You all know there are so many Hurricane window and door companies out there, but how do
you go about selecting the truly best Hurricane rated windows and doors for your home or project.
Well here are a few simple easy steps to follow:
Try this as a first test - the plain and simple truth is lifting the same size window from the different suppliers to compare the weight of each window. This will tell you how well it is constructed from the inside of the profiles and the structure of the glass in it. But please be careful when lifting, use your knees not with your back.
Example: If the weight of a 3 ft wide x 4 ft high window is super light and easy to lift then you know this is just not strong enough even if it is hurricane rated or Miami Dade County approved which by the way are the minimum requirements by law in the State of Florida.
The heavy weight of a real engineered hurricane window and door is what tells you how robust and how strong the Hurricane window or door is going to be when securely fastened and properly installed in your home or project.
Another thing to look out for is the quality of the hardware - does the window and door have multi- locking hardware points and how many does it have. Have a really good look from different Hurricane window and door companies to compare. So why is this important - well it is because if the window and door have only 1 or 2 locks on it, it still could fail and probably will not be strong enough to withstand the new standards of hurricane strengths that Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria showed us with - 195 miles per hour gusts of winds displayed back in the fall of 2017. Quality Hardware is a must and here is a perfect example. Would you trust a bank safe with all your money in it that just had 2 locks on the safe door ? Or would you feel a lot safer with a bank safe door with multi-locking hardware all around the safe door opening. Well many would look at their family and their family home and all their belongings as their most important and most valuable property they have, so why would you use a hurricane window and door system with only 1 or 2 locks on it. I can tell you from my experience living through several hurricanes over the last 20 years I would not take any more chances after what we all saw in Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.
Let's talk about Hurricane glass now. Well Miami Dade county did the political move to secure a standard for all windows and doors in the State of Florida because they wanted not to be sued due to hurricane building code regulations that stated the Manufacture standards must uphold the minimum standards of the building codes. So that was the first step in the creation of Hurricane glass also noted as Hurricane Impact glass.
So how does Hurricane glass help you better now. Well the simple explanation is the creation of Hurricane glass which has been around for a very long time actually also known as high security or laminated glass can actually save lives during a hurricane storm. How does it do this? By providing 2 sheets of glass that are laminated with several pvb foils sandwiched in between the laminations. This will increase the glass strength 2 fold.
What types of Hurricane glass are there? Well actually depends from which continent you buy from. But let's stick with the two most known ones - American and European standards of glass. Each has distinct qualities of standards but the preparation and the quality depends on what you specify and select from your hurricane glass window supplier. Europe does seam to be light years ahead in glass engineering and it truly shows because of the law requirement of ISO 9001 certification process that all European Window - Door Manufacturers must have.
ConstantinebyDesign.com designs and supplies the largest and safest Hurricane Glass windows and door units in the World. We have been designing glass for over 20 years and have tried true tested in the field our products that allow us to take our product knowledge to the next levels required for Hurricane safety of windows and doors.
8. Window and door seals - what is that you may say? Well it is the seals that wrap around the window sash and door opening that seal in the air and prevent the water from entering the wall cavity when closed even if it is heavily raining and the wind is blowing. We suggest that each opening have a minimum of 2 wrap around seals preferably 3 now otherwise the window is completely useless holding water out during a hurricane storm.
If you would like more information relating this or other topics concerning Hurricane Engineered Building materials please refer to this website which provides excellent information in more detail with videos and product photos. https://www.constantinebydesign.com/
Thank you for reading we hope we brought you some great simple steps to protecting your family and your home by knowing better on how to select the best Hurricane Windows and Doors.