RSS
Print This Post Print This Post

Are You Protecting Your Home? By Steve Murray

steve-murray

Are You Protecting Your Home?

By Steve Murray

As we enter into the cooler weather and with it the end of the hurricane season, we can be thankful for a quiet year during 2009. Not once this year did we have to stop work at our job sites and prepare the half-built structures for a possible “big wind”. Not only is this good news for our tourist trade and local economy, but it allows the CAT Fund, underwritten by Florida taxpayers, to carry over to next year without paying out for a natural disaster. Yet more importantly, it is good news for all of those homeowners that live in our county and don’t have adequate protection within their homes to defend against hurricane force winds.

If you have ever seen first hand the absolute devastation following a major storm such as Andrew, Charley or Katrina, you would immediately take steps to inquire how you could prevent that damage from happening to your home.

In a hurricane, the pressures on a house are enormous. If a window or door breaches, it is the differential in pressure that causes a sudden rush of air into the house that then blows out garage doors, windows and French doors, lifts drywall from ceilings and causes roofs to fail with catastrophic consequence.

All of the waterfront homes that we have built since 2001, when the new impact code for new construction was passed, include the most stringent forms of protections against wind, weather and surge. Masonry and exterior frame walls have all been beefed up to withstand impact and uplift pressures; new construction homes are required to be built above the relevant flood plain, thereby combating flood waters and surges; but by far, the best form of protection for a house is to install either impact windows or shutters.

 Impact windows are designed with toughened glass to protect against hurricane force winds and flying debris. In addition, they provide security against intruders, dramatically reduce outdoor noise and can filter out over 90% of UV light. The negative side to impact windows is the cost of the window itself and the cost of installation.

A versatile alternative is to install shutters on your home’s openings. Depending upon your budget, the design of your house and the ease of installation, there are many types of shutters to choose from including Lexan panels, rolling shutters, accordion shutters, Armor Screen and Bahama or Colonial shutters.

The evidence is clear. When news cameras flew over the devastation of Hurricane Charley, it was shockingly apparent which houses had been built to the new FEMA codes and which houses had no defense against the destructive 145mph winds.

Having just survived another hurricane season, now is the time to assess what you can do to ensure that your home survives many more.

Steve Murray is the founder and owner of Murray Homes a residential construction company specializing in building custom waterfront homes on the Keys of Sarasota. He also owns Murray Realty with his wife Bev. Murray Realty is a full service real estate company offering customers a first class experience in finding, evaluating or selling houses and lots, primarily on the waterfront. Murray Homes is a Certified Building Contractor #CBC1250846

If you are interested in buying, selling or building in this new economy, call Steve at 941-906-7000 or visit his websites at www.murrayhomesinc.com or www.murrayrealty.net or by email at steve@murrayhomesinc.com.

Share

Tags: , , , , ,

Leave a Reply


Featured Properties

Ads

REAL HAPPENINGS

April 2, 2020 Ringling Underground

April 2, 2020 Ringling Underground

CANCELLED Ringling Underground CANCELLED. Enjoy live music, and art in the Museum of Art Courtya[...]
CleanSlate Property Services Opens

CleanSlate Property Services Opens

CleanSlate Property Services, a local concierge handyman business. My name is Tim White, former [...]
March 5, 2020 Ringling Underground

March 5, 2020 Ringling Underground

Ringling Underground Returns. Enjoy live music, and art in the Museum of Art Courtyard 8:00pm -1[...]
March 6, 2020 Gettel Toyota Grand Opening

March 6, 2020 Gettel Toyota Grand Opening

You're Invited To Gettel Toyota Of Bradenton's Grand Opening. On Friday, March 6th, from 12pm-2:[...]
March 12-13, 2020 Pop Up Art Show

March 12-13, 2020 Pop Up Art Show

Sarasota Architectural Salvage Hosts Event To Support Local Artists. For more information and/or[...]
February 6, 2020 Ringling Underground

February 6, 2020 Ringling Underground

Ringling Underground Returns. Enjoy live music, and art in the Museum of Art Courtyard 8:00pm -1[...]
January 25, 2020 Spoons And Tunes

January 25, 2020 Spoons And Tunes

TheWineToBuy.com Hosts Innovative Wine Tasting. Tired of the same old BS? Then join TheWineToBuy[...]
February 7, 2020 Thunder By The Bay Kick Off Party

February 7, 2020 Thunder By The Bay Kick Off Party

White Buffalo Saloon Hosts Born To Be Wild! Join REAL as we kick off 2020's Thunder by the Bay. [...]
Curb Appeal Detailing Opens New Sarasota Location

Curb Appeal Detailing Opens New Sarasota Location

Auto Enthusiasts Take Note. Curb Appeal Detailing announced the opening of their new location i[...]
January 11, 2020 National Hot Toddy Day

January 11, 2020 National Hot Toddy Day

How To Warm Up On A Chilly Day. Today is National Hot Toddy Day! A hot toddy is a delicious drin[...]
Anheuser-Busch Launches New Hard Seltzer

Anheuser-Busch Launches New Hard Seltzer

Bud Light Seltzer Arrives Just In Time For The Super Bowl! Anheuser-Busch is launching a new har[...]
Ocala Gains New Urgent Care Center

Ocala Gains New Urgent Care Center

StatMed Urgent Care Center Ocala Opens January 2, 2020. StatMed Urgent Care Center is a step abo[...]
New Year's Eve 2019-2020 Tow To Go

New Year's Eve 2019-2020 Tow To Go

Everyone Have A Safe New Year’s Eve Tonight! Tow to Go is a partnership between AAA & Budweiser.[...]
Wyze Labs Data Breach

Wyze Labs Data Breach

Multiple Data Breaches Exposes Information Of 2.4 Million Customers. Wyze Labs' low cost, inter[...]
Westbound SR 70 Southbound I75 Ramp To Close

Westbound SR 70 Southbound I75 Ramp To Close

8 Months of New Detours Loom Large! Starting at 11 p.m. Thursday, January 2nd, the westbound on-[...]
Wawa Data Breach

Wawa Data Breach

Wawa Facing Wave Of Lawsuits Over Data Breach. On December 10, Wawa's information security team [...]
December 26, 2019 Deck the Halls @ Ca' d'Zan

December 26, 2019 Deck the Halls @ Ca' d'Zan

Ca' d'Zan All Decked Out. On December 26th, from 5:00pm – 8:00pm join The Ringling for Deck the [...]
January 22, 2020 Ringling's Wisconsin Pullman Tour

January 22, 2020 Ringling's Wisconsin Pullman Tour

Private Tour of the Wisconsin Pullman Car. Join Jennifer Lemmer-Posey, Tibbals Curator of Circus [...]
Commercial Investment Division Changes Name

Commercial Investment Division Changes Name

RASM Commercial Division Now Know As Commercial Real Estate Alliance. The Realtor Association of[...]
December 3, 2019 GivingTuesday

December 3, 2019 GivingTuesday

Join the GivingTuesday Movement. GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the po[...]
Translate »