Strong winds, storms, tornadoes, and hurricanes can do a lot of damage to your home and property. Doors in particular are a weak point of your home, especially those with larger surface areas, such as patio doors and garage doors. When winds and storms are strong enough, the force can tear these doors off their hinges or tracks, and debris blown by the storms can dent and damage your garage door.
If the area you live in is prone to strong winds and hurricanes, then it’s important to have a reinforced garage door that can withstand this kind of weather. This is where you need to understand wind load.
What is wind load?
The term ‘wind load’ is used to refer to the amount of force exerted by the wind against a door or structure. In all types of building and architecture, this can be used to determine how much force a structure needs to be able to withstand, also known as the test wind load.
When designing a wind load rated garage door, for example, this measurement needs to be taken into consideration to ensure that sufficient reinforcements are in place. But it is not just the speed and direction of the wind that determines wind load. Several other factors, such as the size of the door and the height and angle of the roof, must also be considered.
Features that can reinforce your garage door
So, how are garage doors designed to be more resilient against strong winds and other types of extreme weather? Here are a few features that can help to reinforce your doors:
- Braces – These can be installed on regular garage doors behind the garage door to provide reinforcement.
- Windlocks – Fastened to each side of the door to keep it on its guides.
- Windlock bars – Further reinforcement to keep the door on its guides.
- Hurricane panels – Another option for reinforcing your current garage door, these panels are placed over your existing door to make it stronger.
- Twist-resistant framework – To maintain the integrity of the door’s structure.
If you’ve moved into a new house and want to know if the garage door is wind load rated, then check the inside of the garage door to see if it has a wind load sticker. This should tell you what you need to know or at least give you a website or contact information to check.
If you need to upgrade your garage door around Savannah, Georgia to make sure your home is safe against extreme weather events, then contact us at Action Overhead Door to find out how we can help.