Secure Your Windows for the Next Hurricane with Plylox

When my wife and I moved into our new home two years ago, our insurance company required that we either get hurricane shutters or buy a bunch of plywood and Plylox. We went the cheaper route with the plywood. Now here we are, sitting in the middle of Hurricane Gustav as I write this, and all our windows are boarded up to protect from flying debris.

Plylox are designed to hold pieces of plywood in place over your windows so that you don’t have to risk damaging your window frames by driving nails or drilling screw through them. They are fairly easy to install and remove, though you do have to be careful or else you can scrape or cut up your hands. I’ve got a big Band-Aid on my thumb right now because one of them ‘got me’ while I was putting it on.

The hardest part about Plylox is actually cutting up the plywood to fit your windows. Most of my windows were the same size, so I got kind of lucky there, though we did have to nail two pieces together to fit our large kitchen window. At least once you’ve cut the plywood pieces once, you can save them again for the next time you need them.

Plylox fit around the outer edge of the plywood and have about a two inch metal strip that sticks out. It has sharp metal teeth on the end, and they hold the plywood in place by digging into the brick inside the window housing of your home. They are held in place by tension, and the teeth dig into the brick just enough to hold it in place. Although it may not look like it works that well, you’d be surprised.

You have to be very careful when removing the Plylox because you can tear up your knuckles if you reach in between the plywood and window. It is best that you wear gloves while handling the plywood both during installation and removal because you can get splinters. I got one right in the palm of my hand and it still stings. To remove the Plylox tension, all you really need is a flathead screwdriver to lift the metal up and then pull it out. It’s best to just take your time and not get in a hurry, otherwise you could damage your windows.

When you use Plylox, you will leave little scratches on the inside of the brick, but that’s simply unavoidable given the design of the product. We also have some plastic fake shutters attached to the outer part of some of our front windows, and the metal teeth scratched them, too. It’s not that big a deal, but over time it could rough up the brick or plastic a good bit. I suppose it all depends on how much you actually go out and look at them.

In the end, Plylox are a great investment for when you are in a bind and need to get something over your windows in the event of a major storm or hurricane. They work best on brick windows, so you might want to talk to the person at your local hardware store, such as Lowes or Home Depot, to make sure they will work on your house.

After we get over Hurricane Gustav, I’m still going to consider installing hurricane shutters so that I don’t have to dig out the plywood every time a storm comes along.