Hurricane Season and Your Furniture: A Boca Raton Homeowner's Checklist

Early September is when Boca Raton households start taking hurricane season seriously, and furniture rarely makes the list until a slider leaks or the air conditioning has been off for days. Most of the damage comes from three places: rain forced through a slider track or window frame, a sealed house that turns damp once the power is out, and pieces knocked or torn while being dragged out of the way. What follows is the calm version, and it fits in an afternoon.

Before a watch is issued: build the record

Start with photographs. Take a wide shot of each room from the doorway, then one of every major piece, its manufacturer label, and the receipt if you still have it. Put the set in a cloud folder rather than on your phone alone. That is the extent of the insurance advice here: photograph, keep the record, keep it off-site.

While you walk through, note which pieces sit in front of sliders or large windows and which rooms are on the ground floor. Those two lists drive the rest.

Pieces that sit against sliders and big windows

Water rarely comes through the glass. It comes through the track at the bottom of a sliding door and around the frame of a window in hours of wind-driven rain. The first pieces to take on water are the ones with fabric touching the floor: upholstered sofas and chairs, ottomans and rugs. Wood legs standing in a puddle for a day will swell and stain.

Pull anything upholstered back from a slider until there is a clear walking path between the glass and the furniture, wide enough to reach the door during the storm. Roll rugs in that zone and stand them on end in an interior room. If a sofa or sectional is too heavy to move far, set its front legs on furniture cups or scrap wood. The sofas and sectionals most worth the effort have fabric skirts or low frames, because they wick water fastest. Keep the path clear once everything is moved.

Ground floors, garages and lanais

Lanai and balcony furniture comes inside or gets secured. If you live in a condo, check the building rules now; many associations require balconies to be cleared once a watch is issued. Decide in advance what comes in and where it will sit.

Garages are the other trouble spot. Anything on a garage floor goes up on blocks, pallets or shelving, because garage doors leak at the bottom and water spreads across a slab quickly. Do not stack upholstered pieces on a garage floor; a chair that sits in an inch of water overnight can be ruined, and the same chair on a shelf stays dry. Wrap nothing in plastic at this stage.

Humidity when the power goes out

A closed house without air conditioning in September turns hot and damp within hours, and that is when the quiet damage happens. Leather dries out or spots, wood veneers lift at the edges as the substrate swells, and natural-fiber rugs and linen upholstery hold moisture and start to smell. None of it is visible on the first day.

When it is safe, open interior doors and closet doors so air can move through the house. Do not seal damp cushions or rugs in plastic bags; a damp cushion in a sealed bag mildews far faster than one left in the open. Stand cushions on edge and leave drawers and cabinet doors slightly open.

As soon as power returns, run the air conditioning or a dehumidifier before you clean anything, because wood, leather and fabric all recover better dry. For leather, our Italian leather care guide for South Florida covers conditioning a sofa after a humid stretch.

After the storm: drying comes first

The instinct after a storm is to clean; the correct order is dry first, then clean. Lift wet rugs off wood floors and away from furniture legs the same day, because a wet rug trapped under a sofa leg leaves a ring in the floor and a mark on the leg. Prop rugs over a railing so air reaches both sides.

Wipe metal bases and stone or ceramic tops dry with a soft cloth, then look underneath. Check the underside of tables, the inside of cabinets and the back panels of case pieces; those surfaces are often unfinished and hold water longer than the visible faces.

Upholstery is where to be patient. Surface-dry a sofa with towels and air, but if a cushion or seat deck has been soaked, or you smell mildew after a day of drying, call a professional upholstery cleaner rather than shampooing it yourself; a professional can extract water from foam that a household machine cannot reach.

Materials that make storm season simpler

If you are choosing new pieces this year, a few material decisions make storm season simpler. None of them make a piece immune to water. They do make it easier to wipe down, better at tolerating humidity, and less likely to be ruined by a damp night.

Sintered stone, ceramic and porcelain tops. These surfaces do not absorb water the way unsealed wood does, and a dry cloth is usually the whole cleanup. A ceramic top on a metal base, like the Roca Ceramic Contemporary Coffee Table with its matte grey ceramic surface and black metal base, wipes dry with a cloth. The Carrera Extendable Ceramic Dining Table with Black Metal Legs follows the same logic in the dining room. Porcelain side tables like the Movimento Gray Porcelain Side Tables, a porcelain top on a stainless steel base, are just as easy to wipe dry.

Travertine. Natural stone tops such as the Hugo Italian Travertine Contemporary Dining Table, a rectangular travertine top on a black powder-coated metal base, tolerate humidity well once the stone has been sealed; sealing is a routine job on the schedule the manufacturer recommends. Wipe it dry rather than letting water sit.

Performance fabrics. Treated upholstery fabrics release water and dry faster than untreated cotton or linen. If a sofa will sit near a slider, ask whether a treated fabric is available for it.

Well-finished wood and metal bases. Solid or well-veneered wood with a proper finish handles a damp stretch far better than lightly coated particleboard, which swells and does not recover. Metal bases wipe dry and do not wick water up from a wet floor. Compare stone, ceramic and porcelain tops on metal bases in the coffee table collection.

Delivery timing around a storm watch

A delivery scheduled during hurricane season need not be stressful. Our white-glove team sets a delivery window with you in advance, and if a watch is issued for that date, the delivery can be rescheduled to a day after the weather has cleared. How the service works, including gate passes for condos and gated communities, is explained on the white-glove delivery page.

If a piece is damaged and you need a replacement, the in-stock furniture page shows what is in the local warehouse. The complimentary design consultation happens at the showroom; bring your inventory photos and room dimensions and a designer can plan a replacement with you.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need to move furniture away from sliders if I have shutters or impact glass?

Yes, at least a short distance. Shutters and impact glass stop wind and debris, but water can still come through a slider track and around a window frame during hours of driven rain. Pulling upholstery and rugs back a few feet costs nothing.

Should I wrap sofa cushions in plastic to keep them dry?

No. A cushion that is even slightly damp, which describes most of them after a day without air conditioning, mildews inside a sealed bag. Stand cushions on edge in an interior room instead.

Can a delivery be rescheduled if a hurricane watch is issued?

Yes. Deliveries are scheduled as a window, and if a watch is issued for that day, the date can be moved to one after the weather has passed. Call (561) 221-6111 and the team will set a new window.

Most of this checklist is order of operations: photograph first, move things back, get items off the floor, let the house breathe, dry before you clean. Do it once and the next September becomes a routine. If you want to weigh materials with someone who has seen what holds up, bring your photos and dimensions to the showroom.

See it in person: our Boca Raton showroom at 6599 N Federal Hwy is open seven days a week.