Hurricane season in Southwest Florida happens every year, and recent years have had a high number of major storms. Most homeowners in South Florida know they have to protect their homes from hurricanes. Most people think of hurricane shutters for doors and windows, but what about hurricane shutters to protect your lanai? Let’s cover why you might need hurricane protection for your lanai and some of the hurricane shutter options to install.
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How Can Hurricane Shutters Protect Your Lanai?
Hurricane shutters offer excellent hurricane window protection as well as protection for your doors. But they can also protect your lanai. The shutters enclose and protect your lanai, which is usually just a mesh screen, with an impact-resistant material. The shutters act as a barrier protecting your lanai from hurricane force winds and wind-born (flying) objects. Shutters protect your lanai’s screen, and your belongings on your lanai. Shutters also protect the windows and doors that are behind your lanai’s screen.
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Hurricane Protection Options For Your Lanai
There are many options for protecting your lanai from hurricanes. They vary by style, shutter materials, and by how much each shutter type costs.
We discuss each of them below in detail.
1. Roll Shutters
Roll-down shutters are a great option as lanai hurricane shutters.
This type of shutter does exactly what the name implies. They roll up and down easily to protect your lanai (and other openings) against even the worst hurricanes.
These are very popular because they are so easy to install and uninstall. You can easily roll them down when needed and roll them back up when they are not in use. You can operate your roll down shutters manually or electronically. And you can roll them down from inside your home, which means you don’t have to go outside to install them.
Outside of hurricane protection roll down hurricane shutters also allow you to turn your lanai into an additional, temporary room. They are also a popular choice as security shutters as well as for privacy because of how fast they can be deployed.
Benefits of Roll Shutters
- Roll down hurricane shutters are very easy to use; they can be used from inside your home either manually or electronically
- Superior strength and durability will surely protect your lanai
- Energy saving insulation
- Excellent sound reduction
- Convenient light control – solid closure for darkness, open slats for partial light
- Can turn your lanai into an additional room by closing it in
Learn more about Eurex Shutters roll down storm shutters.
2. Accordion Shutters
Accordion Shutters are another great option for your lanai hurricane shutters. Accordion shutters are a type of permanently installed impact shutter. In turn, they can be opened and closed easily.
Because this type of shutters is installed permanently it reduces the need to install anything before a storm hits. They can be locked from inside or outside your home.
Unlike other manufacturer’s bulky accordion shutters Eurex’s state of the art blade stacking system provides the smallest stacks (footprint) in the industry. This limits the amount of space the shutters take on your home. In other words, they are less noticeable.
Benefits of Accordion Shutters
- Accordion hurricane shutters are easy to use: they have easy operation from inside or outside the house
- Quickly enclose your lanai, windows, doors, etc.
- Wide-spans available for large openings, such as your lanai, patio, or large spans of windows or doors
See a head to head comparison of Roll Down vs Accordion Hurricane Shutters
3. Impact Sliding Doors
An alternative option instead of installing hurricane shutters for lanai protection is to opt for impact sliding glass doors. Impact sliding doors will not only protect your lanai from storms, but it will also turn your lanai into an additional room for your home.
Eurex Shutters’ impact sliders are tested and proven to withstand the damage caused by wind-born debris during a hurricane.
Impact sliding doors can also enhance the style of your home vs. detracting from it. You can get impact sliders in a wide-range of colors and styles to perfectly match your home.
They are also extremely tough and offer maximum protection for your lanai. Impact sliders are tested to ASTM impact standards and meet and exceed the current Florida Building Code and relevant standards.
Read our selection guide to compare impact glass vs. impact resistant shutters.
Benefits of Impact Glass Sliding Doors
- Impact sliding doors convert your lanai into a new room
- Enhance the style of your home vs. reducing it
- Extremely tough and offer maximum protection for your lanai/home.
4. Hurricane Screens
Lanai hurricane screens open and closed.
When it comes to protecting your lanai (as well as your balcony, patio, and outdoor wide openings) kevlar hurricane screens are a great option. Hurricane screens are an alternative to hurricane shutters and impact glass. They are installed on the exterior of your lanai openings vs. on each individual door/window. This means you can enclose and protect your entire lanai area, including your furniture and outdoor belongings. This of course means you don’t have to bring your outside items inside your house during a hurricane. Instead, you can put your items behind the screens if necessary and close them. Easy peasy.
Hurricane screens are available in both manual and electric (automatic) operation. Both are easy to use and operate.
Related: Hurricane Screens vs Hurricane Shutters
Applications:
- Hurricane protection
- Shade
- Moisture shield
- Debris shield
Suitable openings:
- Lanai
- Balcony
- Patio
- Wide openings
Benefits of hurricane screens
- Hurricane-rated storm protection
- Great looks; they have the appearance of high-end sun shades with the added-benefit of being hurricane-proof
- Provide much needed shade from the summer sun
- Easy to use and can be deployed quickly
- Small housing boxes reduce appearance when in the open position
Learn more about PTX™ Hurricane Screens
5. Armor Panel Hurricane Fabric
Armor Panel Hurricane Fabric panels are another alternative to lanai hurricane shutters. These are hurricane-rated fabric panels made of super-strong Dupont Kevlar. They are affordable, relatively light-weight, and easier to install vs options like storm panels.
Benefits of Hurricane Fabric
- Hurricane fabric is easy & quick to install and remove
- Ultra-lightweight panels weigh a fraction of steel or aluminum options
- Minimize the effect on the look of your home because no tracks are required
- Armor Panel has safe, smooth edges which increases safety/reduces risks when handling
Learn more about Eurex Armor Panel Hurricane Fabric.
Conclusion
It is a good idea to protect your lanai, just like you protect your windows and doors. The good news is there are many options available to protect the lanai of your Southwest Florida home, including shutters and impact doors. You can also opt for hurricane screens for your lanai.
Eurex Shutters has been providing the highest quality hurricane shutters in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples and the rest of Southwest Florida for over 30 years. Learn about all of the hurricane shutter options for your lanai, windows and doors.
Contact us using the form below or call us at (239) 369-8600 for a free consultation and estimate to get started.
