Hurricane Prep & Emergency Board-Up in Clay County, FL

Plywood over a window is cheap. A shattered window during a storm rarely stays contained to one room.

CLAY COUNTY, FLA. · Service Report

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30, and Clay County sits far enough inland to avoid storm surge but not far enough to avoid the wind. Homes built before Florida overhauled its statewide building code after Hurricane Andrew in the early 1990s often have no impact glass and no shutter track hardware. That describes a lot of housing stock in Orange Park's older neighborhoods and around Green Cove Springs' historic district specifically, which is why plywood board-up remains a normal, sensible step here rather than something only coastal homes need.

We do two different kinds of board-up work, and they are not the same job. Pre-storm board-up protects windows and doors before a hurricane warning takes effect, while a forecast still gives you lead time. Post-storm emergency securing covers a home after wind or debris has already broken a window, torn a door off track, or opened a gap that needs to be closed before the next round of rain gets inside.

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The Rate Card

What Board-Up Actually Costs

Job	Typical Range	What Moves the Price
Single window or door, pre-storm plywood	$150 to $350	Opening size, whether existing shutter track hardware exists to reuse
Whole-house pre-storm board-up, 8 to 12 openings	$600 to $1,400	Number of openings, roof access for gable vents, second-story window access
Post-storm emergency securing, single broken opening	$200 to $450	Glass or debris cleanup first, plus whether the frame itself is damaged
Post-storm whole-house securing after significant wind damage	$800 to $1,600	Total openings affected and whether a door was torn off its hinges entirely

Board-up is materials and labor to close and secure an opening. It is not a repair. Once the storm passes, actual window, door, or frame repair is priced and scheduled separately, and structural roof repair is covered on the storm damage repair page.

How It Works

The Process, Watch to Secure

You Call When a Storm Is Named

Once a storm enters the forecast cone for Northeast Florida, call early. Plywood, screws, and crew time all get harder to schedule the closer a storm gets to landfall.

We Measure Openings

Windows, doors, and any large glass features get measured for plywood cut to fit, not a generic sheet propped in place.

We Mount and Anchor

Plywood is screwed into the frame or existing shutter track, not just nailed to trim, so it holds under sustained wind load.

After the Storm, We Reassess

Once it's safe to be outside, we check every board for movement or damage before removal.

Emergency Securing If Something Failed

If wind got past a board or broke an unprotected opening, we come back to close the gap the same day, weather permitting.

Handoff to Repair

Once the home is secure and dry, permanent window, door, or roof repair gets scoped and scheduled.

What Makes This Harder

Where Board-Up Jobs Get Complicated

Waiting until the last 24 hours. Plywood, screws, and available crew hours all get scarce once a hurricane watch turns into a warning for Northeast Florida. Homes that call three or four days out get scheduled calmly. Homes that call the night before a warning get whatever slot is left.

Older homes without shutter track hardware. Newer construction, especially post-2000 subdivisions like Eagle Harbor on Fleming Island or Wilford Preserve in Orange Park, sometimes already has shutter anchors pre-installed from the builder. Older homes near Doctors Lake or in Green Cove Springs' historic district usually don't, which means every board gets screwed directly into window trim or masonry, adding time per opening.

Second-story and hard-to-reach openings. A ladder job in calm weather is a different task than the same window with tropical-storm-force wind gusts already arriving. We stop working openings once sustained wind reaches a level that makes ladder work unsafe, and we'll tell you honestly if that means an opening goes unboarded until conditions allow it.

Confusing board-up with structural repair. A plywood sheet keeps wind-driven debris and rain out of a broken opening. It does not repair a cracked frame, replace glass, or fix a door that's been pulled off its hinges. Those are separate jobs, priced and scheduled once the storm has passed and it's safe to assess the actual damage underneath.

One thing we do not do: work a roof or ladder once sustained wind or lightning makes it unsafe for a crew to be outside. We will tell you plainly when conditions have crossed that line, rather than send someone up in weather that isn't safe.

Timeline

How Long Board-Up Takes

A single window or door takes 20 to 40 minutes once a crew is on-site, including measuring and anchoring. A whole-house job with 8 to 12 openings typically runs 3 to 5 hours depending on access and whether shutter hardware already exists to reuse. Post-storm emergency securing on a single broken opening usually happens within a few hours of the call, once it's safe to be outside, and we prioritize openings that are actively letting in wind-driven rain over ones that are simply broken but sealed by debris.

Removal after the storm passes is faster than installation, usually 15 to 20 minutes per opening, and we recommend leaving boards up until sustained winds have fully passed rather than pulling them at the first lull.

Questions

Hurricane Prep, Answered Plainly

How far in advance should I call before a storm?

As soon as a storm enters the forecast cone for Northeast Florida, ideally 3 to 4 days before any expected impact. Materials and crew time both tighten fast in the final 24 to 48 hours before a warning.

Will you board up during an active hurricane warning?

We'll work as long as conditions are safe for a crew to be outside and on a ladder. Once sustained wind or lightning crosses that safety line, we stop, and we'll tell you honestly rather than promise a slot we can't safely deliver.

Do you also do storm damage repair after the boards come down?

Yes. Once it's safe to assess the actual damage, roof, siding, or interior repair is scoped and priced on the storm damage repair page. Board-up and repair are billed and scheduled separately because they're genuinely different jobs.

Should I buy my own plywood and try to do this myself?

For a single accessible window, plenty of homeowners handle it themselves with 5/8 inch plywood and enough screws to anchor into the frame every 12 to 18 inches. Where it gets risky is second-story openings, hardware you don't have, or waiting until wind has already picked up. That's where a crew earns its cost.

Storm in the forecast and windows still bare? Call (904) 558-9919

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Call (904) 558-9919

We serve Clay County, Florida: Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, and Middleburg. Outside that footprint, tell us in the form and we will point you toward help closer to you.