Buy the right windows and skip boarding up your coastal home!

Living along the Texas coastline offers the lifestyle many of us dream about. Access to the coast to launch a boat or living along a channel in a home with your own boat dock certainly is beautiful and convenient. Whether you live an active lifestyle or a leisure one, the coast offers many opportunities.

One disadvantage of living along the coast or even within a few miles of the coast is the risk of being victimized by a severe storm.

Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 with the peak season with 96% of hurricanes in the category 3, 4 and 5 range being in August  through October. Keeping a watchful eye on the Atlantic storm track is a responsibility and a source of worry for coastal residents. Each time a large storm starts steering itself into the Gulf of Mexico, communities spring into action to start preparing for the storm and to start planning for evacuation.

One of the community rituals and responsibilities is to board up or shutter your windows and doors within 24 to 48 hours of the storm's arrival. The reason for covering your windows and doors is the real possibility of wind speed exceeding the design pressure rating of your windows and the likelihood of wind blown debris (missiles) from fences, small wood framed structures and other inferior designed buildings being ripped apart by the Hurricane.

There are other options!

Window and door manufacturers have addressed the strength and impact resistance problems with several technologies:

• Vinyl window frames with steel or aluminum interior bracing
• Tempered glass
• Laminated glass
• Installation specifications

These technologies are combined together to provide the strength required to withstand up to category 5 storms. In order to withstand these conditions the windows are tested in extreme conditions at the factory test centers. They use air ram driven cannons to shoot 2x4 lumber dead into the windows at hurricane speeds (150 mph for Cat 5). The then sustain the wind with large fans and test the strength and resistance of the poly vinyl in the laminated panes. You can see this test being performed here by Simonton Windows, a unit owned by Fortune Brands (Master Lock, Moen and other companies).

Speaking of Simonton, their Simonton Storm Breaker Plus vinyl framed windows are very popular in coastal homes. Their double hung windows have the design and features many home owners desire with sporting the tough specifications and subjected to the rigorous testing shown in the video linked above. Specifications like:

• 1/8" or 3/16" Tempered glass pane on the exterior facing glass
• Two layers of double strength 1/8" annealed glass laminated together with a 1/10" PVB interlayer
• Extruded PVC frames, miter cut and fusion welded
• Internal extruded aluminum framing on all sashes and rails
• A design pressure rating of 50 to 65 (size of window matters in testing)

As you can clearly see, Simonton Storm Breaker Plus windows are extremely tough. In fact, not only are they excellent storm windows but, may people use them in high crime areas and have coined them burglar proof. All this safety built in and they can still meet Energy Star rating. For specifications and test results on Simonton Storm Breaker Plus windows see this Texas Department of Insurance fact sheet.

Where can you get your Simonton Storm Breaker Plus Windows?

If you are in the Houston and Galveston area (or even in the Austin area) look no further than All-Tex Exteriors. All-Tex Exteriors has been around and replacing windows since 1991. They have the warranty and the experience installing these windows to the exacting specifications set by the TDI. They'll send an expert to evaluation your circumstances, make recommendations and provide you with an exact quote for replacing your windows.