Potential Damages from Unreinforced Garage Doors
If your home has an old garage door that is not reinforced and which does not follow the existing building regulations, you do need to be aware of the dangers to your home. During a strong tropical storm or typhoon, the winds can cause an excess amount of pressure to build up in the garage.
Eventually, this pressure develops and is so powerful it can trigger the entire garage door to blow off of the garage. In some residences the pressure has been so tough, as we saw with Irma in 2015, that it blew off the roof over the garage and knocked down support walls. Aside from this potential damage, once the garage door has blown out, the rest of the house becomes vulnerable to water and wind damages.
Are Reinforced Garage Doors Required to Get Property owner’s Insurance?
Whether your house requires a reinforced garage door or not does depends on your insurance carrier. In the past, providers would still offer coverage on Florida homes with one catch: If you did not have actually a reinforced garage door, then your insurance prices were much higher.
The increase in prices is often enough to validate the costs to invest in a new reinforced garage door. And also, some insurance service providers will certainly provide a discount on coverage prices for homes with reinforced doors.
In addition, after Irma tore through the state, some insurance coverage companies are now requiring houses to have reinforced garage doors. If the home owner decides not to update, then their insurance can be canceled. If you have any type of concerns regarding your coverage and requirements, we recommend contacting your insurance agent.
How Do Reinforced Garage Doors Work?
There are two general styles of reinforced garage doors. The very first one uses built-in reinforcements that are part of the door. In case of a tropical storm or storm, the house owner simply locks the garage door. The reinforcement requires no additional setup given that it is already part of the door. The home owner can continue to open up and close the garage door, if necessary, simply by unlocking it.
The other type of reinforced garage door makes use of post reinforcements you set up prior to the storm. The posts are positioned in details locations behind the main door and lock into place. As soon as set up, the door can not be opened or closed. After the tornado passes, the property owner needs to take down the post reinforcements before utilizing the garage door.
Can Reinforced Garage Doors Get Harmed?
There is constantly a probability that reinforced garage doors can get damaged by a major storm. The door can get dents, dings, and other problems. If the tornado is powerful enough, it might create particles to be driven through the door.
Things to keep in mind is that the primary function of reinforced garage doors is to mitigate and decrease the amount of possible damage to your home throughout a tropical storm or cyclone. As long as you have typhoon insurance coverage on your residence, your insurance company will help cover any type of Garage Door Repair in Gleneagle expenses, as well as other home repairs, minus your deductible.