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Homeowner's Guide To Hurricane Retrofit - 2002, IBHS
Homeowner's Guide To Hurricane Retrofit - 2002, IBHS
Homeowner's Guide To Hurricane Retrofit - 2002, IBHS
disclaimer
The purpose of this document is to provide homeowners with guidance on ways to retrofit one and
two-family homes in order to reduce losses from hurricane winds. It contains suggestions and recommen-
dations based on professional judgment, experience and research and is intended to serve only as a guide.
The authors, contributors, and publisher disclaim all warranties and guarantees with respect to the
information in the document and assume no liability or responsibility with respect to the information.
W. Lawrence Schwab
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, Bloomington, Illinois
Ronald J. Hein
CNA Insurance Companies, Chicago, Illinois
introduction .......................................................................1
Take the Right Precautions ...............................................2
surrounding environment ...............................................3
home inspection ..............................................................3
roofs ..................................................................................4
Do You Need a New Asphalt Roof? .................................4
Will Retrofitting Your Asphalt Shingle Roof Be Enough? .....6
Other Roof Covering Products .........................................7
Wood Shakes and Shingles .................................................7
Clay or Concrete Tile ........................................................7
Metal Shingles ................................................................7
Standing Seam Metal Roofs ................................................7
roof structure ..................................................................8
Attach Roof Sheathing with Adhesive ................................8
Gable End Walls ..............................................................9
Roof to Top of Wall Connection ........................................11
wall openings .................................................................12
Bracing Your Garage Door .............................................12
Doors ............................................................................14
Window and Patio Door Protection ..................................15
Window/Patio Door Shutters .............................................15
Impact-Resistant Windows/Patio Doors ................................17
Impact-Resistant Standards ...............................................18
Window Film ................................................................19
wall to foundation connection .....................................20
home improvement project list ....................................2 1
be completely prepared before a disaster strikes ....23
references .....................................................................24
appendix I: additional sources of information ...........25
checklist .........................................................................29
table of contents
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
introduction
urricanes are well known for Among other things, the wind can
2
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
surrounding
environment
If your house is in an unobstructed property, you can minimize
location or within 1500 feet potential damage to your neigh-
of open water, you are more bors’ and your property.
susceptible to damages caused by
high winds and should consider
this when planning your home
improvement project. Also
remember that mobile homes, home
outbuildings, barns, fences, screen
enclosures, carports, awnings and
canopies can produce wind-borne
inspection
debris that can tear openings into You can inspect your house to see
your house, letting in damaging if retrofitting is necessary. If you
rain and wind. In addition, objects are uncertain whether your house
such as garbage cans, bicycles, needs certain changes, or have any
lawn furniture, tree limbs, questions about your ability to
landscaping pebbles and small inspect your house, call a qualified
rocks can become wind-borne, professional architect, engineer,
damaging roofs, walls and building contractor, or your local
windows. By properly protecting building department.
Example of
and maintaining your home and
failure of the
house envelope. Either you or a building
contractor can build and
install temporary shutters
on windows and coverings
for patio and entry doors,
strengthen and stiffen
garage doors, and install
heavy-duty door hardware.
However, an experienced
installer should install
impact resistant doors and
windows or approved hur-
ricane shutters in accor-
dance with manufacturer’s
recommendations. And a
roofing professional can
best determine when you
should replace an aged
roof. You will also need a
3
surrounding environment • home inspection
professional to determine how well How can you recognize when
a door or window frame is your roof has problems? Twice a
anchored to the exterior walls. year, do the following:
4
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
toe nail
● Use binoculars to
If you decide to remove all the old 4. Refasten the roof sheathing
shingles, also remove the underly- removed in step #1, and fasten
ing building paper to expose the roof sheathing along the roof
roof sheathing. Inspect corners, ridges, and eaves, where
the old roof sheathing to wind pressure has a tendency to
determine whether it is grow more intense, by installing
rotted, warped, or additional eight-penny ring
unsound. If so, replace shank nails or #8 screws four
these sections with inches apart. Be careful not to
sheathing material of the use too many nails or screws,
same thickness. which can split the plywood and
weaken your roof. Sheathing
Reroofing is also a great which is not located on the edges
opportunity to inexpen- or ridges of the roof should have
sively secure the entire eight-penny nails or #8 screws at
roof. Here’s what you do: every six inches.
hurricane strap
5
roofs
ARMA’s
5. Install roofing felt paper using They come with integral lock- recommended
the double layer application ing tabs or factory-applied
asphalt
method with tin type fasteners adhesives that on occasion do
and new shingles with six nails not adhere properly to the shingle
per shingle. For additional underlying shingle because of installation
strength, secure the tabs of the cold weather installation, in high wind
shingles with quick-setting uneven surfaces or any num- regions
asphalt cement. ber of other reasons. For
increased wind resistance,
have a qualified person
Will Retrofitting Your inspect several shingle tabs to see if
the adhesive has engaged. If not,
Asphalt Shingle Roof use a quick-setting asphalt cement
Be Enough? to bond them together.
6
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
To cement the shingle tabs to the Other Roof Covering
underlying shingles, place two Products
spots of quick-setting asphalt
cement about the size of a quarter
under each tab with a putty knife ● Wood Shakes and Shingles
or caulking gun. Press the tab into ● Clay or Concrete Tile
the adhesive. Be sure to cement all ● Metal Shingles
tabs throughout the roof, being
careful not to bend them farther
● Standing Seam Metal Roofs
than necessary when applying the
Clay tiles are brittle, and can easily
adhesive. Replace any damaged
be chipped or broken by wind-
shingles immediately.
borne debris. In fact, the tiles them-
selves can become wind-borne.
You can get additional information
on asphalt roof shingles by con-
You can have a more secure roof by
tacting the Asphalt Roofing
making sure that all shingles/tiles/
Manufacturers Association.
panels are fastened down tightly
and by replacing the ones that are
missing or loose. Hiring a roofing
professional to evaluate your roof
double layer covering is a good option for the
underlayment novice homeowner.
application
At this time, there
are no cost-effective
retrofit measures
which we can recom-
mend if you have
these types of roof
coverings. Please
contact the roof
covering manufac-
turers listed in the
Appendix that are
associated with your
type of roof for addi-
tional information.
7
roofs
1
Application of
Adhesive to
Improve Roof
Deck Uplift
Quarter round Resistance
wood piece
Plan View
roof
structure
1 SECTION
Attach Roof Sheathing
with Adhesive
pieces of wood which run the
You can also improve the uplift
full length of the roof support.
resistance of the roof deck from the
Apply the adhesive along the
attic — without removing the roof
two adjacent sides of the wood
covering. This is how:
block. Press the wood pieces
onto the intersection making
● Using a caulking gun, apply a 1/4 -
sure the adhesive is in contact
inch bead of wood adhesive
with the deck and roof support
along the intersection of the roof
elements. The wood pieces can
deck and the roof support element
be tack-nailed or clamped in
(rafter or truss chord) on both
place to ensure good contact
sides. Make sure that the adhesive
between the surfaces.
is in contact with both the deck
and roof support elements. ● Attics are typically tight,
enclosed areas with poor ventila-
● At places where you have limited tion. When applying the adhe-
access to either side of the roof sive, be sure to follow the direc-
support, such as the gable end of tions for proper application and
the house, use quarter-round ventilation.
8
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
According to static pressure tests1,
using the wood adhesive can
increase the wind uplift resistance
of the plywood roof sheathing by
as much as three times the conven-
tional method of securing the
sheathing with nails. A variety of
wood adhesives are available at
local hardware and building supply
stores. In particular, look for prod-
ucts which are certified as AFG-01.
Please ask your local hardware
expert if other products are avail-
able that could provide the same
strength and properties as a wood
adhesive.
▲
▲
Section View
10
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
Roof to Top of Wall
Connection
Areas where the roof framing meets veneer, you may need to remove
the top of stud walls are normally small sections of brick as needed.
covered by dry wall on the inside
and by wall cladding and soffit If your roof has trusses, make sure
board on the outside. To install you tie them to the wall by either
straps or hurricane clips, remove anchoring to the top plate and then
the roof sheathing around the the top plate to the wall stud, or
perimeter of the roof to reveal the strapping the truss directly to the wall
top of the wall. You may also need stud. The figures shown illustrate
to remove the soffit and exterior ways you can anchor the roof to the
cladding to reveal the top 12 to 18 top of the wall of wood or masonry
inches of the wall. In addition, if homes with straps or connectors.
the exterior cladding is brick
12
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
If you are unable to retrofit your garage
door with a kit specifically designed for
your door, you can purchase garage
door retrofit kits to withstand hurri-
cane winds at your local building
supply store. Also, check to see if the
supplier can do the installation.
14
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
Windows and Patio The easiest designs are those that
Door Protection simply cover the opening with a
structural panel such as plywood.
In the following section, we present In past hurricanes, many home-
several viable ways to protect your owners, upon returning, have
windows and doors against damage noticed their temporary plywood
during a hurricane. We are often shutters blew off because they were
asked whether masking tape or any not adequately fastened. If you
other type of tape placed across the have a wood-frame house, use ade-
glass will provide protection against quate fasteners to attach the panels
storm debris — the unequivocal
over the openings when a hurri-
answer is NO. Hurricanes are devas-
cane approaches. Have these tem-
tating forces of nature and more sub-
stantial protection is required to porary shutters stored and ready to
withstand their wrath. use since building supply stores
generally sell out of these materials
quickly during a hurricane warn-
● Window/Patio Door Shutters ing. If your home is made with con-
crete blocks, however, you will have
One way to protect a home from
to install anchoring devices well in
damage in windstorms is to install
advance.
impact-resistant shutters over all
large windows and glass doors. Not
only do they protect doors and The APA - The Engineered Wood
windows from wind-borne objects, Association offers a series of
but they can reduce damage caused Hurricane Shutter Designs. They
by sudden pressure changes when a include:
window or door is broken.
● DESIGN 1:
Shutters for Wood-Frame
Buildings
● DESIGN 2:
Shutters for Masonry Block
Structures, Barrel Bolt Latch
Supports
● DESIGN 3:
Shutters for Masonry Block
Structures, Steel or Aluminum
Angle and Screw Supports
15
wall openings
Plywood Hurricane Shutter Design 1
17
wall openings
You can purchase certified
windows and doors through
qualified manufacturers at local
building supply stores. There are
a variety of different systems;
however, the best impact -resistant
windows and doors typically
consist of either laminated glass,
plastic glazing, or combination
plastic and glass systems. Be sure
that the installation guidelines are
followed carefully.
● Impact-Resistant Standards
18
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
● Window Film
19
wall openings
wall to
foundation
connection
20
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
✁
home improvement
project list
his list of home improvements is divided into cost categories. You
T can tackle these projects one at a time, but remember, the more you
do, the stronger your home will be against hurricane winds.
Category $
(<$300)
● Keep trees and shrubbery ● If you find that the roof sheath-
trimmed. Cut weak branches ing is not adequately attached:
and trees that could fall or bump
against the house. When trim- - use adhesive to attach the
ming, try to create a channel
sheathing to the rafters
through the foliage to the center
of the tree to allow for air flow.
Keep climbing roses and vines - use extra 8d (8 penny) nails or
trimmed back. #8 screws if you need to reroof
● Screened porches and other ● Brace the gable end walls and
similar areas are usually first to roof trusses.
suffer damage, so make sure the
porch is properly attached. (The
industry has no standards yet for
adequate performance of porch
screens in hurricane winds).
✁
21
home improvement project list
✁
Category $$
($300 - $1000)
● Cover all large windows and ● Replace double garage door with
patio doors with securely fas- hurricane wind load tested
tened storm shutters made from garage door.
plywood.
Category $$$
(>$1000)
● Install hurricane clips/straps 3. Remove bottom row of
connecting roof rafters/trusses sheathing to inspect wall-roof
to the side walls. framing connection and install
hurricane clips/straps as neces-
sary (adds only a slight extra
● Install tested/manufactured
cost to a reroofing project).
✁
hurricane shutters.
22
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
be completely prepared
before a disaster strikes
Implementing the techniques rec- ● Put together an emergency kit
ommended in this brochure gives that includes a three-day supply
you and your family a better chance of drinking water and food
of surviving a natural disaster. But requiring no refrigeration and,
these steps are only the beginning. generally, no cooking; first aid
To protect yourself as fully as supplies; a portable NOAA
possible you should also: weather radio; a flashlight;
emergency cooking equipment;
● Become familiar with your portable lanterns and batteries.
community’s disaster prepared-
ness plans and create a family ● If a weather-related disaster
plan. Plan an escape route from threatens, follow weather and
your home and neighborhood news reports so you know how
and designate an emergency much danger you’re facing. And
meeting place for the family to obey evacuation orders from
reunite if you leave in separate local authorities. No material
vehicles. Also establish a contact possession is worth risking your
point to communicate with health, let alone your life.
concerned relatives.
23
be completely prepared before a disaster strikes
references
American Plywood Association. Haag Engineering Company.
Hurricane Andrew: Structural Hurricane Andrew Survey
Performance of Buildings in Damage Assessment Code
Southern Florida. Report T92- Compliance. Carrollton, TX:
21. Tacoma, WA: APA, 1992. Haag Engineering, 1992.
24
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
appendix I: additional
sources of information
APA - The Engineered Building Officials & Code
Wood Association (APA) Administrators International,
P.O. Box 11700 Inc. (BOCA)
Tacoma, WA 98411-0700 4051 West Flossmoor Road
Tel: 253-565-6600 Country Club Hills, IL
Fax: 253-565-7265 60478-5795
http://www.apawood.org/ Tel: 708-799-2300
Fax: 708-799-4981
American Society of Civil http://www.bocai.org/
Engineers (ASCE)
1801 Alexander Bell Drive Cedar Shake & Shingle
Reston, VA 20191-4400 Bureau (CSSB)
Tel: 703-295-6300 P.O. Box 1178
Fax: 703-295-6333 Sumas, WA 98004
http://www.asce.org/ Tel: 604-462-8961
Fax: 604-462-9386
American Society of Home http://www.cedarbureau.org
Inspectors (ASHI)
932 Lee Street, Suite 101 Door & Access Systems
Des Plaines, IL 60016 Manufacturers
Tel: 800-743-2744 Associations International
http://www.ashi.com/ (DASMA)
Fax: 847-759-1620
1300 Sumner Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44115-2851
Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers
Tel: 216-241-7333
Association (ARMA) Fax: 216-241-0105
6000 Executive Blvd., Suite 201
Rockville, MD 20852
Tel: 301-231-9050
Fax: 301-881-6572
25
appendix I
Federal Emergency International Code Council
Management Agency (ICC)
(FEMA) 5203 Leesburg Pike, Suite 708
500 C Street, SW Falls Church, VA
Washington, DC 20472 Tel: 703-931-4533
Tel: 202-646-3923 Fax: 703-379-1546
Fax: 202-646-3930 www.intlcode.org
www.fema.gov
International Conference of
Institute for Business & Building Officials (ICBO)
Home Safety (IBHS) 5360 South Workman Mill Road
4775 E. Fowler Ave. Whittier, CA 90601-2298
Tampa, FL 33617 Tel: 310-699-0541
Tel: 813-286-3400 Fax: 310-692-3853
Fax: 813-286-9960 www.icbo.org
www.ibhs.org
26
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
International Window Film National Roofing Contractors
Association Association (NRCA)
318-A Brown Street 10255 West Higgins Road,
P.O. Box 3871 Suite 600
Martinsville, VA 24115-3871 Rosemont, IL 60018-5607
Tel: 540-666-4932 Tel: 847-299-9070
Fax: 540-666-4933 Fax: 847-299-1183
www.iwfa.com www.roofonline.org
27
appendix I
28
A Homeowner’s Guide to Hurricane Retrofit
4775 E. Fowler Ave. • Tampa, FL 33617
1(866) 657-4247(IBHS) • Fax: (813) 286-9960 • www.ibhs.org