Hurricane Door Protection Tips
Hurricane door protection is an important preparation that homeowners living near coastal areas should consider. Hurricanes are devastating storms with extremely strong winds enough to break your glass doors and tear your windows. Every three years, approximately five hurricanes strike the United States coastlines, destroying hundreds of homes.
Hurricane-proofing your windows and doors can limit the damage caused by hurricanes. In this blog, we will explore a variety of hurricane-proofing techniques and solutions to empower homeowners to take charge of their safety.
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How To Protect A Door From Wind Damage?
Protecting doors from wind damage is crucial to safeguarding your home’s integrity during strong storms and hurricanes. High winds can exert tremendous pressure on doors, leading to potential structural failures and costly repairs. To enhance your door’s resistance and minimize wind damage risks, consider implementing various protective strategies. Measures like weatherstripping and securing hinges can make a significant difference in protecting your home from wind-related hazards.
5 tips to protect exterior doors from wind damage:
- Reinforce your doors: Install metal brackets or bars across the door’s interior to add structural strength. Installing steel bars or bolts will serve as an entry door hurricane protection system.
- Upgrade to impact-resistant doors: Consider replacing standard doors with impact-resistant models, which can withstand debris and strong winds.
- Use deadbolts and heavy-duty locks: Secure doors with sturdy locks to prevent them from being forced open by high winds.
- Add weatherstripping: Apply weatherstripping around the door’s perimeter to seal gaps and prevent wind-driven rain from entering.
- Trim nearby trees and shrubs: Regularly trim and maintain vegetation around the door to reduce the risk of flying debris during storms.
Hurricane Protection For The Front Door
Protecting your front door from hurricanes is vital for safeguarding your homes during powerful storms. Front doors are particularly vulnerable due to their exposure to high winds and flying debris. To bolster their resistance, you can install locks that play a significant role in enhancing their security.
Adding heavy-duty deadbolts and strong locks can fortify front doors against forced entry during a hurricane. Additionally, securing the door frame with reinforced metal plates can further increase its structural integrity. These precautions not only help prevent unauthorized access but also provide an added layer of protection against the destructive forces of wind and debris, ensuring that front doors remain a sturdy barrier during the most severe weather conditions.
See the steel, wood, and fiberglass entry door comparison here.
How To Protect Glass Doors From Hurricane?
Glass doors are particularly vulnerable during hurricanes, as their large surface areas and fragile nature make them susceptible to wind pressure and debris impact. To protect your glass doors, you must take various precautionary measures to reinforce their strength. Take note that glass can easily shatter so your primary focus is to prevent glass from scattering indoors just in case they break.
4 tips to secure glass doors from hurricane:
- Use hurricane shutters: This product is made from extruded aluminum and can be mechanically controlled. Just install them over your glass doors to shield your interior from flying debris and high winds.
- Apply temporary plywood covers: In the absence of shutters, cover glass doors with plywood boards to shield them from debris during storms.
- Secure the frame: Reinforce the door frame and hinges to prevent structural failure during high winds.
- Consider double-pane glass: Double-pane glass or laminated glass will add an extra layer of protection to your home during a hurricane. Since it is thick, it can also improve insulation.
How To Protect Sliding Glass Doors From Hurricane?
Sliding glass doors are popular features in many homes, but they present unique challenges when it comes to hurricane protection. Unlike other types of glass, sliding glass is vulnerable to strong winds and debris impact. To secure your sliding glass you can install smart locks or double-bolt locking systems. These sliding glass door locks serve a special purpose, which is to prevent your door from bursting open and shattering in case blew harder toward the direction of your sliding door.
Smart locks are high-tech locks that utilize technology to secure your door and remotely control it. Even when you’re not at home, you can activate protection and turn it off when it is over. On the other hand, A double bolt locking system for a sliding glass door is a security feature that involves two robust bolts, one at the top and one at the bottom of the door.
This system enhances the door’s ability to resist forced entry and intrusions. During a hurricane, the double bolt locking system provides additional reinforcement, preventing the door from being blown open by strong winds and protecting your home from potential damage and debris penetration.
French Door Hurricane Protection
French door hurricane protection is almost similar to sliding glass doors. Anything that is built with glass can be vulnerable during storms because it can break at any moment during hurricanes. Strong vibrations from winds and flying debris can potentially hit your French doors and windows and shatter glass, which could be dangerous to homeowners.
One of the best ways to protect your French doors and windows is to install hurricane shutters, which you can close when a hurricane is projected to come. There are two types of shutters: permanent and non-permanent. Permanent ones are non-removable shutters that you can install on your glass patio doors. Since they are irremovable, they can be re-used throughout time.
Removal shutters are like corrugated storm panels which you can install before each storm. The advantage is that when the storm is over, you can just take them out and preserve your beautiful glass.
How To Protect Garage Door From Hurricanes?
When you think about hurricane protection, one of the first things you should focus on is your garage door. During a hurricane, your garage is one of the most vulnerable areas to damage. Strong winds can cause garage doors to buckle and fail, allowing winds to force inside your home. Fortunately, garage doors are also the easiest parts of the house to strengthen against blow-ins. With adequate reinforcement, they can potentially brace against strong winds. The following are some tips you can follow:
- Reinforce posts with removable bracing system: These posts can be drilled into the floor and fastened at the top by a preinstalled basket. So when hurricane warming rises, you simply insert the posts to bolster the garage door.
- Improve the strength of your door: Replace hinge screws, change the standard deadbolt for a longer-throw version, and add more bolts on the top and bottom.
- Have multiple locking systems: This can include two or more interlocking deadbolts. For traditional garage doors, make sure you have drilled vertical pins into the concrete.
- Install impact-resistant panels: Made from reinforced materials like steel, aluminum, or fiberglass this type of panels, can protect your glass door against strong winds and debris impact.
- Purchase wind-resistant garage door seals: Installing door seals to the sides and bottom can add strength and integrity to your door. It also increases its resistance against strong winds, preventing water infiltration and potential damage to your garage interior.
How Can I Protect My Business During A Hurricane?
Do you own a business? Is your building or workspace oftentimes crowded? If you own a business near coastal areas, installing panic hardware can be a lifesaving decision. Panic hardware, also known as exit devices or crash bars, allows for quick and easy egress during emergencies, enabling employees and customers to exit the premises rapidly and efficiently.
When facing a hurricane’s threat, panic hardware ensures that evacuation procedures can be executed without delay, reducing the risk of injury or panic among occupants. Moreover, compliance with building codes and safety regulations is crucial during these times, and panic hardware helps businesses meet these requirements, demonstrating a commitment to the well-being of employees and visitors. By investing in panic hardware, you can provide a critical safety measure that can make a significant difference in protecting lives and minimizing potential damage to your business during a hurricane.
Protecting your hardware is also important, especially in harsh climates. The PVD coating proves exceptionally advantageous for hardware installations in coastal regions. Regardless of challenging weather conditions, such as intense UV rays, rain, or salty air, PVD coatings act as a reliable shield, safeguarding architectural hardware from rust, particularly in humid and salt-rich environments. Here is more about how to replace the lock hardware on a storm door.
Find the Best Hurricane Door Protection for Your Home & Business
Buying the best product ranges to safeguard your home and business play a key role in your hurricane-proofing success. GV Locks can gladly provide all sorts of locking systems for hurricane protection. Feel free to browse through our site for high-quality products, call us and let us help you get the best, or get a free quote.
