How to check if you have a Hurricane Rated Garage Door
We receive calls every week from customers wanting to know how to determine if they have an Impact Rated, Wind Rated, or Hurricane Rated Garage Door. What does this all mean?
First, let’s take a moment to explain the different terms used, Hurricane Rated (Wind Rated) & Impact Rated.
- Hurricane Rated, which is actually a term much of the general public uses, is actually Wind Rated. Wind Rated means the door can withstand a specified wind mph rating that also meets a local building code.
- Impact rated (sometimes called Miami-Dade) was required in Dade County only, but is slowly creeping north in Florida. Sometimes an insurance company will ask for that specification because it may reduce your homeowner’s insurance bill.
Manufacturers rate their doors as Wind Rated and/or Impact Rated and that they provide storm protection. A few key points:
- WIND RATING depends on what area of the State of FL you live in. Your wind requirements could be for 140mph winds, 150 mph winds or 160 mph winds and so on.
- IMPACT RATING is a separate rating which means the garage door was tested for large-missile impact rating. That rating means that after having a 2×4 (piece of wood) shot out of a canon at the door 3 times, the door did not have any holes larger than 3” in diameter and was still was operable.
- Depending on the strength of a storm nothing is guaranteed but having a current Wind Code garage door with Impact Rating up to whatever code the county you’re living in requires will certainly provide the maximum protection.
So, now let’s answer your question, How do I know if my Garage Door is Hurricane Rated?
- To start, you want to look at your garage door and search for a wind load sticker. This sticker will usually have the manufacturer’s name, model number and design pressures listed.
- In this case, you can utilize the Florida Product Approval Website to search for that door.
- Enter the manufacturer’s name under Product Manufacturer and under Category select exterior doors.
- Under Subcategory select Sectional Exterior Door assembly
- This shows the FL Numbers for this manufacturer in the left-hand column with what products numbers are impact resistant.
- You will then have to click on each FL number and then it brings up a new screen that shows the product approval numbers in the left-hand column and the drawing number appears in the right-hand column under the heading installation instructions.
- It will have the FL number listed first and then the drawing number. (See Exhibit B)
- Continue to search all pages until you see the number, which in this case it is 101348. It is located on page 5. You will see the number listed two times. Once as an A and then as a B.
- The A is impact resistant which means the door has no glass or impact rated glass.
- If you have regular glass, it is a B and is not impact rated.
If, after all this searching, you are unable to figure it out, call any D & D Garage Doors store … we would be happy to help.
