Janet Thompson from Overhead Door attended my seminar at last year’s Windstorm Insurance Conference. During my session, she remarked that often overlooked building codes apply to garage door replacement and repair. Wind loaded garage doors pose a serious issue to structure safety.
Here is a diagram of "Lose the Garage Door, Lose the Home" Janet provided to me after the session:
She wrote to me warning about the safety aspect of garage doors in high wind events:
Because garage doors are so large, pressure from hurricane activity or high winds can cause garage doors to detach from their tracks or even collapse. If your door fails, then damaging, life-threatening winds can enter, blowing out doors, windows, walls and the roof. Couple this with exterior debris, such as signs, roofing materials and siding, and lives could be jeopardized.
Overhead Door Corporation is fortunate to have Janet Thompson working for them. I was lucky she volunteered her knowledge to me and others in our session. One reason I love teaching is because I often find that the teacher learns as well.
Great conferences such as the Windstorm Insurance Conference provide information about novel issues and teach attendees. I hope to see you there in two weeks. If you do windstorm related claims, you really cannot afford to miss the Windstorm Conference. Here is a link for registration.
