Hurricane Season and Your Garage Door: How to Prepare in Florida

Florida’s hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. When people prepare, they think about windows and shutters. The garage door often gets forgotten, and it shouldn’t.

Why the garage door matters so much

A double garage door is one of the largest openings in a house. If high wind pushes it in, wind and rain pour into the garage and can pressurize the house from the inside. That pressure can lift roof sections and blow out other walls. Protecting that one opening protects the whole structure.

Older doors, especially those installed before Florida’s statewide building code took effect in 2002, were often not designed for the wind loads that current code requires.

What a wind-rated garage door is

A wind-rated (wind-load) door is built and tested to resist a specific design pressure. Compared with a standard door, it typically has:

• Heavier-gauge steel and reinforcement struts across the sections
• Stronger hinges, rollers and track brackets
• A label showing its wind rating and Florida product approval

Some doors are also impact-rated, meaning they’ve been tested against windborne debris. Requirements vary by location and exposure. Coastal areas like the Space Coast and Tampa Bay usually need higher ratings than inland areas. When you replace a garage door in Florida, the new door should meet the Florida Building Code for your address, and many jurisdictions require a permit.

Can my existing door be reinforced?

Sometimes. Options include adding horizontal struts or installing a removable vertical bracing system. Whether it works depends on the door’s construction and condition. If the door is old, dented or rusted, a new wind-rated door is often the better investment. We can look at your door and tell you honestly.

Before the storm: a checklist

1. Inspect the door. Look for dented panels, loose hinges, missing bolts and rust on the bottom brackets. Replace damaged parts before the season.
2. Check the struts and tracks. Horizontal struts should be tight. Tracks should be firmly bolted to the wall.
3. Test the opener’s battery backup, if it has one. Power outages are common during storms; without backup you’ll need to open the door by hand.
4. Learn the manual release. Know how to pull the red emergency cord and lift the door safely, and how to re-engage it.
5. Lock the door manually if it has a slide lock, once the storm is close. It adds resistance at the sides.
6. Clear the garage floor near the door and secure loose items that could become projectiles.
7. Don’t open the door during the storm, even briefly.

After the storm

• Look for bent panels, tracks pulled from the wall, or a door that won’t close straight before you operate it.
• If the opener stopped working after a power surge, check the GFCI outlet and breaker first.
• If the door is damaged, don’t force it. Call us for a safe inspection.

How we can help

We repair storm-damaged doors and install wind-rated doors across Central Florida, from Orlando to the coast. New installations typically range from $800 to $3,500 depending on size and rating, and we can also add battery-backup openers so a power outage doesn’t trap your car.

Learn about new door installation or request a free estimate before the next storm.