Emergency Board Up in Jacksonville, FL

How Much Does Emergency Board Up Cost in Jacksonville?

Emergency board up in Jacksonville typically costs $190 to $940 to cover one to a few broken windows or a door with plywood.

Distance moves the price here. Jacksonville covers 747.3 square miles of land^[6], so a call across the St. Johns or from the Westside to the coast takes longer. On a vacant building, the city standard adds paint to match the structure and a 2x4 subframe wherever a frame is loose^[2], both extra labor.

See what else changes the price on our cost page.

What Jacksonville Requires for an Empty House With Broken Windows

Under Ordinance Code Sec. 518.205, a vacant building with a broken or missing door or window that lets someone inside is a public nuisance^[2]. That standard is one-inch boards or at least 1/2-inch exterior grade plywood, nailed with 8d nails and painted a similar color to the building, with a 2x4 subframe where the frame is loose or missing^[2]. Other methods need the city's approval as equal in strength^[2].

Boards are a stopgap in Jacksonville. A vacant building boarded for more than six months is a nuisance again unless the Special Magistrate or Code Enforcement Board grants more time^[2]. If an owner leaves a building open, the city may board it itself^[7], and the total expense, including administrative costs, becomes a lien on the property^[2].

Do Jacksonville Homes Need Hurricane Shutters or Plywood?

For most houses, no code requires them. Jacksonville draws a wind line down the middle of the St. Johns River to the Fuller Warren Bridge, then north along I-95^[3]. For ordinary homes the design wind speed is 125 mph west of that line and 130 mph east of it^[3]. The Florida Building Code puts land in the wind-borne debris region, where glass openings need impact protection, only within 1 mile of the coast at 130 mph or more, or anywhere at 140 mph or more^[8]. For a house, that leaves only a coastal strip east of the line.

Still, city code tells owners to secure buildings once a hurricane warning is issued^[3], and the city's guide suggests shutters for all large windows and glass doors^[9]. Zone A of the A to F evacuation zones, near the ocean, the Intracoastal or the river, usually leaves first^[9], so book boards there early. The statewide storm panel and insurance rules are on our Florida board-up rules page.

How Storms Have Opened Up Jacksonville Homes

Tropical storm conditions reached Duval County in 14 separate storms from 2016 to 2025^[10], so most years bring at least one.

Tell us if water or a tree came in too. The median Jacksonville home was built in 1987 and about 4 in 10 date from before 1980^[6], so many openings are older, odd sizes, and each board is cut to fit.

After a Break-In in Jacksonville: Report It, Then Board It

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office logged 3,216 burglaries in 2024^[4]. Break-ins, not only storms, leave openings that need boards.

Call the JSO non-emergency line to report it and get a case number^[5]. Vandalism with losses up to $4,999.99 and no known suspect can be reported online instead, and once an officer approves it you can print a free copy^[14]. Copies of other reports come from the Public Records Unit^[15]. Photograph the damage before boarding, as the city advises^[16]. On a policy issued since January 1, 2023, Florida voids any assignment of post-loss benefits^[17], so you claim the board up yourself.

Jacksonville Neighborhoods We Board Up

Jacksonville's more than 200 neighborhoods fall into six planning districts^[18]. We take requests in the Urban Core from Downtown to Springfield, Riverside and Avondale, across the river in Arlington, Arlington Hills and Fort Caroline, on the Southside in San Jose, Lakewood, Baymeadows and Mandarin, out to Mayport on the coast, and north and west to Oceanway and Cecil Field.

Nearby we also cover Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Baldwin, which keep their own governments^[1], and Orange Park, Fernandina Beach and Macclenny. Elsewhere in North Florida, see Gainesville.

ZIP codes: 32218, 32226, 32219, 32234, 32256, 32221, 32220, 32225, 32244, 32210, 32246, 32224, 32258, 32216, 32254, 32257, 32223, 32208, 32207, 32222, 32209, 32211, 32205, 32277, 32233, 32206, 32217, 32212, 32204, 32202, 32227, 32228, 32214, 32203

Near Jacksonville

We also cover Gainesville in the North Florida area. See all areas, the price table and Florida rules.