1/2"... is that a good size?

You could drill holes at the corners of your plywood sheets then use those rubber tie down straps, pull the hooks out to get them through the holes then put the hooks back on, stick them through the window and shut the window on them?

1/2 is probably close enough. I know I just saw the wind test reports on our local news, and they said 5/8 or thicker. You are much better off with 1/2 than 1/4 for sure!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wildandblue

You could drill holes at the corners of your plywood sheets then use those rubber tie down straps, pull the hooks out to get them through the holes then put the hooks back on, stick them through the window and shut the window on them?

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Tie down straps? Could explain more in detail for me?

Edit::: I think I understand now, but I don't think that would work to keep the hurricane out... or would it?

I know I would not try straps. If the wind gets behind the boards, they'll pull right off. I would be surprised if your local hardware or building supply doesn't have any suggestions other than screws.
Al

Hi RPG219...

The eye hooks and bolts sounded like a good, permanent solution to me... I made a picture to demonstrate what I think they meant for you to do.. see below. Screw eyes and hooks come in all sizes.

Here, you install the screw eyes (last pic.) into the building about an inch to the side of window (pre-drill smaller size hole and then install these using hand and finally screwdriver through eye to drive screweyes deep)... these will stay in place all year round.

Then mount the 1/2" or 5/8" plywood and install the screw eye and hook assembly (2nd pic.) so they line up and hook the screw eyes on the building.

Make sure you label each window in some way and also label the plywood so next storm you just identify plywood and window and mount these.

They also sell the screw eyes with machine screw thread so you could mount the screweyes through the plywood, install washers and nuts to both sides and really lock these into/through the plywood... the rest would remain the same.. ;)

I'm not sure if this is best, but kind of made sense to me and seems easy to do... let me know what you think...

MARK

My suggestion would be to use hinges. Butt hinges like you have on you doors. Mount one half of the hinge on the 1.5 inset. Put the plywood in place and mount the other half to the plywood. Remove the hinge pins and take the panel down. You could leave the house side of the hinge up year round or take it down after hurricane season has passed.
The hinge pins are just under 1/4", drill out barrels of hinges with 1/4 bit to make insertion and removal of pins easy.

Harold,
I like that idea! Simple, and low-cost. I was going to rate the answer, but it says I have to spread some reputation around first. You just have too many good suggestions!
Al

Thanks so much Mass and Hk... you two have made my life easier :)

I really like the hinge idea Harold...

You know what I would do... I'd combine both ideas! :)

Hinge the right or left side of plywood and hook and eye the other side as in the other picture below!

Good luck RPG

I know you won't have tme for it now, but you can add handles to make the panels easy to manage, Take them off when you store them. So, in fact, you only need one pair.

Also bear in mid that brass plated hinges may rust. Both the hinges and eyes are available in stainless steel, but again, they might be hard to get and expensive in short order.

Thanks for the tip KISS. We are drilling finger holes (2 on each side) for grasping the boards.

Okay... one of my BIG windows has the hook parts all the way across (I think the previous people has some kind of shades there), so do think that I could put the eyes all at the top and then incorporate the hinge idea on the sides? If so, would we need anything at the bottom and would we have to use two hinges on each side or just one on each side?

You guys have been such a big help! Thanks so much for the ideas.

You might have to snap a photo and post using "go advanced".