There are few things more important than making sure your family and loved ones are safe, especially during turbulent weather. When winds are raging, trees are coming down or large projectiles are flying through the neighborhood you want to know your home or place of business is protected. At Westshore Construction we offer that promise of security for the residents of Sarasota, Florida, and its surrounding areas with our hurricane fabric window coverings.
What Is Hurricane Fabric?
Unlike other storm coverings, hurricane fabric is a resin-coated material with two times the burst strength of its similar protective counter-products. In other words, it’s composed of high-strength ballistic-rated fibers that interlock, combined with a resin overlay, for ultimate effectiveness.
Additionally, it provides “full envelope” protection. This means it halts the rapid pressurization inside a building that can occur when an opening is punctured during a storm. Usually, this phenomenon causes roofs to be torn from the base of a structure.
It’s a versatile and practically impenetrable fabric, while also being lightweight and easy to both store and deploy. Though made of ballistic-rated nylon the material weighs only ounces per square yard and is vital for stopping hurricane-force winds, water, and debris from entering your home.
Achieving ballistic-rated standards means stimulating wind-borne debris slamming into the fabric with hurricane-level speed and strength. Specifically, a 2×4 15lb projectile at 50 miles per hour. Our hurricane fabric passes the test every time, absorbing the impact and causing the projectile to bounce backward.
This differs from other materials that go through similar tests. For instance, metal panels tend to bend which can cause unnecessary damage to your home and window. Plywood is even worse with a habit of breaking completely. This can allow for damage to follow into your home or place of business.
How To Measure
Though it’s recommended to utilize professionals during all parts of the process, Westshore Construction offers the necessary material if you wish to do the measuring on your own. The steps will alter slightly depending on the material they’re being applied to but the materials needed remain the same.
Measuring Hurricane Fabric By Building Material
Your first job is to create a sketch of your home or place of business. On the drawing, you want to mark where each opening is. It helps to start with the front door and then go clockwise numbering each opening. In addition, no matter the building material it’s best to measure width before the height. You’ll need a tape measure as well as a pencil and paper to complete this and all the following procedures.
Rule of Thumb: for concrete buildings overlap the opening by 4” and for wood, buildings overlap by 1”
Concrete Structures
For any opening on the ground, such as doors and lanais, you’ll want to overlap the left side, right side, and top by 4”. This means 8” will be added to the width and 4” will be added to the total height for these types of openings. For windows you’ll be adding 4” to all the sides since they’re above the ground. In other words, your width and height measurements will have a total of 8″ inches added to each.
If your opening has trim or any type of decorative molding, it’s important to measure far enough past it so a total of 4” of material will be able to lay flat against the wall of the building. When the stucco of your window is thicker than ½” be sure to begin your measurement outside the band.
Wood Structures
Wood is a bit simpler with most structures of this material having some sort of double 2×4 frame around each opening. Anchors for the hurricane fabric should go on the center of each side of this framing. Be sure to have a 1” overlay when taking your measurements.
Why Choose Westshore Construction
At Westshore Construction we offer full protection for your valuables with our lightweight and easy-setup hurricane fabric. Serving the Tampa Bay area, including residents of Sarasota, Florida, since 1985 we go above and beyond our client’s expectations providing only quality materials and expert workmanship.
Our dedicated crew members come to your home or place of business to provide professional installation ensuring that your panels conform to Florida building codes. This secures storm protection insurance and may lower your rates.
Though it’s recommended to use experienced contractors if you choose to do it yourself Westshore Construction is there. We provide custom-cut panels as well as the necessary hardware, drivers, and instructions. When installing on your own be careful and double-check that you’re meeting the engineering specifications of your area.