Naples Shutter Blog

Dear Clients,

As Co-Owner and head of the Hurricane Department here at Naples Shutter, I've had the unfortunate opportunity to see the devastation of what having improper hurricane protection can do to a home. From broken windows, roof lift-off and other catastrophic destruction, having the wrong type of hurricane protection can mean the difference between little to no damage and a complete loss of a property. That's why I wanted to take a moment to touch upon a hot topic here...metal panels. Here's why metal hurricane panels aren't advised in Southwest Florida.

The Lowest Quality Hurricane Protection

Many large home builders try any way possible to save money while building homes here in Southwest Florida, and with the influx of people we seem to be welcoming each year, builders are working around the clock to build new homes to accommodate this population growth. Where they tend to cut costs is with materials, especially hurricane protection. Although many home builders do offer upgrades from steel panels, many new Floridians believe that these panels will protect them optimally at storm time. Steel panels are the lowest quality and cheapest form of hurricane protection that passes all state building codes. They meet the bare minimum requirements, which means they give the bare minimum protection. Keep that in mind.

The Most Difficult to Deploy

When a storm's arrival is imminent, there's no time to waste. You're busy readying the generator, grabbing all the necessities and of course, deploying your hurricane protection, and if you have metal panels, this can take up more of your valuable time than you may think. Metal panels have major disadvantages. These include:

• Metal panels are heavy, sharp and cumbersome.

• You may need a lot of panels even for a small window.

• As many as 20 steel panels may be needed for an area, such as a sliding glass door.

• Many home watch services do not offer to deploy these panels, due to the difficulty in doing so.

It can also take up to half a day and about three workers to deploy metal panels, causing many homeowners to simply forgo their hurricane protection altogether before a storm, because it's too difficult to deploy.

The Right Choice

Naples Shutter recommends AstroGuard Hurricane Fabric to all its clients. We trust in it for our business and homes, and so should you. After the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017, Naples Shutter replaced many clients' metal panels with AstroGuard, not only because it protects better, but also because many homeowners couldn't find anyone to deploy their cumbersome metal panels, leaving them unprotected during the storm.

The last thing you want is to have devastation caused by a storm that could have been prevented with proper hurricane protection. If you have been forced to have metal panels and haven't yet been through a storm, our team will be happy to quote you on AstroGuard Hurricane Fabric. AstroGuard is a product that is easy to deploy, building code approved and is rated to withstand winds of over 200 mph., making it a top choice for us and our customers.

Heck, we'll even haul away those steel panels that are in your garage…

Sincerely,

Brian Trecek

Co-Owner

Naples Shutter