RITA HELP: how to board up windows with brick sills?

[redacted]

Hi folks,

If you have ideas, please let me know.

My parents moved from Wisconsin to Houston a few years ago. They have never been through a hurricane.

They have a new brick house with brick window sills and cannot figure out how to board up the windows. Any ideas?

The good news here is that they are on the NW side of town, near Katy -- abt 50 miles from Galveston, and on high ground. They should not get the worst of the storm.

Any other advice for them would be great. They have the basics covered.

Thanks a million,

--Mrs. Redacted

[Rainscents]

1. She may have to do it from inside. Yes, she may have few broken windows,

however, it's better than, no protection.

[redacted]

2. Thanks, would you tape the outsides? Would that help?

[mcar]

5. Taping windows doesn't help

People still do it, but we learned during Hurricane Andrew that it doesn't do anything.

Good luck to your parents.

[Pithlet]

18. I always wondered why people did that to begin with

It didn't make sense. I didn't know they'd since discovered it actually doesn't do anything.

[geomon666]

23. Well it may hold the larger chunks of glass together.

Until it smashes into the floor anyway.

[geomon666]

21. Yeah, taping windows is like holding a sheet of paper to stop a bullet.

You're going to need to get a concrete hammer and hammer some concrete nails in. If you can't, say goodbye to the windows.

[crispini]

25. The point of taping windows

is to ensure that the glass sort of stays together and falls near the window itself. If you didn't tape it, it'll fly all over the house itself. It's not going to stop it from breaking, but taping windows will cause them to break less dangerously, at least that's what I've heard.

[Rainscents]

28. No, don't use tape... Just bord up inside just like you would do with

outside.

[Mabus]

38. This is why I love DU

when things really matter we all pull together. I salute each of you that has chipped in to offer advice. This is what a community is all about.

[Castilleja]

3. Lag shields and bolts into the sills?

This is what my husband was advised at a local hardware store. We were late in getting it done, and had to rush it, so I was not thrilled by the results, but it may be an idea. There are clips called Plylox which hold on to the sides of the plywood and grab onto the brick, but I have no idea how these would fare, or the lag shields for that matter. We have not had a storm since we did this, so don't know if it works in practice or not. Good luck to your parents!

[elehhhhna]

4. Good general info here--

http://www.hbtownhall.com/Hurricane.htm

[redacted]

6. Thanks I'll pass this along.

[pitohui]

11. we used clips

they worked fine & we had no broken glass in doors or windows, however, our house was still damaged because the siding was ripped off the house, it looks like our roof came close to lifting off the structure

sadly wind will find a way if you're unlucky

but the clips to put plywood over the windows will certainly give you a better chance

[BOHICA06]

15. YEP - called PLYLOCKS

available at Home Depot - maybe.

[Lex]

30. Plylocks info here

Hurricane tested protection for your home. The fastest and easiest system to board up your windows. No need to drill holes, nail boards, or ruin siding. Measure and cut wood to fit inside casing, slide on "Plylox" clips, push plywood into window casing,you're protected. To remove just remove tension from clip by hand. Reusable.

http://hardware.hardwarestore.com/27-110-misc-constr-hardware/plylox-hurricane-window-clips-632832.aspx

[texpatriot2004]

40. Plylocks...thanks n/t

[Castilleja]

39. Thanks, I have always wondered about those,

and whether they would work. I may see if I can find some.......

[merci_me]

7. We're in Houston, too

and my husband built some sort of frame to attach the plywood to. He's never done it before, but now we have 9ftx30ft of glass wall across the back. We're in a 50 yr old neighborhood with LOTS of trees and most of them at least that old. The wall faces the south, so we figure if limbs start flying with gusto, we need to be ready. Otherwise, I don't think he'd have done it. At anyrate, the frame on that area is wood.


The only other window he's going to cover is one bathroom that has a stained glass window he made, so he plans to board that one up and that IS all brick framed. I'll see how he plans to do that.

In the meantime, you might want to post your question in the DYI (do-it-yourself)forum, where all the "handypeople" hang out.

Mary

[redacted]

10. Fab idea, did not know abt the DIY forum. Let me know how he does it.

Please, PM me if you can't find this discussion.

Given where they are at -- would you evacuate? I can't make them DO anything but I would like to know how to encourage them.

[gkhouston]

12. probably not, unless their home is close to a waterway or Rita

cranks up to 4. We're thinking of evacuating if it becomes a 3 but our house is only 1/2 mile from one of the bayous. It's never flooded but if Rita makes landfall close by, the storm surge could be problematic.

on edit: even at a category 5, their house is far from the evacuation zone, but it seems like stronger hurricanes tend to spawn more tornadoes and the power stays out for longer. It's about 98 degrees today. Who wants to be in Houston when it's that hot without A/C?

[redacted]

14. Thanks GKhouston.

Someday when I visist hter we'll have to meet up. I can't imagine a dem surviving there, but I am biased -- my Dad moved there so he could be around "like" republican minds. (ugh....)

[gkhouston]

16. there are plenty of dems down here.

and don't forget, Houston is 50 miles inland. I've seen thunderstorms that were much scarier than when a category 1 hurricane passed over. Then again, Rita isn't like to be 1 when she arrives. :-(

[merci_me]

22. I don't think they'll have a problem

unless 1)their street normally floods and we have a ton of rain come down fast 2)there maybe tornadoes, but you never know where or when, when they aren't hurricane associated anyway or 3)the could lose electricity.


We're in at Westheimer and Beltway 8. We're from up north and never been in a hurricane that came this far, but none of our neighbors seem particularly concerned, except for losing electricity and that seems to happen a lot anyway. Of course, everyone will be putting garbage cans and lawn furniture in the garages. They don't seem to expect the wind to be blowing out windows, like we'll probably see on the east and south sides or downtown. I expect window damage would be lose stuff flying and tree limbs. Depending on how new their neighborhood is, they may not have many big trees. If the Buffalo Bayou gets a surge from the ship channel and overruns it's banks, we could see some flooding around here. If so, some of the engineers who live around here around here say worse case, 2 ft that would drain within a few hours and that's a real stretch, probably just some street flooding, if that.


Oh another thing. Some neighborhoods have a weird power grid. Ours does. When we lose electricity sometimes, the otherside of the street is on and they lose electricity and we still have it. They told us a few hurricanes that came before we lived here, the power outages on our street were like that, but it lasted a few day, so people stretched heavy duty extension cords across the street to keep refrigerators and freezers going. So, just in case, they might want to set a couple out with their candles and matches.


I've bookmarked this thread, to get back to you about the brick.

[gkhouston]

8. um, if they're in NW Houston near Katy, they may want to consult with the

neighbors as to what they usually do about windows. It might not be necessary to board the windows in their location unless it's gonna be a strong 3 or worse making landfall close to Houston. If they can find someone who was in Houston during Alicia, that would be a good guide.

[redacted]

13. Thanks, my Dad was going to ask around. But I can't really trust him to

do that. He has a hard time with that.

BTW I was thinking the same -- they might not need to board up, but I just reviewed the latest from NOA and I think they need to be ready to.

BTW, it's a brand new neighborhood -- so how the houses will fair remains to be seen. The house had many construction defects when they moved in -- and they had to threaten to sue to get them fixed.

[fishnfla]

26. They might want to check with the builder

depending on the type of roof they have and the way the house sits with respect to the winds, boarding the windows may put the roof in greater danger.

There is much debate around here about that (boarding vs not) That far inland they should be OK. If they do board the windows, tell them to mark which board goes to which window, in case they have to go through this all again, god forbid.

If your dad is not the type to ask for advice, tune into a local talk radio station down there (?webcast stream) there will be all sorts of friendly hurricane advice being given over the coming days

[elehhhhna]

31. check if the builder gave them hurr. shutters.

some new home builders do, and it's an optional upcharge to have them installed or you can DIY free. They MAY have paid but not taken delivery on the shutters.

[leveymg]

9. No. Do not board from inside - you'll lose all your glass.

Get some L-brackets, nuts and bolts, and masonry screws, and masonry drill bits. Attach the board to the L-brackets by nuts and bolts - use big washers or gussets, or they'll tear out.

Drill into the bricks with a masonry drill bit, and attach L-brackets with masonry screws - they come in boxes and are usually blue color.

Ask the hardware guy for help getting everything you need. Good luck!

[Maiden England]

17. PLYLOX

http://www.plylox.com/

Home Depot and Lowes both sell them. Buy early, and don't forget to label each piece of plywood with which window it fits - you'll only have to buy them once, they store well.

www.storm2k.org has a great forum on hurricane preparation with some really good tips and instructions.

Even if you don't have a generator, buy some extra gas cans and fill with gas. Gas pumps don't work with no electricity. Neither do ATMs so make sure you have cash

[RagingInMiami]

19. From the Miami Herald - we go through this all the time down here

http://storm.herald.com/

[Geoff R. Casavant]

20. This is my idea, but I haven't tried it yet

I live in Houston myself and I'm wondering the same thing. Best I can come up with is, buy some of those plastic anchors like you use in drywall, only get the ones designed for brick. Drill into the brick (this is the tough part, and your drill bit will get incredibly hot) and install the anchors. Then screw the plywood into the anchors.

The first time will take the longest because you have to install the anchors, but after that it should go much more quickly.

I am the first to admit I'm not a handyman, so if anyone knows a downside to this plan I'd appreciate a heads up.

[Lefty48197]

24. There are several ways to anchor wood to concrete or masonry

One of the most common is a coarse threaded screw called a "tap con". I would pre-drill holes through 2X4's using a regular wood drill bit (about 1/8 - 1/4 " diameter), then I would hold the 2X4 where I wanted it, and then drill through the hole in the wood into the masonry/concrete, but you'll need to use a special concrete drill bit. They often work with a regular drill, but sometimes you need a "hammer drill". The bigger packages of tap cons come with a masonry drill bit of the proper size. I'd recommend picking up an extra one or two, since they wear out fairly easily.
Once the hole is drilled into the masonry, you can run the tap con through the wood into the masonry using either a screw gun, a socket wrench, or even a hand screwdriver, or wrench, in a pinch. Put 2X4's along all four sides of the window opening, and when all the tap cons are screwed in tight, then screw or nail plywood onto the 2X4's. You might want to put washers on the tap cons before screwing them in. I would try drilling into the grout lines of a brick building, because it is easier to drill, and the bricks are a lot less likely to crack. Don't be cheap. Put a tap con every 12"-16" or so along the length of the 2X4's.

[Wizard777]

27. Go Blue Screws! It doesn't get any easier than that.

It's the brand name and they are also actually blue screws. So they are easy to spot in screw and nail isle. They only way to screw it up is to get blue screws not long enough or too long. Other wise it's the only way to screw masonary.
I take it the sills are protruding on the exterior. So set the board flush on top of the sill and Blue screw into the mortar on all three sides. Not the brick.

[Lex]

29. Blue Screws or Tapcons info here

http://www.confast.com/products/tapcon-concretescrew.asp

[redacted]

32. Wow Thanks everyone -- I'm going to email this info to my Dad.

Actually I'm going to have my hubby email it -- Dad won't listen to me, but he might listen to Mr. Redacted.

Actually in a pinch Mom will make him listen to me. ;-)

DU folks are great!

[merci_me]

33. My husband said he hadn't decided how to do it, but

since the original bathroom window is still in and the stained glass window just bolted to it from the inside, he decided to just take the stained glass window down and let the other window just shatter, if it must.

BTW, in case you haven't heard, Rita is now been upped to a Cat 4 and possibly even 5.

We're seriously thinking of going to a hotel here, just incase the Buffalo Bayou floods.

They announced on the news tonight that a lot of the big hotels will be having openings tomorrow, since so many conferences, conventions and business trips are being canceled. We shall see. There are tons of two story hotels around our house, but there are two TALL ones that sit back of the highways. Hopefully, they'll have something tomorrow.

M

[redacted]

34. Merci, thank you.

My parents are in Cypress. I am concerned -- they seem completely unprepared, but they will not get the the worst of it.

If you can't find a hotel PM me -- my parents have extra bedrooms.

[DrDan]

35. head down to Home Depot

There are some new clips on the market that work great with Brick homes. Just put the clip inside the window area and slide the plywood in.

A bit costly - maybe $20 per window - but easy to use

[lectrobyte]

36. In a hurry, I'd get a bunch of plywood, and cut it to sit on top of

the brick sill, and tapcon them into the mortar around the perimter of the window on the other 3 sides of the opening. It'd be easier to explain with a picture, but I assume their house has a brick outside, with projecting brick sills.

[lectrobyte]

37. This page has good instructions

http://www.stormsurvival.homestead.com/Hurricane_Storm_Shutters_Brick.html

in my previous post, I was thinking about something like this, only with a bigger piece of plywood attached flush to the brick, but sitting on the sill. drill in tapcons, and save time cutting to exact size.



Good Luck, hope it misses you!