In this blog entry, the Chicago garage door installation and Chicago garage door repair experts here at Garage Door Repair Chicago will detail the effect of wind on garage doors and the details of garage door wind resistance.
Average Garage Door Wind Resistance Strength
Garage doors usually have strength to resist at least 20 MPH wind speed, which means they won’t usually get damaged by typical snowstorms or thunderstorms. If wind goes over 20 MPH garage doors won’t fully come off, but they will start to weaken. Lots of exposure to over 20 MPH wind can cause garage door issues. Often, garage doors can’t resist much higher wind speeds than 20 MPH, usually over 100 MPH wind speed and even 50 pounds of wind pressure. There’s special impact garage doors that can resist 200 MPH wind speeds.
Finding Garage Wind Rating
Look on the interior of your garage door for an orange, yellow, or white label, usually along the side. If you can’t find it, look for the garage door model user manual online. Look for details about the door wind resistance. When you find the label, look for the part that says “design wind speed” for the maximum speed of wind that the door can handle. The garage door label should also say PSF with a low and high number. This will tell you the number of pounds per square foot of force that the door can handle. Positive and negative PSF ratings can hit doors in multiple directions. The positive number refers to the level of pressure that your garage door can handle when the wind blows on it, and the negative number refers to how well your garage door can handle with wind pressure sucking the door out of its frame.
What happens if garage doors encounter strong wind speeds?
If your garage encounters incredibly strong winds, it may buckle inwards or get pulled outwards. The end result will cause extreme damage to your garage door often leading to the need for garage replacement. If high winds are accompanied by other extreme weather, you will likely experience flooding or damage to your possessions. A door that can get pushed in or ripped away by wind also causes structural damage to your home, which can cause uneven pressure zones throughout your home, and greatly wears the structural integrity of your home.
Can garage door wind ratings be increased?
If you want to increase the wind resistance of your garage door, you can install a bracing kit. This won’t improve your door’s ability to withstand items thrown around by the wind, but it can prevent individual garage panels from buckling when strong winds hit it. Retrofit wind bracing can help your garage doors withstand wind speeds of over 100 MPH.
