June through November
Window Treatments and Florida Storm Season
What to do with outdoor shading before a named storm, and an honest account of what window treatments can and cannot do for you.
Being straight about it
What Window Treatments Do Not Do
Interior blinds, shades and shutters are not storm protection. They do not strengthen glass and they will not stop a windborne object. Anybody selling them to you on that basis is misleading you.
What actually protects a Florida home in a hurricane is impact-rated glazing, accordion or roll-down storm shutters, or properly fitted panels. Those are a different product category from what we make, and we would rather say so than let you believe otherwise.
Where window treatments genuinely help is afterwards. If a window does break, closed blinds or shutters slow flying glass into the room, which is worth something. But that is a side effect, not a reason to buy.
Before a named storm
Retract Outdoor Shading Early
The real storm task for our products is outdoor. Motorized lanai screens and outdoor shades are designed to retract into their housings, and retracting them is the correct action as soon as a storm is forecast.
Do it early rather than the night before. Once wind picks up, a lowered outdoor shade becomes a sail, and the load goes straight into whatever it is bolted to. Most outdoor shading damage we see after a storm was avoidable.
- Retract all outdoor shades and screens fully into their housings
- Do it days ahead, not hours
- Check that battery-powered systems have charge before the power goes out
- Fit a wind sensor if the property is not occupied year round
Worth knowing
Wind Mitigation and Your Insurance
Florida homeowners can have a wind mitigation inspection carried out, which documents features of the house that reduce wind damage risk. Roof shape, roof-to-wall attachment, roof covering and opening protection all feed into it, and the results can meaningfully reduce a premium.
Opening protection in that context means impact glazing or rated storm shutters rather than interior treatments. If reducing your premium is the goal, an inspection is a far better first step than any window covering purchase, and it is worth doing regardless.
Common questions
Storm Season Questions
Still deciding? Call (407) 295-5200 or book a free consultation.
No. Interior plantation shutters are a window treatment, not opening protection. They do not strengthen glass and are not rated against windborne debris. Impact glazing or rated exterior storm shutters are what actually protect a window. Closed interior shutters may slow flying glass if a window fails, which is a marginal benefit rather than a reason to buy.
Yes, and do it days early rather than the night before. A lowered outdoor shade acts as a sail and puts substantial load into its fixings. Retracting it fully into its housing is the single most effective thing you can do to protect it.
Battery-powered systems keep working as long as they have charge, which is a good argument for topping them up when a storm is forecast. Hardwired systems will not operate without power, so retract them before the outage rather than after. Many systems also have a manual override.
Yes, and we recommend one on any property that is not occupied year round. It retracts the screen automatically above a set wind speed, which matters most on second homes and rentals where nobody may be there to act on a forecast.
It can, sometimes substantially, depending on what the inspection finds. It documents roof shape, roof-to-wall attachment, roof covering and opening protection. The inspection typically costs a modest amount and is worth doing regardless of whether you are buying window treatments.
Outdoor shading
Talk to Us About Storm-Season-Ready Shading
If you are specifying outdoor shading, we will talk you through retraction, wind sensors and what the product is rated for before you buy.
No cost, no pressure
Book Your Free In-Home Consultation
A design consultant brings the full sample library to your home, measures what you want quoted, and leaves you with firm pricing. Serving Greater Orlando and the Space Coast from our shop in Ocoee.