PREPARING YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS FOR HURRICANE SEASON

wind-load garage doors

Hurricanes are unpredictable, dangerous, and can have devastating effects on your home or business. Right in the midst of hurricane season is not the time to be thinking about preparing your property for a disaster. Most people think only about protecting their homes; however, businesses need to be protected as well. Being prepared ahead of time takes the stress, danger, and guesswork out of potentially saving your property from damage. With home preparedness and business preparedness, a little planning goes a long way, but one must be educated on the correct tactics to take. Preparing with wind-load garage doors or storm shutters goes a long way in preparing your home or business. Following the proper tips to safeguard your property can save it from minor damage, and more importantly, complete destruction. 

Here are seven important tips to keep your home or business safe during hurricane season.

  1. Know Your Property
  2. Install Rolling Storm Shutters to Cover Windows & Doors
  3. Install Wind Load Garage or Warehouse Doors
  4. Inspect Your Roof
  5. Secure Outdoor Items
  6. Trim Trees and Shrubs
  7. Clean Your Gutters

Know Your Property 

You live or work there, so you know the weak spots. You know where the rain or drafts come in. Seal those up! Any weak point of your building can be a point of entrance during a storm and can create a bigger problem during a hurricane. It’s natural for the sealing around windows to deteriorate over time, so make sure you re-seal any spots that are damaged or weak. 

Install Rolling Storm Shutters to Cover Windows & Doors

Both homes and businesses are vulnerable to flying debris in any severe storm.  Storm shutters can be fitted to any window or door opening to provide a barrier to protect your home or business and are much easier to operate than hanging sheets of plywood.  They can also provide security when desired as well.  Shutters can be surprisingly affordable and can be installed for manual or electric operation.  Additionally, they may save you money on property insurance.

Overhead Door Company of Brunswick proudly uses Nautilus rolling storm shutters for their quality, options, and ease of use.  

Install Wind Load Garage or Warehouse Doors

One of the biggest points of entry of your house is the garage door. If your garage door can not withstand the wind, it can detach from the track opening up your house to a tunnel of wind and debris. That is why it is so important to choose a high-quality wind load-rated garage door for home preparedness. They are designed to stand up to high force winds using specifically designed components such as reinforced struts, upgraded track, brackets, hinges, and rollers that all work together to meet a specified design pressure, which is the amount of pressure the door can withstand. 

The same is true for businesses that can address this issue with wind-loaded doors on their buildings or warehouses.

Selecting an Overhead Door™ wind load option for your garage door is an important measure to help protect against high wind events, and it’s one that does not require sacrificing the aesthetic of a home or business. From finely crafted wood to our premium line of insulated steel garage doors, these products have options available to meet the local code requirements of your area.

Overhead Door™ wind load-rated garage doors have also been designed and tested to comply with various wind load requirements set by state and local building authorities. As a homeowner or business owner, it’s important to consult with your local building code official to determine the specific wind load requirements for your area.

Inspect Your Roof

The roof has the potential to make or break the seal of any building. Any structural damage to the roof can create big problems. If you are able, climb up onto your roof to make sure there are no shingles missing or cracked and that everything is sealed. If you are not sure, contact a professional to take a look.

Secure Outdoor Items

You don’t want to secure everything attached to the house only to be hit by a lounge chair. Have a plan in place for home preparedness to easily and quickly secure outdoor items. This includes lawn furniture, dog house, grills, and even bird feeders. Plan ahead to have some way to secure them down or have a spot cleared out to store them, whether it is a corner of the garage or a well-secured shed.

Trim Trees and Shrubs

Over time a branch rubbing against the side of the house or roof will eventually weaken that spot, but forcefully banging against the house during a storm can cause larger damage. Make sure all loose branches are cleaned up and that anything touching the house is trimmed to give an allowance between the house and the tree. For more home preparedness, pay extra attention to growth in front of windows.

Clean Your Gutters

Gutters can easily get clogged with leaves and debris and create problems even during a regular storm, so keeping them free and clear prevents floods up into your roof or other areas of entrance in your home.

Call or visit Overhead Door of Macon today to schedule a consultation at (478) 400-2022