South Florida
Accordion Hurricane Shutters in South Florida
Accordion shutters are the least expensive way to get every opening on a house protected to code. They live parked at the jamb all year, then two people can close an entire house in well under an hour once a storm has a name.
- Approved for your wind zone
- No panels to store
- Lowest cost per opening
Overview
The cheapest protection that still meets code
An accordion shutter is two folding wings of interlocking aluminum blades riding in a top and bottom track, stacked into a housing at each side of the opening. To close up, you pull the wings together and drop the pin or turn the key lock. There are no panels to drag out of the garage, no wing nuts to hunt for, no ladder, and nothing that can be lost between seasons.
The reason people choose them is money. Impact glazing replaces the entire window; an accordion bolts to the structure around the glass you already own. On a wide patio slider, on a rental where the existing windows are perfectly sound, or on a house with fifteen openings and a fixed budget, accordions are usually the difference between a fully protected home and a half-protected one. They are also the practical choice for a second home you leave for the summer, because you can close the house before you fly out.
USA Roofing and Construction installs accordion shutters across Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach under state building license CBC1266379. We install impact windows too, which means we have no reason to steer you toward one or the other. Free measurement, free written estimate, price 100% guaranteed, and we will beat any written estimate from another licensed contractor.
Why us
What you get with USA Roofing & Construction
Lowest cost per protected opening
The most economical way to bring every window and door on a house up to code-approved opening protection.
A house closed in minutes
Pull, latch, done — no panels to carry, no hardware to find, no climbing. Most homes close up in well under an hour.
Code-approved systems
Products carrying Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade NOA, tested for large-missile impact and cyclic wind pressure.
Nothing to store or lose
Unlike removable panels, accordions stay on the opening year-round. Nothing goes missing in the garage between seasons.
Where accordions beat impact glass
Impact windows are the better product on the openings you actually look through. They are also priced per unit, and that price climbs quickly as the glass gets bigger. An eight-foot slider or a wide picture window is where the gap between accordion and impact gets very wide, very fast.
The other factor is what the protection is for. If the house is a rental, an investment property or a place you leave for the summer, the year-round benefits of impact glass — noise, UV, security — mostly go to somebody else. The storm protection is what you are actually buying, and accordions deliver that at a fraction of the cost.
- Wide sliding glass doors and patio walls, where laminated impact glass gets most expensive per square foot.
- Rentals and investment property, where the goal is a protected building rather than a comfort upgrade for the tenant.
- Second homes and snowbird properties — close the house in June, leave it closed all season, fly home without watching the tropics.
- Houses with windows still in good condition. There is no sense scrapping sound windows purely to gain opening protection.
- Staged budgets: accordions on every opening now, impact units later on the windows you live in front of.
- Odd-shaped and oversized openings that would need custom impact glazing at a custom price.
What a good accordion installation looks like
An accordion shutter transfers the entire wind load on that opening into the wall around it. What it is anchored to therefore matters more than the shutter itself. Concrete, block or a properly built and attached buck, with the anchor type, embedment and spacing specified in the product approval — not whatever the installer had on the truck.
The second thing that separates a good install from a cheap one is geometry. Tracks that are set true and level open and close for decades. Tracks that were fudged around a sill, a planter or an air conditioner line set bind up within a couple of seasons, and by then the fix costs more than doing it right would have.
- Anchored into concrete, block or correctly attached bucking, using the fastener pattern printed in the product approval.
- Top and bottom tracks set true and level. A track out of alignment is the single most common reason an accordion drags or jams later.
- Build-outs where the shutter has to clear a sill, planter, hose bib or line set, instead of forcing the track into a compromise.
- A bottom track that drains and sits low enough to walk over, rather than becoming a trip hazard across a patio door.
- Interior locking on bedroom and egress openings, so nobody has to step outside in the wind to open the house back up.
- Permit pulled under building license CBC1266379 and carried through final inspection, with approval numbers documented for your insurer.
Living with accordions: maintenance and honest trade-offs
Accordions are mechanical, and mechanical things in South Florida collect salt, sand, pollen and lovebugs. The overwhelming majority of accordion problems trace back to a bottom track full of grit and wheels that have never been lubricated. Ten minutes with a hose and a shop vac twice a year prevents most of the service calls we get.
The honest downsides: they are visible on the elevation all year, some associations restrict color or placement, a closed shutter makes a room dark, and they do nothing for noise or UV. Most importantly, they only work if somebody closes them. If the house sits empty during hurricane season, close it before you go.
- Rinse blades and tracks with fresh water a couple of times a year, more often within a mile or two of the ocean.
- Vacuum or blow the bottom track clear. Sand and leaf grit is what makes a shutter drag and eventually bind.
- Use a dry silicone lubricant on wheels and locks. Oil-based sprays attract dirt and make the problem worse.
- Cycle every shutter open and closed before hurricane season starts, not the week a storm is named.
- Check your association rules on color and appearance before ordering. Accordions are permanent and visible from the street.
- They protect nothing if nobody closes them, so a plan for who closes the house matters as much as the hardware.
Affordable roof financing
Every home deserves a safe roof — including yours
A roof shouldn’t wait for a perfect credit score. We’re a PACE-approved contractor, so we can put a new roof over your family for as little as $65 a month with nothing down.
- No credit check required
- $0 down with 100% financing
- PACE program approved contractor
- Secured & unsecured financing
- 10, 20 and 30 year terms
- No pre-payment penalty
*Payment example based on approved credit and project size. Terms vary — ask us for the exact numbers on your roof.
Questions
Accordion Shutters — straight answers
How much do accordion shutters cost?
Accordion shutters are priced by the size of the opening, so the total depends on how many openings you have, how wide and tall they are, what they are mounted to, and whether any build-outs are needed. As a category they are consistently the least expensive approved protection per opening. We measure free, give you a written price, and beat any written estimate from another licensed contractor.
Are accordion shutters as good as impact windows?
For storm protection, an approved accordion and an approved impact window both satisfy code and both protect the opening. The differences are practical. Impact glass needs no action and delivers noise, UV and security benefits year-round. Accordions cost far less, protect openings where impact glass gets expensive, and depend on somebody being there to close them.
Do accordion shutters lower my insurance premium?
Approved shutters count as opening protection on the Florida wind mitigation inspection form, which is one of the biggest factors carriers price from. The important detail is coverage: the credit generally requires every glazed opening to be protected, including skylights and the garage door. Leaving one window bare can cost the credit on the entire house.
How long does it take to close the shutters before a storm?
Most homes take somewhere between fifteen minutes and an hour for two people, depending on how many openings there are. There is nothing to carry, install or fasten — you walk the perimeter, pull each shutter closed and latch it. That is the practical advantage over removable panels, which can take most of a day and require ladders in rising wind.
Do accordion shutters need a permit?
Yes. Shutters are attached to the structure and are part of the building envelope, so they require a permit and inspection. We pull it under our state building license CBC1266379 and see the job through final inspection. That paperwork is also what your insurer will want to see when you claim the opening-protection credit.
How much maintenance do they need?
Very little, but not zero. Rinse the blades and tracks with fresh water a couple of times a year, clear sand and debris out of the bottom track, and hit the wheels and locks with a dry silicone lubricant. Then cycle each shutter fully open and closed before hurricane season. That routine prevents nearly every accordion problem we get called out for.
Reviews
Homeowners who trusted us with the job
5.0 out of 5 · verified Google reviews
I can't say enough about the professionalism and quality of work USA Roofing & Construction delivered! Eli and Max were there with me every step of they way. They replaced my front door, garage door and skylight. Communication was excellent. Service was outstanding. Everything was done in a timely fashion. I highly recommend them and will use their services again in the future. Thank you for making my construction issues easy! Love my front door and so does Buddy!
USA Roofing and Construction's commitment to excellence is evident in every aspect of their business, from the initial consultation to the final inspection. USA Roofing and Construction's team is a well-oiled machine, working seamlessly together to deliver exceptional results and exceed customer expectations.
Delivered as promised on budget. I would recommend them and use them again!
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We travel all around South Florida — from Miami-Dade to Palm Beach County. Pick your city to see local roofing information, or just call and we’ll tell you if we cover your street.
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- Call or text954-893-2550
- Email ususaroofingac@gmail.com
- Visit us1118 N 46 Terrace, Hollywood, FL 33021
- State licensesCCC1337306 · CBC1266379
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