Central Florida Hurricane Protection
Accordion Shutters
Accordion shutters are permanently attached to your home. They stay folded against the sides of each opening, and you pull them closed along a track when a storm is coming. There is nothing to store in the garage and nothing to carry outside.
Accordion shutters closed over two front windows.
Your Main Questions, Answered
Straight answers first. Some details genuinely depend on your openings, and those are marked so you know what still has to be checked at your home.
Will this fit and protect my particular openings?
Accordion shutters are made to the measurements of each opening, so they suit most windows, doors, patios and lanais. The usable width, the surface they can be fastened to, and the space beside each opening for the folded shutter all differ from home to home.
Confirmed at your property assessment: During the property assessment we measure each opening, check the wall or frame the shutter would attach to, and confirm the space available for the stacks.
How do I open, close, and secure it?
You pull the folded halves together along the track and secure them where they meet — usually with a latch, a pin or a keyed lock, depending on the opening and whether it is an exit. Most people close an opening in well under a minute once they have done it a few times.
Confirmed at your property assessment: Effort varies with the width of the opening and with hand strength and reach. We will have you operate a shutter yourself before you decide, and we show every household member how each opening works at handover.
Does it require lifting or carrying panels?
No. Accordion shutters stay attached to the opening all year, so there is nothing to lift, carry, store or climb a ladder for.
What will remain visible when it is open?
When open, the folded shutter sits in a stack at one or both sides of the opening, with a track above and usually below. The stack is visible — it is typically a few inches deep and the height of the opening. Colour choices are limited to the manufacturer's standard finishes for the system quoted.
Confirmed at your property assessment: We show you where each stack will sit before anything is ordered, so nothing about the finished appearance is a surprise.
What affects the installed price?
The number and size of openings, the shape of each opening, the mounting surface, the height and access for the crew, the finish, locking hardware and whether permitting is included all affect the installed price. We give you a written estimate for your actual openings rather than a price per foot over the phone.
What maintenance does it need?
Keep the bottom track clear of leaves, sand and insect nests, rinse the shutters occasionally, and operate every shutter before hurricane season so a problem shows up on a calm day rather than a stormy one. See the care section below.
What should I know about emergency exit access?
Openings that are used as an exit — and bedroom windows used for escape and rescue — are treated differently from other openings. Where required, they are fitted with hardware that can be released from inside without a key or tool. Florida Building Code requirements for egress apply, and the permit and inspection process reviews them.
Confirmed at your property assessment: We identify every exit and bedroom escape opening during the assessment and record on the estimate how each one will be released from inside.
What documents support its approval?
Shutter systems installed in Florida carry either a Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, together with the manufacturer's engineering drawings showing approved sizes and fastening. We publish the document for the exact system quoted, unaltered, in the approvals section below.
Could insurance savings or grant assistance apply?
Possibly, but neither is automatic. Insurers may apply a wind-mitigation credit when an inspection confirms the opening protection on your home — the amount, if any, is set by your insurer. The state My Safe Florida Home program may provide grant assistance to homeowners who qualify and whose inspection recommends the work. Both are decided by other organisations, not by us.
Where Accordion Shutters Fit Best
Accordion shutters suit a lot of Central Florida homes, but not every opening and not every preference. Here is an honest view.
Situations they suit
- Homeowners who want protection permanently in place, with nothing to carry, lift or store.
- Households where closing up quickly matters — including when a storm arrives at short notice or while you are away for part of the year.
- Wide openings such as patios, lanais and sliding glass doors, where one shutter can cover the full span.
- Homes where several openings need protection and a consistent, hard-wearing system is preferred.
Practical tradeoffs
- The folded stacks remain visible beside each opening all year.
- Closing is done by hand at each opening, so you or someone you trust needs to be at the property.
- The bottom track sits at the opening and needs to be kept clear of debris and insect nests.
- Finish choices are limited to the standard colours offered for the approved system.
Another product is sometimes the better fit. We compare them with you for your actual openings rather than naming a single best product.
- Roll-down shutters: Close from a single point at each opening — including motorised options — and roll into a housing above the opening rather than stacking at the sides.
- Hurricane screens: Retract out of sight and keep more of the view and daylight on a lanai or porch. Read about hurricane screens
- Storm panels: Lower initial cost, but they are stored between storms and must be carried and installed before each event. Read about storm panels
- Bahama or Colonial shutters: Chosen where the architectural appearance of the front of the home is the priority. Read about bahama or colonial shutters
Real Installation Examples
Photographs of work completed by our team. The first two show the same home with the shutters closed and open.
Photo 1 of 42
Product Approval & Drawings
Installation & Service
Product brand: Bertha
Manufacturer: American Shutter Systems Association, Inc.
Bertha Accordion Shutters
Manufacturer: American Shutter Systems Association, Inc.
Florida's official product-approval record lists the Bertha H.V. Accordion Shutter System with HV Blade #3, with or without HV Window Blade #3, as approved under FL1850-R15, product number FL1850.1, for the Florida Building Code, Eighth Edition (2023). The engineering drawings, evaluation report and the engineer's Certification of Independence are published here exactly as issued. An approval shows the system was tested and approved — it does not make every opening suitable. That depends on the opening, the supporting structure, the anchorage and the installation requirements in the approved drawings.
Verified benefits
- Permanently mounted accordion shutters that close across the opening without panels to store.
- The official record lists large-missile impact resistance and approval for use inside and outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, subject to the approved drawings.
Suitable uses
- Windows, doors and openings where the opening, supporting structure and anchorage match the FL1850.1 approved drawings.
- Homes where a permanently installed system is preferred over removable panels.
FL1850-R15 is the Florida Product Approval record (application type: Revision). FL1850.1 is the product number for the Blade #3 system published here, drawing 23-129. A High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) is the part of Florida — Miami-Dade and Broward counties — with the state's strictest wind requirements. Florida approval for HVHZ use is not the same as a separate Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance.
- Manufacturer
- American Shutter Systems Association, Inc.
- System
- Bertha H.V. Accordion Shutter System — HV Blade #3 with or without HV Window Blade #3
- Florida approval
- FL1850-R15
- Revision
- R15 (application type: Revision)
- Code edition
- Florida Building Code, Eighth Edition (2023)
- Application status
- Approved
- Date approved
- December 12, 2023
- Official record revised
- August 17, 2026
- Document
- Engineering drawings FL1850_R15_II_DRAWING 23-129
- Document date
- July 21, 2023
- Product number on the record
- FL1850.1
- Category
- Shutters — Accordion
- Product brand
- Bertha
- Submitted by
- American Shutter Systems Association, Inc.
- Drawing number
- 23-129
- Evaluation report number
- 23-0721.25
- Impact resistant
- Yes. Large Missile Level D. The record lists approval for use inside and outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, subject to the requirements in the approved drawings.
- Evaluation
- Method 1 Option D evaluation report by Walter A. Tillit, Jr., P.E. (Florida licence PE-44167), Tilteco, Inc. / Tillit Testing & Engineering Company
What the document itself says about limits
- Suitability depends on your opening, supporting structure, and the installation requirements in the approved drawings. We assess these details for your property.
- Approved spans, design pressures and anchor spacing are set by the schedules in the drawings; a single figure must not be applied to every opening.
- The drawings are generic and not site-specific. Conditions that fall outside them need separate site-specific sealed engineering by an engineer of record.
- The contractor is responsible for verifying that the structure the shutter is attached to can carry the load.
- Each unit must carry the manufacturer's label and the warning label required by the drawings; centermates and locks must be properly closed and engaged during a hurricane warning.
Drawing 23-129: the sealed drawings showing approved spans, mounting details and anchor schedules. Printed sheet labels run 1 to 18 and include sheets 3A and 10A, so a sheet number does not always match its position in the file.
Dated July 21, 2023.
Report 23-0721.25: the engineer's report setting out the testing and calculations the approval rests on.
Dated July 21, 2023.
The evaluating engineer's statement that he has no financial interest in the company manufacturing or distributing the product. It concerns the engineer's independence only — it is not insurance, a warranty or a separate certification of the product.
Dated July 21, 2023.
Documents are displayed unaltered. The viewer provides no download or print button, but browser saving, screenshots or printing cannot be completely prevented.
Official Florida Approval Record (opens another website)My Safe Florida Home
My Safe Florida Home is a State of Florida program run by the Florida Department of Financial Services. It offers free wind-mitigation inspections and, for homeowners who qualify, grant assistance toward approved improvements. It is not our program, and we are not part of it.
- This product. Opening protection such as accordion hurricane shutters is one of the improvement types the program considers. That does not mean your home, or this product on your home, qualifies — your inspection report and the program decide that.
- Funding is never guaranteed. Your inspection report and the program decide what, if anything, is funded, and availability changes.
- Do not start work early. If you intend to use grant assistance, construction must not begin before the program has approved your grant. Starting early can disqualify the work.
How it works. You create an account with the program, answer its questionnaire, and are placed in a group. A free wind-mitigation inspection is scheduled, and the inspection report lists the improvements recommended for your home. A grant application follows if you qualify.
What decides eligibility. The program sets the rules — including home type, homestead status, income and age priority groups — and the inspection recommendations and program approval determine what, if anything, is funded.
Our part in it. We are a licensed Florida contractor (Florida Certified Building Contractor CBC1270515). We do not describe ourselves as a program-approved or authorised contractor, and we make no claim of government endorsement. Check the program’s own requirements for the contractor you choose before signing anything.
This link opens the official My Safe Florida Home website (mysafeflhome.com) in a new tab and leaves our website.
Payment Options
Grant assistance and financing are two separate things. Grant assistance comes from the state program described above. Financing is an arrangement between you and a lender.
If paying over time would help, you can look at financing through Enhancify, an outside financing provider. Any amount, term or approval is decided by Enhancify, not by us, so we do not quote rates or monthly payments here.
Explore Financing OptionsThis opens Enhancify’s website in a new tab. You will be leaving our website.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call us at 407-883-1873.
Care and Maintenance
A few simple habits help keep the system ready to operate.
Keep the tracks clear
Leaves, sand, sticks and everyday grit collect in the bottom track and are the most common reason a shutter becomes stiff. Sweep or vacuum the track and rinse it out a few times a year.
Watch for mud-dauber nests and insects
Mud daubers build hard nests inside tracks, wheels and locking hardware, especially at openings that are rarely closed. Look into the track and the stack every few months and clear anything you find before it hardens in place.
Lubricate the moving parts appropriately
Use a dry silicone lubricant on the tracks and wheels. Avoid oily or greasy sprays: they hold sand and dirt and make the shutter harder to move over time.
Rinse off salt and dirt
Rinse the shutters with fresh water and, if needed, mild soap. Do not use abrasive pads or harsh cleaners on the finish.
Operate every shutter before hurricane season
Close and reopen each shutter once a year, before the season starts, and check that the latches and locks work. A problem found in May is a phone call; the same problem found with a storm approaching is not.
Call us if something binds or will not latch
If a shutter drags, will not meet in the middle or will not lock, stop and call 407-883-1873. Forcing it can damage the wheels or the track.
Questions People Ask Us
Can accordion shutters be locked from the inside?
Openings used as an exit are fitted with hardware that releases from inside without a key or tool where that is required. Other openings can be secured from inside or outside depending on the hardware chosen for that opening.
Do they need electricity?
No. Accordion shutters are operated by hand, so they work during a power outage.
Can they be left closed while we are away?
Yes, many seasonal residents close their shutters before they leave. Bear in mind that closed shutters darken the rooms behind them and that egress openings still need to be usable by anyone in the home.
Will a permit be required?
Installing hurricane shutters in Central Florida generally requires a permit and an inspection. We will tell you in writing which authority has jurisdiction over your address and whether permitting is included in your estimate.
What about HOA approval?
Many communities require approval before shutters are installed and some restrict colours or styles. We can provide product information and drawings to support your application, but the association makes the decision.
More questions, if you want the detail
Open any question below. You can leave several open at once.
Aluminum accordion systems are built for long outdoor service. Actual life depends on the system, the exposure of the opening and how well the tracks are maintained. Written warranty terms for the system quoted are provided with your estimate.
Often yes. Height, access for the crew and the mounting surface are checked during the assessment, and once installed you operate the shutter from inside or from ground level depending on the opening.
Homeowners commonly notice that a closed shutter darkens a room and dulls outside noise. We do not publish noise or energy figures because they are not something we have measured on your home.
Frequently. Worn wheels, damaged tracks, bent slats and failed locks can often be serviced. Call 407-883-1873 and describe what the shutter is doing.
Yes. Many homes use different protection on different openings — for example accordion shutters on windows and doors with a screen across a lanai. We quote whatever combination suits your openings.
Still deciding? Talk it through with us.
Ask us anything — including the awkward questions. There is no pressure and no obligation.