Hundreds of homes and businesses are damaged when natural calamities strike all of a sudden. Losses due to a hurricane, storm, or tornado can be minimized if your roof is strong enough. Whether you are installing a new roof or are taking essential safety measures, strengthening a roof is something that deserves attention. Even a smaller storm can leave your house devastated if the roofing contractors you hired did not take proper care to strengthen your roof.
Strengthening a roof is not exactly rocket science. Everyone with basic carpentry knowledge can do that. When you hire roofing contractors, make sure you ask them about such things.
If your home was built recently, it has probably got some protection against storms and hurricanes. Credible roofing contractors will do the needful without you asking for it. However, irresponsible contractors may just finish the job on the surface and leave after they get your money. It was in the year 1991 that the Uniform Building Code was adopted. If your house was built before that, you must contact a local roofing contractor immediately for strengthening your roof.
The upper sill plates and roof rafters are connected with only a few nails. It is important to strengthen these connections first. These old designs can usually withstand conventional winds. However, that is the most your roof can handle. If you are living in a hurricane prone area, you must strengthen such an old roof immediately. An old roof cannot withstand the upward buoyancy force of powerful hurricane winds.
Your roof’s resistance to powerful hurricane winds will increase substantially if you install some hurricane ties. Your roof will not be lifted up by strong winds in that case. It won’t cost a lot to install hurricane ties. You can just buy them from the market and do it all on your own. However, do it only if you have some prior experience. Risking the strength of your roof for the sake of your carpentry experiments is not a good idea.
For a house of an area about 1100-1200 sq. feet, you will have to spend nearly about $400-500 on hurricane ties. Considering the total amount of possible damage due to a hurricane, $400-500 is nothing. You can also tie down a roof with the help of some ropes. It is one of the popular makeshift arrangements. When you have no time to nail down those edges, you can just use this technique.
Photo via JP..
