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Hurricane Clips
The common construction practice of toenailing
in the trusses or rafters of the roof is
frequently not enough to hold the roof in
place during the high winds that accompany
a hurricane, tornado, or very severe thunderstorm
-- winds that can literally lift the roof
off a house unless the roof is firmly attached.
For better protection there are roof ties
called "Hurricane clips." These
stainless steel clips are nailed to both
the roof structure and the house walls and
provide the proper reinforcement to secure
the roof to the walls. Hurricane clips have
proven so effective that new building codes
often require them in areas that are affected
by severe storms.
If you are thinking of installing hurricane
clips, consider the following:
- The clips should be made from 18 gauge stainless
steel and installed at least every 4 feet
in order to withstand winds up to 100 miles
per hour.
- Hurricane clips are easiest to install when
a house is being built, but they can be retrofitted
to an existing house by removing the roof
sheathing around the perimeter of the roof
to reveal the top of the existing walls.
It may also be necessary to remove exterior
soffits and wall cladding to reveal the top
12 to 18 inches of the walls. Roof trusses
should be strapped directly to the walls
or anchored to the top plate of the wall
and then to the wall stud.
- The sturdiest method of securing the roof
involves using the hurricane clips to connect
the rafters of the roof to the top of the
house walls and then bolting the walls to
a plate in the cement house slab to keep
the walls from lifting up with the roof in
extreme conditions.
While hurricane clips will hold the roof
on the house in severe storms, they will
not prevent individual shingles or tiles
from being blown off the roof. |
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