How to Prep Your Garage Door for Hurricane Season
Hurricane Safety Starts with Your Garage Door
Hurricanes and strong winds are simply a part of life in certain regions of the country. The Southeast is definitely one of them. As beautiful as the area is, hurricanes often make their way through during the summer months, leaving a trail of damage and costly repairs for homeowners. According to the Insurance Information Institute, hundreds of thousands of homes can be impacted in North Carolina annually.
Why Does Your Garage Door
Need Extra Attention?
Since garage doors are typically made from lightweight materials, they’re more vulnerable to high winds than other parts of your home. They also take up a large portion of its exterior.
If your garage door gets broken and removed during a hurricane, enough wind pressure can enter the house to lift the roof off and damage the whole structure. Preventative maintenance is the key to getting your home through the storm safely!
Tips for Prepping Your Garage Door
Remove loose debris in the yard
During a storm, strong winds could pick up items around your house and slam them into your garage door. It’s best to pick up any lawn care tools, trash cans, or outdoor items and store them inside the garage until the storm passes.
Use flood barriers to block water
If you live close to a body of water or an area prone to flooding, place a flood barrier in front of your garage door to help prevent any drainage from getting inside.
Seal any cracks and openings
Prevent leaks by making sure the weather stripping along the windows and perimeter of your door is still in good condition. If it’s looking a little worse for the wear, we suggest getting it replaced before the storms arrive.
Properly drain the gutters
If your gutters have extra debris inside, it could cause water to overflow and run into the interior of your garage door. Even a small amount of standing water can cause damage if left unchecked.
Add hurricane braces if possible
Most hurricane braces are heavy-duty aluminum or steel supports that reinforce your door and protect it from high winds. Please note that these are trickier to install and you might need the help of a pro.
Regularly maintain your door
We recommend an annual Tune-Up to make sure all your garage door components stay in working order. If it’s been a while since we last visited, now’s the time to give us a call!
Lastly, you may want to consider investing in a wind-resistant door. If you aren’t in the market for a new door, don’t worry – you can still protect your current one using the tips above. But if you live in a storm-prone area and you are thinking about upgrading your garage door soon, it’s a great choice to go with one that’s built specifically to resist hurricane weather.

CALL US TODAY
Give us a call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get started on your project! When you schedule an appointment with Precision, our trucks arrive fully stocked so most repairs can be completed in one visit, and most calls can be set up for same-day service.