Wind Rated Garage Doors

Hampton Roads sits on one of the most storm-exposed stretches of the Mid-Atlantic coast. Hurricanes, tropical storms, and nor’easters all bring sustained wind and powerful gusts to Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and the Currituck shoreline.

The garage door is usually the largest opening in a house, and post-storm damage assessments consistently identify it as one of the most vulnerable. When a door buckles or blows in, wind floods the garage and pushes up on the roof and out on the walls. A wind rated garage door is built to stay in its opening so that does not happen.

Garage doors are not rated by wind speed alone. They are rated by design pressure, measured in pounds per square foot. Each rated door has two figures: positive pressure, which pushes the door inward, and negative pressure, which pulls it outward.

The pressure your door must resist depends on the design wind speed for your address, how exposed the building is to open ground or water, the height of the building, and the size of the door. A 16-foot double door needs more reinforcement than a 9-foot single door in the same wall.

Under the residential building code, a wind rated door carries a permanent label showing the manufacturer, the model, and its positive and negative design pressure ratings. Your local building department has the final say on what is required for permitted work.

• Horizontal struts - steel reinforcement across each section stops the door from bowing.
• Heavier steel - thicker skins and end stiles resist twisting.
• Stronger track - heavier gauge track with more brackets and more fasteners into the framing.
• Upgraded hardware - heavier hinges and long-stem rollers that stay seated under load.
• Impact rated glass - windows built to resist wind-borne debris.

Some older systems rely on removable posts that the homeowner has to fit before a storm. Modern doors use passive reinforcement that is always in place, which means nothing to remember when a storm warning is issued.

Reinforcement kits exist for some doors, but there are limits. Adding struts adds weight, so the springs have to be recalculated and replaced to keep the door balanced. A door that was not engineered for wind load will not earn a rating label from added bracing alone. On an older or already damaged door, a new rated door is usually the better investment. Our guide to repair vs replace explains how to weigh that decision.

• Book a garage door maintenance visit before hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30.
• Have loose track brackets, worn rollers, and frayed cables fixed early.
• Fit an opener with battery backup so the door still works in a power outage.
• Learn how to use the manual release.
• Keep the door fully closed and locked during the storm.
• Inspect the door, tracks, and springs before operating it afterward.

Garage Door Enterprises supplies and installs wind load rated steel garage doors from leading manufacturers including Amarr, Clopay, CHI, and Wayne Dalton. Rated doors are available in raised panel, carriage house, and modern flush designs, with or without insulation and windows.

During an on-site estimate we measure the opening, check the framing and jambs that the track fastens to, and match the door’s design pressure to your location. Wind mitigation features may also be worth mentioning to your insurer.

Call (757) 482-9350 or schedule a visit for a garage door installation quote in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Smithfield, Cape Charles, or Currituck County, NC. Financing is available.

Are wind rated garage doors required in Virginia? Requirements depend on your locality and the design wind speed for your address. Coastal communities generally carry higher requirements than inland areas. We size the door to the figure that applies to your property.

Do wind rated doors look different? No. The reinforcement is on the inside face of the door. From the street it looks like any other door in the same style.

Do they cost more? A rated door costs more than the same model without reinforcement because of the added steel and hardware. The difference depends on door size and the pressure rating required.