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Garage Door Hurricane
Protection - Can Be Home’s Weakest Link in Hurricane Hot Spot
(ARA)
- The garage door is the largest moving part on your home and may pose
a major threat to your property if you live in a hurricane prone
region. According to the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA),
the loss of a garage door during a hurricane can cause an uncontrolled
buildup of internal pressure resulting in a blowout of the roof and
supporting walls.
“Code-compliant garage doors are critical to preserving a home’s
structural integrity during a hurricane,” says Mark Westerfield,
manager of product development and engineering for Clopay Building
Products, the largest U.S. residential garage door manufacturer.
“Because of their size, garage doors are more susceptible to wind
damage than other exterior openings – especially two-car garage doors.
Unless you have a tested, hurricane resistant door installed, high
winds can force it out of the opening.”
With an active hurricane season in the forecast, coastal and vacation
homeowners are being encouraged to make sure their property meets
updated building code requirements for wind-resistance to help
minimize damage and loss in the event of a storm. To meet the
International Building Code, garage doors must have additional
bracing, heavier gauge tracking and other necessary hardware to help
keep them in place under extreme winds.
The more stringent building codes were put to the test during the last
two record-breaking hurricane seasons. Houses that conformed were
better able to withstand the onslaught of back-to- back storms, while
many that had garage doors installed before the revised code took
effect suffered significant damage, or the doors were blown out
completely.
“Homeowners with an older garage door may not even realize that it
poses a threat,” Westerfield adds. “A reinforced door is a small
investment that can minimize major damage and property loss. And, if
your door has weathered a previous hurricane, it needs to be inspected
for hidden damage or vulnerabilities.”
He offers these tips on what to look for when selecting a hurricane
reinforced garage door:
* Determine the wind load requirements for your geographic region and
make sure your garage door meets them. The local building code
authority can provide code information and a professional garage door
technician can perform an on-site inspection.
* Understand “storm ready” vs. “add-on” reinforcement. Two kinds of
reinforced garage doors are available. With the “add-on” system, a
homeowner has to install long posts in the floor and ceiling to
reinforce the door before the storm hits, and then remove them again
afterwards to resume normal operation.
“Storm-ready” models require no advance set-up. Reinforcement is built
into the structure of the door and is engaged by simply locking it, a
timesaving convenience in the event of a sudden evacuation notice.
This type of door is particularly beneficial to vacation home and
rental property owners because they have peace of mind knowing that
the garage door is secure as long as it’s locked.
The FEMA Mitigation Assessment Team expressed concern about the poor
performance of garage doors that were reinforced with an add-on system
in its 2005 report on Hurricane Charley. Several homes did not have
the posts installed at the time of the hurricane, which lead to
structural damage from wind pressure.
* Choose a door that has heavy-duty rollers, hinges, springs and track
to provide additional strength and help keep the door in place.
* Retrofitting an older door with new hardware will not provide the
structural support needed for the current building codes. It is
important to have a trained garage door professional install the
appropriate door for your area.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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