Wind zone 4 garage door

[Sybertiger]

For those of you who don't live in Florida or the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico thought I'd show you what the bracing looks like for Wind Zone 4. I just replaced my 32 year old door that had no bracing at all (building code has changed since then). Everytime there was a threat of a hurricane I'd get nervous about the garage door. Before, when there was a threat, I'd either bolt a 2x4 to the floor and put 2x4 bracing against the interior or I'd put a piece of plywood against the inside then back my SUV up just enough to touch it. One year I even parked another SUV side ways on the outside in front of the garage door. Just a bunch of stupid chit like that.

 

[CCTVCam]

That's one proper door. Bit surprised there aren't any floor bolts though.

 

[TonyR]

Mine is as wide as that one, with about half the number of strips as yours running horizontally and vertically but it's double wall (as yours appears to be also); both sides covered with embossed white aluminum sheet packed with 2-1/2" of closed-cell foam in between. It's likely not as strong as yours but man, it's quiet going up/down, keeps out a lot of noise and sure helps with the garage temps when it's extremely hot or cold outdoors. The house is all brick, all the way up to the gables so it didn't make sense to cheap-out on the garage door.

It cost twice as much as the "standard" but looking back 18 years it was worth it.

 

[RGL]

For those of you who don't live in Florida or the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico thought I'd show you what the bracing looks like for Wind Zone 4. I just replaced my 32 year old door that had no bracing at all (building code has changed since then). Everytime there was a threat of a hurricane I'd get nervous about the garage door. Before, when there was a threat, I'd either bolt a 2x4 to the floor and put 2x4 bracing against the interior or I'd put a piece of plywood against the inside then back my SUV up just enough to touch it. One year I even parked another SUV side ways on the outside in front of the garage door. Just a bunch of stupid chit like that.

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So that's a "standard" 2 car door? Can I ask what kind of price range something like that runs? Definitely looks beefy!!

 

[johnfitz]

storage or cars?

 

[johnfitz]

 

[Sybertiger]

So that's a "standard" 2 car door? Can I ask what kind of price range something like that runs? Definitely looks beefy!!

A standard 2 car garage door is usually 16 x 7 feet. And, there is quite a range in pricing depending on how many features it has. The installed cost of a 16 x 7 door in Florida which meets either Zone 3 or 4 wind code is around $1,800 to $5,000+.

A basic plain Jane 2" thick 16 x 7 made with 24 guage steel (one side), no insulation, no windows, meeting zone 3 would be $1,800 installed. Windows add $600 to the cost.

Mine is a step up as it has R8 foam insulation with vinyl backing, zone 4 and windows with inserts. The total installed cost was $2,780. Also, it included 15" radius track instead of standard 12". Get 15" radius if you have clearance. You generally need 103" minimum distance from floor to ceiling to accommodate; I had 100" and barely got it to fit. The highest quote I got for the same exact door was $3,320 so shop around.

If you start adding more insulation, double sided metal, fancier design, special glass, colors etc it can really add up.

The reason I have insulation is for a few of reasons. My door faces due west so I get blasted by the summer sun, noise insulation, the extra weight makes it quieter going up and down.

 

[Oldtechguy66]

NOT just FL doing that. Powers that be rezoned everything here in the NC mountains, so now most areas are considered to be "high wind load zones". Result? Massive amounts of additional bracing, framing, strapping, fastening and blocking. Wind and impact resistant windows and doors, and MUCH higher building costs. A mountain top client of mine recently built a garage/workshop. He wanted a garage door almost identical to yours, Sybertiger. New wind-load requirements made his door look just like the one pictured. Cost was insane, but no choice.. Will it ever see wind loading high enough to warrant the structure? No, but code is code. Makes the insurance industry happy, and possibly a few inspection agencies with dubious ties to certain OEMs, not that such conflict of interest could ever happen in govt Crazy part is all the structural reinforcement on the door panels is great.. but that big billboard size sail panel under high wind load will ultimately fail because it's attached to the framing in only 4 or 5 places/ side, with a single wood lag screw. I've have seen them blow in from high winds, ripping/twisting the track right off the framing... but door panels did not fail. It's the new math they teach. Somoeone forgot the old adage, a system is only as strong as the WEAKEST link...
Few years ago, I spent over TWO days on a new house build for a GC, just complying with all the new fastener/ties/wind load hardware requirements. Inspector checked to see all rafters secured with proper type and number of fasteners, and then wanted to see the empty boxes of the correct Simpson fasteners to prove I used the proper nails & screws, then all the additional blocking/bracing needed, etc. Since I got out of the business, it's only become worse. Code addenda are now larger than the whole codebook used to be by itself when I started out 40 yrs ago. It's incomprehensible, and has added tens of thousands dollars to cost of an average home. But, it makes some desk jockeys in the state govt feel like they're all powerful and omnipotent, cranking out code by the hundreds of pages at a time - which NONE of them understand. Like to see how they justify all the new changes since they can't use math or science anymore (since it's not PC & woke). Until recently, I thought the Paclids of Star Trek Next Gen was pure fiction. Nope... they do exist, in govt everywhere...

 

[Nick70068]

I have a Gold Fortified built home design to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with an 18-foot wide garage door weighing 476 pounds. When a bad hurricane comes my way I have a 1" rigid pipe that I can install in under 5 minutes that will give added wind protection to the center of the door. The base uses a threaded 1" flange that can be fastened to the floor (pre-drilled) with lag bolts and the top is inserted into a loop of chain that is fasten to the header.