FLASH Top Consumer Hurricane Safety Questions #2   4/12/06

As the 2006 Hurricane Season approaches, thousands of homeowners seeking information about storm protection are turning to the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes - FLASH for information on safeguarding their homes from hurricanes. During the 2006 National Hurricane Conference, Flash will be releasing daily the top consumer hurricane safety questions. FLASH CEO and President Leslie Chapman-Henderson will be available during the conference to discuss these consumer issues. 

Q: I am replacing my roof that was damaged by Hurricane Wilma. What can I do now to strengthen it against future storms? 

A: If you are one of the thousands of Florida homeowners replacing your roof due to hurricane damage, having a licensed, professional contractor use the following techniques can insure that your new roof better withstands future hurricanes.

• Install a roof deck of solid plywood, 5/8 thickness, to maximize wind and windborne debris resistance with 10d common nails spaced at 4 inches along the panel edges and every 6 inches in the field of the plywood panel. Make sure that the nails penetrate the decking directly into the roof framing - You should not be able to see nails along the sides of rafters or trusses, where the nail penetrates the decking.

• Create a secondary water barrier by installing self-adhering flashing tape or modified polymer bitumen strips, commonly called peel and seal, over the joints in your roof deck. This will help keep out the rain in the event the roof covering is damaged or destroyed by severe weather.

• Install one layer of #30 underlayment, sometimes called felt paper, over the roof decking and secondary water barrier. The felt helps with drainage in the event water gets under the roof covering.

• Install a roof covering that has been tested to ASTM D 3161 (modified to 110 mph) for wind resistance and UL 2218 for impact resistance. Be sure to specify these standards and look for labels on the products confirming these standards because ordinary roofing materials may not look any different from the wind resistant versions.

• Install hurricane straps at every wall-to-rafter (truss) connection to reinforce the roof. These connections will dramatically increase your home's overall wind resistance. Pay special attention to the reinforcement of gable end connections, which are more likely to fail in high wind.

• Brace gable ends. The collapse of a gable end wall is a common failure during hurricane. Most often, the gable end framing is not sufficiently braced during construction, causing it to possibly fail under the strong pressures of hurricane force winds. To learn more visit: www.blueprintforsafety.org, and look for the Retrofit Wind tab.