How to Brace a Garage Door for Hurricane Protection
Your garage door is the largest and weakest door in your house. In gale force winds of 100 miles per hour, a 16-foot by x 7-foot garage door has to withstand over 2095 lbs. of inward pressure. Unless you have installed a hurricane shutter system over your garage door, it won't last under that kind of pressure. There are several things you can do to help brace a garage door for hurricane protection that will work on any size garage door and won't cost as much as installing a hurricane shutter system. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Saw
- 2x4s
- Metal strapping
- Wire snips
- Hammer
- Nails
- Concrete nails
- Plywood sheet
- Car
- Chipping hammer (if needed)
- Concrete patch (if needed)
Instructions
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1
Close the garage door. If your garage door has a lock, lock it.
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Measure any windows in the garage door and transfer those measurements to one of your sheets of plywood. Add one inch to your measurement of the window as you transfer to the wood. Cut out the window pieces from the plywood. Nail them over the windows from the outside of the garage door. Do not attach them on the inside. Better you put some holes in your door that you have to putty later than to have to replace the glass.
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3
Measure from the floor to the frame of the door. Cut enough 2x4s so you can place a vertical brace every two feet down the length of the door. Stand each brace in place, and nail the brace to the frame above the door. Cut some metal strapping into 10-inch pieces using the wire snips. Run the metal strap over the top end of the brace and nail both ends of the brace to the frame so the strap is tight to the wood. Brace the bottom of the vertical pieces by running a 2x4 flat on the floor against the base of the vertical pieces. Nail that 2x4 into the floor using concrete nails and nail the vertical pieces to it. Note: When placing the vertical braces the narrow edge of the 2x4 should face the door, not the wider part. 2x4s will better resist snapping when turned on their edge.
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Nail a piece of plywood roughly in the center of your door onto the braces. Back your car up so it is pressing against the plywood (but not bending the door). The weight of your car will serve as an excellent opposite force to the wind.
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Measure and mark each vertical brace in two place. The first should be two feet above the floor and the second mark should be three feet above that (five feet from the floor).
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Measure and cut two 2x4s for each brace that can reach from the height of each mark you made to the garage floor. These will be your kicker braces. The 2x4 for the lower mark should reach three feet away from the base of the door. The 2x4 for the upper mark must come down at an angle and meet the floor five feet away from the base of the door. Nail the 2x4s to their marks. Use concrete nails to attach the bottom of the kickers to the floor. Run a full 2x4 on the floor, directly behind the kickers and butted against them. Nail that 2x4 to the floor using concrete nails.
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Tips & Warnings
If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, take the time when all is calm to set permanent kicker anchors in your garage floor. All you have to do is mark where your kickers end on the floor, use a chipping hammer to chip out a narrow trench at least two inches deep then seal the trench with a patching concrete (not filling the trench, just resurfacing it). This way all you have to do is brace one end of your kicker support against the door and place the other in the trench; your kicker will not move and can use the whole garage floor as a support.
Do not install horizontal bracing as a means of bracing your garage door for hurricane protection. Horizontal bracing will not provide any significant support to the door when inward pressure from the wind is applied--your door will break.
