We all hear horror stories of wind blowing roofs off houses in powerful storms, but what causes this? How can a homeowner prevent this from happening? Impact windows can be a major factor in deciding whether your home’s roof remains intact. Here we will try and explain why.
When mother nature comes calling, one of the most disastrous things that can happen is a storm compromising your roof. External pressures from wind, rain, and debris can cause damage to any part of your house, but if the roof is compromised, it will allow wind and rain into your home. This will destroy everything inside and possibly even bring down your house completely.
External pressures are a big destructive force, but what about internal pressure build-up? There is a huge myth amongst Floridians that have been around for decades. It is dangerous and contrary to the real facts, some people believe that opening a window during a hurricane will prevent a massive pressure differential from blowing up your home. This could not be more wrong!
It is now a scientific fact that houses blow up because of open or damaged windows. Storm force winds push into homes and upward towards roofs, while wind, rain and sometimes debris hit it from the outside. The resulting force lifts the roofs off, and once that happens, everything inside will be destroyed.
Your home is not airtight, it never will be and you would not want it to be. They are built so air can gently move through them, and therefore a pressure build-up will never happen.
The single most important factor in hurricane protection is protecting all openings from being compromised so wind and rain will blow through your home, causing upward pressure and the water will do the rest.
Impact-resistant windows and impact resistant doors are a solid way of having peace of mind from storms and hurricanes in Florida.
There are also many other great reasons why you should install impact windows such as energy efficiency, increased security, increased equity in your home and lower insurance.