Tomas - 12th Hurricane of the Year - Coming to the Gulf

Surprise, surprise - you thought it was a SLOW season? Not so. We just got our 12th hurricane for the season - TOMAS, and its course looks like it has a good chance of coming down the "slot" and into the Gulf of Mexico in the next week. I've attached a video link to the Weather Channel report as of today.

And did you see the historic storm that hit the Midwest and Northeast last week? It was a record breaker - and its 24 tornadoes and hurricane-force winds blew out windows --which leads to structural blow outs once wind gets inside a building. Buildings are built to resist OUTSIDE wind pressure - but once a window blows and they get in, they out for a way out. The easy way is to go UP and pull your roof off.

We had a customer who is an engineer. He told me that he calculated that one hole in a window generated 50,000 lbs. of UPLIFT on the roof! That sounded like a serious amount of uplift to me!

The 30% tax credit for installing our security film (up to $1,500 of the cost of materials) expires December 31, 2010 - and don't count on a new Congress extending it.

It's now HURRICANE Richard..And Its Heading to the Gulf of Mexico

It's now HURRICANE Richard which is coming into the Gulf of Mexico. Predictions so far is that it will hit Mexico, but that would still put Texas on the wet, right side that has the biggest punch.

Stay alert. Hurricane Megi in the Pacific (they call them Typhoons or Cyclones) is raging at 160 mph winds! It's the biggest storm in over two decades - another sign of storms getting bigger and more dangerous.

Stay tuned and Get Prepared. We have over a month to go in this hurricane season, with October still feeling HOT. Then it will start all over again in 6 months! In the meantime, the burglars are working 24/7 and the Texas solar heat is just as relentless...

T.S Richard Next Stop - Gulf of Mexico

Tropical Storm Richard, our 10th storm of the season, has popped up - and will be aiming at the Gulf of Mexico by the middle of next week according to the Weather Channel.

Definitely we are NOT out of the woods during this hurricane season.

Are you prepared?

30% Tax Credit on Window Film Runs Out Dec 31 2010

Under section 25C of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), homeowners can receive a 30 percent credit on the costs of "qualified energy efficiency improvements," including Solar Gard solar control window film on windows, doors, and skylights. This tax credit applies only to improvements made to a primary residence from Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2010. These credits expire at the end of 2010.

A tax credit is generally more valuable than an equivalent tax deduction because a tax credit reduces your tax dollar-for-dollar, while a deduction only removes a percentage of the tax that is owed. If you can itemize energy-related purchases on your federal income tax form, it will lower the total amount of tax you owe the government.

Homeowners can receive a 30 percent credit on the cost of the window film, up to $1500. Installation costs do not apply, only the cost of the film. This credit is in addition to any previous credit used.

Eligible windows are double pane, with vinyl or wood frames...

Hurricane Test That Blew House Apart

A hurricane test of two houses with 100 high speed fans showed how one blew apart in less than 10 minutes - but the other survived because it had a stronger design that cost only $5,000.

This is similar to the finding in "Project Safe Windows" that determined wind-borne debris that breaches a window leads to structural failure and roof loss.

That is another reason why Armor Glass security film protects your home from violent storms...

Super Typhoon Bearing Down on China -155mph winds!

Super Typhoon (Hurricane) Megi just hit the Philippines with winds clocked at 155 mph - and is now heading towards China.

It is the biggest storm in over five years (on a scale similar to Rita and Katrina). This is another indication that our storms are getting more powerful.

Get prepared. Hurricane IKE was only a Cat 1! Imagine the damage if we really got a CAT2 or 3!

Hurricane Paula Pounds Cuba

Yep, we've already reached the "P's" as in Hurricane Paula. You would never know from our beautiful blue skies over Texas that Hurricane Paula just pounded Cancun (just on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico) and went on to pound Cuba.

Hurricane season is alive and well - it won't officially end until Nov. 30. Then it picks up again June 1.

In the meantime 2010 is ranking in the top for one of the hottest years on record. Fortunately our Armor Glass film provides relief and protection from both solar heat and hurricanes - not to mention burglars who don't seem to have an off season.

Student Letter - Hurricane project for school

I received this email from a student yesterday --I have no idea how she heard about us but it was really cute, so I thought I'd share it:

"I have a school project and i have to fix up a house and make it hurricane ready and enviromentally friendly. I need to know how much the armor glass is that is hurricane resistant and helps save energy or whatever. I need to know this ASAP because tomorrow (Thurday, October 13, 2010) is the last day that i have to do this project. THANKS

Mariah"

Testimonial Letter on Attempted Break in - Stopped by AG

We just got a testimonial letter from a customer who said that five (5) days after we installed our security film (clear) on some of her windows that someone tried to break in.

They failed. The interesting thing is that the "cure" time is normally 30 days - yet it still foiled the burglars.

The following is a subscription of her letter.

"On Friday, 9/24/2010, Armor Glass installed [security] film on several downstairs windows.

On the following Wednesday, 9/29.2010, an attempted break-in was made via the back kitchen window (which fortunately had the film).

The windows are double-pane. The exterior pane broke as regular glass and larger pieces were found on the ground below. The interior glass with the Armor Glass film was broken. However, the film tightly held all the fragments together.

The intruder tried to remove the glass for entry to the house, but after managing to open an area approximately 4" wide x 2" high at the bottonm of the window glass, he gave up the attempt and left the premises.

The double pane glass was replaced Monday 10/4/2010. It took the glass installation person about one hour to remove the broken glass (held by the film) from the frame.

The film is certainly a deterrent for attempted burglary.

Signed,

Loretta P."

Imagine that was your house - would they have gotten in?