Natural catastrophes like storms and hurricanes storms are already normal occurrences in life that, unfortunately, cannot be stopped. The most that you could do is just to protect your self and your loved ones by taking some preventive steps a preparation for a weather disturbance. Among the best ways of doing this, as recommended by FEMA, is by mounting shutters to all the openings on your house – windows, roof vents, sky lights, doors or any hatch that could let wind and debris enter your house.Not everyone can afford to have a professionally manufacture shutter installed, but this does not mean shutters are only for the rich. You can actually build your own wooden shutter. By the use of plywood and lumber, you house can be protected without the extra cost. Homemade shutters can provide with similar protection that commercial shutters can give if you build them properly.
Building Your Own Wooden Shutter
Making a wooden shutter is easy. First you have to measure all the doors and windows in your home that have glass. Add around an 8-inch extra to the height and width of the measurements to make 4-inch overlaps on the edges. But enough wood for the total area that you have measured. If you have enough budget, you may have the wood cut by your building supplies store for a certain fee.
Materials for the Wooden Shutter
To make your wooden shutter, you would need anchors, bolts, and washers. If your window is about 3x4 feet or smaller and your house has a wooden frame, get lag bolts of about a quarter inch-size and permanent anchors coated with plastic. The bolts shold be able to go through the walls and frame your window by 1 ¾ inches. If your windows are larger, you would need to get lag bolts of around 3/8 inch size that should be able to go through your wall and frame your window by 2 ½ inches.
If you house is made of masonry, get expansion bolts together with expansion anchors. Those that are galvanized and permanent are ideal. Windows sized 3x4 feet and below should need at least ¼ inch bolts that would go through your wall by 1 ½ inches. If your window is larger, you would need 3/8 inch sized bolts.
Tools for Mounting the Wooden Shutter
To mount your wooden shutters, a circular or a hand saw would be needed, as well as a hammer, a wrench, a drill and the right-sized drill bits. A screw gun can make your job easier, so it’s good to have one around. Be sure to wear safety goggles and gloves for your protection.
Mounting the Wooden Shutters
To mount the shutters, you would first need to drill holes on your cut plywood boards. The holes should be 2 ½ inches away from the outside edge of the plywood so that 12-inch gaps would be left for every hole. To ease wind pressure, you should drill for holes at the center of the board. The holes should measure for about a quarter of an inch.
Place your plywood over the aperture you are going to cover and mark the positions of the holes to see where you would need to fasten them. Drill the right hole size to attach your anchors. Bolt the plywood to the anchors to see that they fit well.
Now you have your own wooden shutters that could help protect you and your belongings from storms and hurricanes. Just make sure that you store your shutters somewhere you can easily get them. When there is a storm or hurricane warning, mount your shutters.
Protection from storms need not be quite expensive. By making your own wooden shutters, you can save both your house and your budget.