Hurricane Andrew roared across South Florida and Louisiana in August 1992, causing 65 deaths and more than $26 billion in damage. The most positive thing to come out of the devastating storm: stricter building codes requiring Florida homes to better resist hurricane-force winds and water. The impact was clearly seen during the horrendous 2004 season, when five storms hit the Sunshine State. Houses built after 1994, the year the strengthened building codes went into effect, fared far better than ones built earlier.

“There hadn’t been much testing on what it takes to suck a piece of wood off a house until after Andrew,” says Tim Reinhold, director of engineering and vice president for the Tampa, Fla.-based Institute for Business & Home Safety.

As the 2008 hurricane season gets started, it’s a good time to take a look at the critical elements of making a house as strong as possible to withstand high winds and driving rain. Even if you don’t live in Hurricane Central, these guidelines will help protect your home in the event of severe weather.

To use the technical lingo, the key to minimizing damage is maintaining the integrity of the structural envelope. In layman’s terms, that translates into protecting the most vulnerable points of the house – the roof, the windows and doors. Here are tips for homeowners and homebuyers about each of them:

Roofs. Any kind of roofing material – shingles, slate, tiles or metal – can provide excellent protection against storms as long as it’s installed correctly, says Eric Vaughn, chief operating officer of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a non-profit organization that focuses on disaster preparedness. The important parts of any storm-resistant roof are a roof deck of solid plywood 5/8 of an inch thick, a secondary water barrier, and the use of hurricane connectors, such as straps and clips, to secure the roof to the exterior walls. Also, make sure the roof is nailed down with ring shank nails, which are significantly stronger than regular nails in high-wind conditions. In fact, they’re so effective that Popular Science magazine named the HurriQuake ring shank nail its 2006 Innovation of the Year.

Windows. Storm protection for windows can be achieved with shutters or impact-resistant windows. Hurricane shutters are metal, plastic or Kevlar-reinforced panels that go over the outside of your windows. Impact-resistant windows are similar to the glass on a car windshield, says Mark Conde, manager for impact-resistant products for Simonton Windows. If something hits the glass, “it will probably shatter but because of a synthetic inner layer, it becomes difficult for debris to enter the home and breach the envelope of the house.” This video shows a missile test for impact-resistant windows.

Doors. They protect your home against wind, driving rain and flying debris, but if doors fail, the house becomes internally pressurized, which can force the roof to lift off or the exterior walls to explode, says Sara Theis, spokesperson for Therma-Tru Doors. If you’re replacing doors, check the design pressure (DP) rating of the new ones. Your local code will set the minimum standards. Therma-Tru’s Tru-Defense doors, for example, are rated DP-40 or higher, meaning they have been tested to resist such conditions as 150 mph winds and eight inches of rain per hour, driven by 49 mph winds.

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