With hurricane season upon us, it’s important to be prepared after a very active 2005 season. The most important step you can take to reducing the amount of damage to your home is to protect areas where wind can enter. There are 5 critical areas of importance that will help protect and reinforce your home.

1.) Roof
2.) Straps
3.) Shutters
4.) Doors
5.) Garage Doors

Roof

Does your home have a gabled roof? If so the end wall of your home takes a beating during the hurricane. Properly brace this wall, to prevent it from collapsing. To secure your end wall, fasten eight foot long braces to the bottom chord of the gable truss and the adjacent trusses. Braces should be perpendicular to the truss with a maximum of four feet on center.

Make sure the shingles on your roof are properly secured and no tabs have been lifted or have holes. You should have a licensed roof inspect before the hurricane season. A quick fix on loose tabs is to use a quick-setting asphalt cement. To cement place two spots of the adhesive about the size of a quarter under each tab and press.

Straps

Most new homes use hurricane straps to attach trusses to wall ends and to one another. If you have an older home now may be the time to have your home retro fitted to withstand hurricane force winds.

Shutters

Today there are many new style of hurricane shutters available at places such as Lowes. Some of the new materials are much lighter then plywood and allow light to enter the home. However if you plan on using plywood here are some simple steps to ensure your home is properly protected.

Make sure to cover all windows and glass doors. The main importance when installing hurricane shutters is adequately fastening them to them home. If you have a concrete block home you will have to install anchoring devices.

Doors

Your house probably either has a double or single entry door. Solid wood or hollow metal doors can resist wind pressures and hurricane debris. However, to take extra steps to ensure the safety of your home follow these steps.
Install head and foot bolts to the inactive door with double entry doors, if not already present. Make sure your doors have at least three hinges and a dead bolt security lock which has a minimum one inch bolt throw length.

Garage Doors

Double wide garage doors are more susceptible to wind damage then single doors. Unless you have tested hurricane resistant doors, he wind may force it out of the roller track. To secure your garage door reinforce it at the weakest points. This involves installing horizontal bracing onto each panel, using wood bolted to the door mullions.