How efficient and safe are PLYLOX?

[slosh]

I am considering using Plylox and 1/2" plywood to make my window shutters. I am not directly on the coast, but I do live in a brabd new neighborhood with LOTS of consruction. I am most concerned about construction debris breaking widows. How good are the plylox, has any one seen how they perform under severe impacts?

[Alladin]

Plylox clips work very well if you use them correctly. You must cut the plywood to the proper window width. The old Plylox instructions advised that you should leave 1/4" clearance on each side. The new Plylox instructions advise a 1/8" clearance on each side.

From personal experience I can tell you that the old instructions (1/4" clearance) work better. The clips get a better grip and it's easier to put the panels in place. I have no idea why they are now advising 1/8" clearance. Seems stupid to me.

You must use CDX or better plywood and you must paint or polyurethane the plywood. Even CDX will delaminate if it gets soaked with heavy, wind driven rain. Some of my panels after Ivan had partial delamination even with 3 coats of exterior polyurethane.

When you board your house up, no sunlight will get in at all! Do yourself a favor and bore a 2" hole at eye level in each shutter. During the storm, you're going to want to see what is going on outside. After the storm, you're not going to be in a big hurry to remove the shutters. They will help keep the house cool by blocking the sunlight. Since you will not have power for several days or perhaps weeks, leaving the shutters in place will help. But, you still need some light, so bore those holes.

Plylox clips rust. Use gloves when you remove them and then soak them in oil for awhile before you clean them up.

[melhow]

We used them when Charley was headed our way. Fortunately, we did not have to witness whether they worked or not. I can only assume they do, as I bought them off of a recommendation from a poster two years back who had used them successfully on his home in Mississippi in a hurricane.

I can tell you that they were a breeze to use, especially compared to my neighbor who was struggling with her tapcons and drill through masonry.

I will second the above poster that you for sure need 1/4 inch clearance all around the board. I just don't see how you could get the board in with only an 1/8th. Also, have some house touch-up paint on hand - the little teeth on the plylox scraped our stucco pretty good when we popped the boards out for removal.

And just an idea - get the plylox now. I got caught up in a near brawl last season at HomeDepot when I volunteered to pick up a few packs for my dad after he saw how well they worked on our home. I think all of Pinellas county had the same idea.

[Bluefrog]

They work well if your place isn't blown to kingdom come and back as mine was ... I actually had the aluminium hurricane shutters .. dade co stuff. I still haven't found them or my condo.

[DanKellFla]

They work well if your place isn't blown to kingdom come and back as mine was ... I actually had the aluminium hurricane shutters .. dade co stuff. I still haven't found them or my condo.

Home Depot is selling Cat 5 doors now. They really are amazing. Too bad my roof will be gone by then. But, I could have some doors to hold on too!

[Alladin]

Plylox are designed to be used with 1/2" (15/32") plywood. You can, of course, use them with thicker plywood sheets (or even lumber) if you notch the wood to make the clip fit. Plylox clips work great with 1/2" plywood shutters that are 36" or less in width. When the 1/2" plywood shutter is larger than 36" in width, then you can have a flexing problem in high winds.

I have a couple of 1/2" plywood shutters that are 69 1/2" wide. I have reinforced these shutters with pine boards (1" x 10" x 69") by gluing and screwing them to the outside of the plywood shutters. I have found that Gorilla Glue works the best. I then coat the entire shutter with 2 or 3 coats of Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane. This makes the shutter warp proof, eliminates the flex factor and makes the shutter water proof. You can also put handles on the boards for easy installation.

[slosh]

Thanks for the tip Alladin, Great idea on the handles!

[dizzyfish]

Thanks for the Gorilla Glue tip! We have two windows that are 6' wide and we are going to reinforce the plywood. I'll tell hubby about the glue.

We saw the plylox guy at the mall the other day. They also carry a couple of different sizes now. (check their web site) They are for thicker than 1/2" plywood.

[Alladin]

Thanks for the Gorilla Glue tip! We have two windows that are 6' wide and we are going to reinforce the plywood. I'll tell hubby about the glue.

We saw the plylox guy at the mall the other day. They also carry a couple of different sizes now. (check their web site) They are for thicker than 1/2" plywood.

Indeed, Plylox Clips are available in 1/2" (and 1/2" stainless steel), 3/4" and 5/8" sizes. However, most stores such as Home Depot and Lowe's, only carry the standard 1/2" size. The reason is simple. The 1/2" size can be used with any width of plywood or lumber, you just need to notch wood that is larger than 1/2" thickness.

Heck, you can use 1/2" Plylox Clips with 2 x 4's if you so desire. Part of the real advantage to Plylox is that you don't have to deal with huge or heavy plywood panels. Plywood shutters that are 3/4" or 5/8" are very heavy and cumbersome to store, move and install. Let me give you an example.

Years ago, my daughter had a bed frame that my wife and I purchased at one of those unfinished furniture stores. It was solid oak (unfinished) so we had to stain it and put it together. We put 3 coats of top quality stain on the bed frame. To support the box springs and mattress, we had to purchase a 3/4" sheet of 4' x 8' plywood and place it in the bed frame. That was a tough job because those full size sheets of plywood are very heavy. I had to borrow a truck to move the plywood sheet to my house.

In later years, we moved to a new house with the bed frame but the movers lost (or stole) the plywood. So, I had to get another sheet of plywood for the bed frame. However, I then realized that I didn't need to use a big and heavy sheet of 4 x 8 plywood for the bed frame support. Instead, I went to the local lumber yard and bought 4 pieces of standard pine boards (1" x 12" x 96") and had the lumber yard cut each piece in half so that each board was now 48" long. The 8 pieces of wood fit perfectly and provided a perfect bed frame support.

The small pieces of wood were light and easy to move (I could put them in the trunk of my car), they were easy to install and they were just as strong (if not stronger) than the plywood. The same theory applies to hurricane shutters. You don't need large and bulky plywood panels to protect windows or sliding glass doors. You can use smaller pieces of plywood and/or lumber to protect the same space.

For example, let's say you have a window that is 4' x 8'. It would be logical to cover that window with a standard sheet of plywood. However, where are you going to store that big sheet of plywood? How easy is it going to be to move, carry and install that big hunk of wood when needed? From my experience, it's a lot easier (and less expensive) to use common dimensional pine lumber to do the same job. It only takes 4 one inch thick pine boards to secure that same space and it's stronger! Or you could cut that 4' x 8' sheet of plywood in half and make the storage and installation much easier!

[Roxy]

Good thinking about the handles! Can't say from experience wether they work, but they sure can be tough to take down, LOL!

[VeniceInlet]

I have a 1920s stucco house and my windows are set in beveled enclosures. Plylox clips will not work with my style of windows, so be sure that before you decide to go this route, you check to see if they'll actually work at your house.

Personally I am trying to find a better alternative to plywood because I can't lift it myself and I am not sure if my handyman will be available when I really need him to put it up. I am lucky in that I have a place to store the plywood but it's really not practical stuff.

I will only put it up if we are threatened by a Cat 3 or above. Below that wind speed, the odds of something being catapulted through the window are pretty low.

[Alladin]

Personally I am trying to find a better alternative to plywood because I can't lift it myself and I am not sure if my handyman will be available when I really need him to put it up. I am lucky in that I have a place to store the plywood but it's really not practical stuff.

You don't need to use large plywood panels to protect windows or sliding glass doors. You can easily use dimensional lumber cut to the right size. For example, if you have a window that measures 51" x 70" , you can use common pine boards to cover the windows. They're lightweight and easy to handle.