Living in a hurricane-prone area puts your home at risk for many hazards. High winds can remove shingles and siding or lift the entire roof from your home. Windborne debris can dent or crack your roofing, smash windows, or break the glass in doors. If your home is compromised in any of these ways, you run the risk of water damage. This, in turn, can easily lead to hazardous mold growth. Prevent all of these dangers by retrofitting your home for hurricanes. Here’s what your contractor can do to help protect your house from the elements in a hurricane or storm.
Install Wind Mitigation Clips
Wind mitigation clips reinforce the connection between the exterior walls and the roof. These metal clips have three holes on each end to hold them in place. They’re installed with specialty nails that help secure the installation. You can often get a discount of 15% to 20% on your homeowners insurance policy if you have these clips in place.
Every home has clips or toenails that hold the roof and walls together. These are readily visible in the attic of most homes. If you’re not sure what type of installation you have, take a look around your attic. If your clips have just one or two nails, you need to have a contractor retrofit your home with wind mitigation clips to protect your roof from hurricane-strength winds.
Reinforce the Attic
Your attic is one of the most vulnerable parts of the home when it comes to high winds. The triangular wall sections at the ends of a gable roof are a soft spot. If these walls are more than three feet high, they should be secured in the attic using horizontal braces. Walking planks along the ceiling joists are an excellent installation as well. If the roof does fail, these planks act as a second line of defense, protecting the home below.
Upgrade Your Roofing
Your roof is one of the most important parts of your home when it comes to protecting your family and belongings from the effects of a hurricane. You should have your roof professionally inspected at least once a year to make sure it’s in good condition. Promptly address missing or damaged shingles. If your roofing is old, severely damaged, or doesn’t meet code, you should have your contractor address the issue.
Wind- and Impact-Resistant Material
If you’re living in a hurricane-prone area, local building codes will mandate durable roofing materials. If your home isn’t up to code for any reason, you should have a contractor install a new roof that provides the proper protection. Asphalt shingles are classified for wind resistance using a letter system. The strongest products are those with an ASTM D7158 classification of H and an ASTM D3161 classification of F.
Products with a UL 2218 Class 4 rating offer the maximum impact resistance. These shingles can withstand the force of a two-inch steel ball dropped from a height of 20 feet. This will help protect you from hail or flying debris in a severe storm or hurricane.
Proper Installation
Your roofing must be properly installed to resist hurricane winds. Your contractor should use six nails per shingle. They should apply asphalt roof cement beneath the shingles around hips, ridges, rakes, and eaves. The installation should also address the soffit, ridge, and gable vents to make sure these will not pull away in high winds.
Beneath the roof, your contractor should install a sealed roof deck. Though building codes don’t generally mandate this installation, it’s a wise retrofit for any home in a hurricane-prone area. A sealed roof deck offers added protection against driving rain to make sure moisture can’t get into the building.
Add Storm Shutters
Storm shutters help protect your windows from windborne debris. If a window is compromised, the pressure in the home changes quickly, increasing the chances of roof damage from wind lift. Storm shutters are a permanent installation that are always secured to either side of the window. This is ideal if you need to prepare for a storm fast. Your storm shutters should be impact-resistant in compliance with ASTM E 1996 and AAMA 506 or ASTM E 1886.
Install Impact-Resistant Windows and Doors
If flying debris breaks window or door glass, your home will be exposed to extreme weather conditions, including high winds that can compromise your roof integrity and water that may lead to mold and mildew growth. Windows should have impact-resistant glass unless they’re protected by panels or shutters.
Install an impact-resistant door so you don’t have to rely on panelling or shutters to protect your doors in a storm. An impact-resistant door is a safer option because it continues to allow easy egress should you need to escape. Impact-resistant doors are designated with ASTM E 1996 and either AAMA 506 or ASTM E 1886. Doors should be professionally installed with reinforced frames. All exterior doors should swing outward, which will help to keep high winds from blowing the doors open.
Upgrade to Wind-Resistant Exterior Cladding
Your home’s siding is its primary protection against water damage in a storm. Beneath the siding, you should have a durable water-resistive barrier. However, this barrier is easily compromised if the siding isn’t in place to protect it. Wind-resistant cladding will give your home added protection. High-wind siding is specially designed to resist the force of hurricane winds. It’s made from thick vinyl with a wide locking area and double-nailing hem. If you have fiber cement lap siding, you can increase its wind resistance by face nailing it rather than blind nailing it.
Contact a Contractor to Retrofit Your Home
If your home hasn’t been retrofitted for hurricane-force winds, now is the time to act. Contact a local contractor to upgrade your roofing, siding, windows, doors, and other elements of the home. With several or all of the modifications above, you’ll enjoy superior protection and peace of mind in the next storm.