Hurricane Coming? How to Get Your Shutters Ready

At the start of the season

• Run every shutter in the house through a full close and open, early in the season, not the week a storm shows up.
• Clear the tracks of sand, leaves and anything stored in front of them.
• Find every key, crank, handle and remote, and keep them together somewhere everyone in the house knows.
• If you use storm panels, check that every panel and every piece of hardware is there, and label which opening each one goes on.
• Get anything that sticks, grinds or will not lock repaired while there is still time.

If you have motorized shutters

Power often goes out before the worst of a storm arrives. If your motorized shutters have a manual override, find the crank and practice using it before you need it. If you are not sure whether yours do, ask us to show you.

Close motorized shutters while you still have power, not after the wind picks up.

When a storm is on the way

• Bring in patio furniture, grills, planters and anything else that could become debris or block a shutter.
• Close shutters well before the wind rises. Working on a ladder or a lanai in gusting wind is how people get hurt.
• Make sure every lock is engaged, not just the shutter closed.
• Keep at least one exit you can open from inside, so nobody is shuttered in if they need to get out.
• If you are leaving, close everything before you go.

After the storm

• Look over every shutter before you open it: dents, bent slats, debris in the tracks, loose housings.
• Do not force a shutter that is jammed. Forcing a damaged roll-down or accordion shutter can turn a repair into a replacement.
• Rinse salt and debris off the shutters and tracks once it is safe to be outside.
• Take photos of any damage for your records.

Damaged shutters or no protection at all?

Romano's Shutters repairs storm-damaged shutters on all makes and models, and installs roll-down shutters, accordion shutters, roll-down hurricane screens and Bahama and colonial shutters across Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Naples and the rest of Southwest Florida. We handle the permits.