Being the largest opening on most homes, the garage door is typically the most prone to failure under high wind pressure including hurricanes, tornadoes and storms in general. Pressure of the wind can easily damage the garage doors in the course of a tornado that allows rain water and wind to enter into the home. This can lead to considerable damage to the contents in general as well as the structural integrity of your home. The garage door is usually overlooked whenever fortifying the structure against high winds.
Substantial building failures and strong winds have convinced storm-prone towns that residents must be prepared to use passive or active reinforcement systems for their garage doors. An active system is that specific kind of reinforcement that must be installed before a high-wind event whilst passive systems are built into the product and don’t require any activation from the owner. For the house owner in hurricane-prone areas you will find only a couple of real options: either a new garage door which has a built in passive reinforcement system or a garage door reinforcement kit.
The method of completely replacing the garage door is usually an expensive process so a garage door reinforcement kit will be a great choice should your budget for improving your garage is low. Although a new garage door is quite expensive, a brand new door offers a much more secure and safe solution in front of a high wind.
If you’d rather select the cheaper option, that is to bolster your garage door you can protect your home in one of the following methods: first of all fit pressure or impact-resistant devices, such as shutters, panels, accordion fold shutters on the garage doors or install pressure/impact resistant garage doors that don’t need shutters. If your existing door is impact resistant but it’s not wind pressure rated, install an approved garage door bracing system to improve the wind pressure resistance. When adding a garage door bracing, first ensure that there’s enough and relevant documentation that the product has been tested at a certified testing laboratory. The product should be designed to withstand both positive and negative wind pressure.
You should contact a local licensed garage door installer of approved garage door bracing systems to help you in the selection of the required system for your own home.
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