How to Build a Hurricane Roof
Hurricanes can cause roof loss in a few different ways. A horizontal wind shear can catch the roof rake or the exposed ends of the overhang. Second, the wind can send large projectiles through the doors and windows, opening a hole that allows entering wind to pressurize the house enough to lift the roof off. Third, the wind can pull regular nails out of wood. Losing the roof is especially significant since torrential downpours into an uncovered house are a significant source of water intrusion. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- ICF blocks (optional)
- Hurricane straps
- Concrete
- Lumber
- Roofing adhesive
- Hurricane-proof nails (ribbed ring shank nails)
Instructions
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Roof Design and Construction
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1
Build walls of concrete if they have not been built already. The reason for this is that hurricane straps would then be inserted into the top of the wet concrete to tie down the roof. If the walls haven't been built, the ICF blocks should be used as molding for the concrete. ICF construction has been tested to category 5-force hurricane winds.
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2
Insert the hurricane straps into the top of the concrete walls while they are drying.
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3
Construct the roof as a hip roof. A hip roof is downward sloping everywhere that it meets a wall. Therefore, a horizontal wind will press the roof down onto the house at every horizontal angle of attack.
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4
Apply special roofing adhesive to the roof truss sheathing joints and seams. This will strengthen the roof 2 to 4 times over nails alone, and reduce water intrusion by approximately 99 percent, according to Wise Home Design's website.
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5
Use hurricane-proof nails. Also called ribbed ring shank nails, they are much harder to pull out than smooth-sided nails. Another option is to use nails long enough to come out the other side, which you then hammer flat.
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6
Attach the roof to the walls using hurricane straps. Note that while it is preferable to install hurricane straps in walls during construction, they can be installed in existing walls as well.
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