How to Attach Shutters to Brick vs. Siding: Why Pro Installation Matters

When you’re researching how to install hurricane shutters, one of the most technically challenging questions you’ll face is how to properly attach them to your home. The answer isn’t simple, because the method of attachment is entirely dependent on what your house is made of. The technique for attaching a shutter to a brick home is completely different from the technique for a home with vinyl siding, and getting it wrong can lead to total failure.

This guide, based on our extensive professional experience at American Hurricane Shutters, will explain the science behind anchoring shutters to different wall types. Our goal is to demonstrate the complexity involved and to show why this critical, structural work is a job best left to trained, experienced professionals.

Attaching Shutters to Brick Veneer Homes

This is one of the most common and most misunderstood installation types. Many homes in the Carolinas have a brick exterior. It’s crucial to understand that on most modern homes, the brick is a **veneer**. It is not structural. It is a decorative siding, separated by a small air gap from the home’s actual structural wall (which is usually wood frame or concrete block).

The WRONG Way to Attach to Brick

A common DIY mistake is to use a short masonry anchor (like a Tapcon) that only fastens into the brick itself. This is extremely dangerous. The brick is not designed to handle the massive pulling forces of a hurricane and the anchors can easily rip out, taking chunks of your brick with them.

The RIGHT Way: Anchoring to the Structure

Our professional installation process involves:

1. Using a specialized hammer drill to carefully drill through the brick veneer.
2. Continuing to drill through the air gap and into the structural component behind the brick (either the concrete block or the wooden studs).
3. Using extra-long, specialized fasteners (like concrete sleeve anchors or specially approved 7.625″ TVAS Hurricane Lag Bolts) that are long enough to achieve a deep, secure embedment into the structural wall.

This ensures that the load from the shutter is transferred to the strong frame of your house, not the fragile decorative brick.

Attaching Shutters to Homes with Siding (Vinyl, HardiePlank, etc.)

Homes with siding are typically wood-frame construction. The siding itself has zero structural strength. The goal here is to anchor directly into the vertical wooden studs that make up the frame of your house.

The WRONG Way to Attach to Siding

A catastrophic mistake is to simply screw the shutter track into the siding or the thin OSB/plywood sheathing underneath. This has no holding power and will fail immediately under wind load.

The RIGHT Way: Hitting the Studs

Our professional crews are experts at:

1. Using stud finders and other techniques to precisely locate the center of each wooden stud behind the siding.
2. Marking out an anchoring pattern that aligns with these studs, as specified by the shutter’s engineering documents.
3. Using long, corrosion-resistant lag screws that pass through the siding and sheathing and bite deep into the solid wood of the studs. On the Coast, the traditionally coated Tapcon, Ultracon, etc. fasteners will rust eventually. Only trust 18-8 or higher grade Stainless Steel lag bolts. Into concrete where those are required, we ensure to paint each head after installing to give an extra layer of protection. Alternativelly you can upgrade to the 410SS concrete anchor, however those still need to be painted as 410SS is inferior to 18-8 (304) Stainless steel.
4. Properly weather-sealing every penetration point to prevent water intrusion.

Attaching Shutters to Stucco or Concrete Block (CMU)

Some coastal homes, especially in South Carolina, are built with concrete block (CMU) and finished with stucco. This provides a very strong and secure base for anchoring.

The Professional Method

For these homes, we use:

1. A powerful hammer drill to create a clean hole of a specific depth in the concrete block.
2. High-quality concrete anchors that are designed to create an incredibly strong friction grip.They are rated for coastal applications- however are not as resistant as the 18-8 Stainless anchors we place into wood. For this reason we individually paint each anchor after installation to ensure that there are no micro-abrasions that could speed up deterioration.
3. The specific anchor type and depth are dictated by the shutter’s engineering approval to guarantee performance.