Aluminum Panel
Why does my home need hurricane shutters?
Hurricane shutters act as a barrier between you and the storm, preventing the wind from entering your home, helping protect your property and keeping you and your family safe. Without hurricane shutters, the wind from a storm can create enormous pressure that could force the roof off.
Are the holes in the metal panels round ?
The holes are the shape of an eye. The holes are punched six inches on center on the top and the bottom of the panels. The panels are secured into the studded angle track with washer based wingnuts. The panels can also be directing mounted to the wall using lead anchors and stainless steel truss combo screws.
What is the size of the head on the combo stainless/steel sidewalk bolts?
The pictures below compare the head size to dime and the thickness to a nickel.
I live on the East Coast of Florida and all my windows have a window sill that protrudes out about 1" - 3"?
One solution would be to mount the panels horizontally across the window opening. The panels would have to be mounted with a 2" x 2" studded angle on both sides or directly mounting the panels to the wall. If your opening is 39" (width) by 52" (height) just switch the dimension to 52"(w) x 39" (h). You will need 5 panels to cover 52". We recommend adding 6" - 8" to the length when installing horizontally. If you want to mount the track on the window sill, we can reverse the screws on the 2" x 2" studded-angle. An alternative solution would be to mount a 2" x 2" angle to the back of a 2" x 2" studded angle using Tek screws.
What are the advantages of aluminum vs. galvanized steel panels?
The 20 ga. galvanized steel panels use to be so much cheaper then the aluminum panels. The 20 ga. galvanized, .050 and .063 aluminum all meet the Miami-Dade County building code. We highly recommend using the aluminum panels over the steel. With both products offering the same protection, the .050 aluminum panels weights 1.25 pounds per foot as compared to 2.75 pounds per foot. The galvanized panels have very sharp edges and are harder to handle. When the galvanized panels are laid flat on the floor, a screw driver is required to pry them apart. We recommend wearing leather work gloves, long pants, and heavy full leather shoes, when handling either of these panels
What are the advantages of using tracks vs. directly mounting the panels to the wall?
If your structure is CBS block, the panels can be directly mounted to the wall using machine screw anchors with a stainless steel combo/truss head screw. The advantage of the direct mount system is no tracks or mount gear is visible. Some customers do not like the look of the tracks on the wall. The advantage of using tracks (h-header/studded angle) the installation is one third of the time.
Do you sell half panels?
Yes, we sell half panels in the .050 aluminum only. A full panel could be overlapped instead of using a half panel. If your opening is 39", 3 panels will cover approximately 37". You could use 4 or 3 1/2 panels.
