Builder magazine breaks down the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety report that studied 213 damaged houses after 2017’s Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Texas coast. (Check out our review of the Simpson Quik Stik for replacing some hurricane clip hardware with structural screws.)
Of the 213 houses, 85% had asphalt shingles and more than 100 of those homes had roof or structural damage due to those shingles coming off. And due to not having taped joints on the sheathing. So whether or not you build with the Zip System, running Zip tape or other flashing tape may help what you build weather the next big one a little better.
Covering windows and doors with shutters or plywood, of course, does a lot more than doing nothing. But it works even better if you cover all the openings and not just the windward side or water side or windows only, for example.
Builder also touches on the fact that items in the yard or attached to the house, like porches and gazebos, came apart or blew off their pads and did damage to the main structure.
As comedian Ron White points out, although some people may think they are tough for riding out a storm, they’re not. He puts it something like this: “It doesn’t matter that the wind is blowin’. It matters what the wind is blowin’. I don’t care how many sit-ups you can do. If you get hit by a Volvo …”