Wind load garage doors for hurricane defense

For areas prone to hurricane, wind load garage doors specially meant for hurricane defense are essential. According to insurance analysts, a majority of wind related or hurricane damages start when wind manages to enter the garage of your home. Therefore, it is necessary to protect it well from any such damages, by installing a garage door for hurricane defense. In case of the event of extreme wind, the debris driven by strong wind or storm can cause dents, lead to deformation and other damages or even penetrate garage doors which are ordinary.

Wind load rated reinforcements should be included for doors that are installed in hurricane prone areas.

There are several agencies who certify that the door is safe for use in such places and will provide adequate protection. Such doors are also termed as impact rated doors and usually come with a logo that they have been approved by authorities for impact resistance.

Adequate tests are carried out to check the strength of these doors and they are found to be capable of stopping the direct impact of a 9 lb. 2x4 board at 50 feet per second. Before installing wind load doors, consult a registered architect or an engineer to make sure it complies with the building code requirements in the area of your residence.

In areas prone to frequent events of high speed winds, the un-reinforced garage doors may buckle and force the door out of track and eventually leading to major failure of the door. It is observed that debris that is driven by hurricanes of high velocity, very often become powerful projectiles that are able to pierce the ordinary doors and breach their strength and integrity.

When wind speeds are a category 3 or exceed 111 mph, they are called as greater hurricane and in such extraordinary circumstances of high pressure inside the house; the basic architectural and structural integrity of the walls and roof of the house may be compromised. It is also possible for the induced internal air pressure to reach a very high magnitude which is capable of literally blowing off the roof and tearing apart the wall panels.

It is also vital for a homeowner to know that when there are window openings they can cause pressure inside the home and this is applicable to window openings as small as 4 square feet. Such pressure exerts tremendous force on the building structure, just like that of a turbine engine.

The key is to install garage doors well suited for hurricane defense that are strong inwardly, functions smoothly and looks great in appearance. Some hurricane defense doors come with features like patented steel frame reinforcement systems which are embedded in the perimeter of each section of the door.

This way the door is converted into a monolithic wind barrier that magnifies the resistance of the door to extreme punching and pulling caused due to windstorms. The resistance of the door can be further improved by permanently attaching the slender reinforcement bars towards the backside of the door.