Captain Tropic's
Garage Door Bracing
Approximately 80% of residential hurricane wind damage starts with wind entry though garage doors. Second only to window glass a two-car garage door is the weakest point in your homes structure when it come to wind. Keeping hurricane force winds out of your home is vitally important and because garage doors are so flimsy they must be braced. If your garage door fails during a hurricane there very well may be significant damage to the structure and contents. It has been reported that the wind pressure has caused walls to collapse, roofs to blow off, and windows to blow out.
I think we better find a way to brace that door. I've been working on one way to brace a garage door for a while now and finally got all the pictures taken so here we go. The problem with garage doors is when hurricane force winds blow straight into them they tend to bow inward. The same is true when the wind is coming from the opposite direction. Instead of bowing in they bow out because of the negative wind pressure created as the wind went over your home. We have a sucking and blowing problem. As the door bows the little roller wheels inside the guide tracks twist and pop right out, isn't that nice!
I must mention at this point that closing the garage door and then backing your car up until it is bracing the door on the inside is not a very good idea. Remember the sucking part above? Right after the storm sucks that door off the track it's going to beat your car half to death with your own door. A lady wrote to me the other day and asked if tying some rope to both the car and the door would be a good idea, she read that out there someplace. I don't like the idea too much, the wind will break the rope and she pointed out that running the car's engine inside a closed garage sound too much like a B rated suicide movie, she's right.
Many places on the Internet (Google search "garage door bracing") state that horizontal bracing is the answer, that's partly right and it's partly wrong to. Horizontal bracing will work, but the added weight will more than likely make the door unbalanced. If your garage door is balanced with a coiled spring around a long shaft above the door there is no way for you to correct the problem. If you mess around with that thing it will turn you every which way but loose. DO NOT EVER TOUCH THAT SPRING, NOT EVER!!! It takes special tools to adjust that thing and two pair of vice grips will not work trust me. I've got some life experience in this area, enough said. You never read that on the other web sites.
So lets step away from those nasty thoughts and focus on another idea, vertical bracing. The benefit of vertical bracing is never having to touch that spring, has nothing to do with it. The vertical bracing stands directly behind the door on the inside and keeps the door from bow inward. It also grips the door and keeps it from bowing out. Once the bracing is built and installed the first time putting them back up in an emergency is a snap. The photos on this page are of the proto type version. They where made out of lumber salvaged from wooden deck benches in our back yard, so I really don't know how much the cost for lumber would be. I don't think it would cost that much.
This is the first piece. It's a standard 2x4 with a notch cut to fit another standard 2x4. The notch is centered in the board. Notice the #2 in the corner. Your going to custom make three vertical braces, some of the parts will fit better than others so number each unit so you'll know which part fits best to which vertical brace.
This is the second piece. It's a standard 2x8; there is that #2 again.
Here the first two parts are connected and form the base plate of out vertical bracing. I used real nice hardware, and pre drilled the wood to ease running the screws in. I also used construction adhesive to glue the parts together.
This is the bottom of the actual vertical member that fits into the notch created in the base plate.
These two shots are of the top of the vertical. This end is connected to the wall just above your garage door. The extra layers of wood hold the vertical at just the right distance out from the wall to keep it snug against the inside of the door. The angle iron is used to give this section some added strength.
Here are a couple of longer shots front and back just to keep everybody on the same page so to speak. (the big picture)
Here is a longer shot of the whole vertical brace with the base plate attached. I made three braces for my door. All of the parts for each Brace are numbered, so when the stress is on, I can put them together quickly.
Here is a shot of the bottom of the vertical and the base plate. Notice the three hole for the screws that run into the concrete.
Here are the three holes and anchors used to keep the base plate in place during the storm.
In these two shots you can see the two mounting holes for the top of the vertical brace number one and a shot of what it looks like installed.
Here is a shot of the base plate installed
Here is a shot of the whole brace installed. Notice the small metal blocks between the brace and the door. They were attached to the door and did not weigh enough to through the door out of balance. They were used to support the door in the proto type; they won't be used in the final product because they are too hard for the average homeowner to make or get. They will be replaced with wood blocks attached to the vertical which are much easier for everyone to deal with.
This that nasty spring I told you never to touch. Notice the cute yellow tag that is bolted to the spring assembly, there is a wealth of information on that thing. Let me sum it up for you, Never, never, never, touch this neat looking spring.
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Thanks, Captain Tropic
