One of the top points of consideration when it comes to shopping for a brand new garage door is its wind resistance. Aside from functionality and aesthetics, your garage door serves as a barrier to the elements, and this includes strong winds and storms. Understanding your garage doors wind resistance could save you from dealing with damage to your home.
You may or may not be aware, but garage doors are typically rated based on their ability to withstand all types of wind speeds. This can be an important factor to keep in mind based on your homes location and typical weather patterns. In this article, we are going to review X ways to ensure you are choosing the right garage door for your wind-resistant needs.
What is a Garage Doors Wind Load?
Determining wind load is a lot more involved than measuring a winds speed. Additional factors include your homes roof slope, surrounding topography, and exposure category such as if you’re in a hurricane area. Finding a good garage door that has adequate support for protection against strong winds can save your home during a rough storm.
Extreme Weather Precautions
If you live in a neighborhood that experiences high-impact windstorms such as hurricanes, then it important to at least have an impact-resistant garage door. In certain areas, however, a hurricane-proof garage door may be best. A single inch of water has the potential to cause thousands of dollars in damage. That amount of water and more will be able to enter your garage if the door has been broken down during a storm.
So in being prepared, be sure to check building codes for your areas wind resistance requirements. Then give us a call at Straight Up Garage to determine which garage door type will suit your home best, either a hurricane-proof style or impact-resistant style. The difference between these two doors is the structure.
Impact-resistant doors are crafted to withstand stronger forces, such as rocks or even wood, being thrown at them. While hurricane doors are focused on strengthening their framework to make it twist-resistant.
Regardless of what door type you have, you can always have a bracing kit installed to add an additional layer of support and protection.
Normal Weather Precautions
If you’re in an area that isn’t typically a hurricane-threat zone, you’re still likely to see some severe thunderstorms. Some storms are still capable of causing significant damage from both wind and debris. So when you’re looking at garage doors, be sure to keep wind and impact resistance in mind.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of the area, you live in, it’s important to keep safety in mind when it comes to the structure of your home. Having a reinforced garage door will not only protect you from normal weather but extreme weather as well. An impact-resistant door may not prevent all dents, but it will prevent your door from being knocked off its tracks and causing additional damage.
If you’re in the market for a new garage door or need to have your current door reviewed for service or routine maintenance, then give us a call right here at Straight Up Garage. Our professional team will work closely with you to ensure you have everything you need.
