Increase Home Security with An Impact Garage Door

For most people, installing advanced security and alarm systems on the external doors of their home is a no-brainer. Obviously, no one questions why home security is important. Yet, homeowners tend to ignore their overhead garage door despite adequately securing other doors in their home. 

Burglars tend to go for the least guarded entrance. However, there will still be people undeterred by your sophisticated security gadgets. They know that half the time there’s no one monitoring them anyway. What if you get the alarm that your home is being robbed while you’re on vacation, how would you respond? 

In such cases, the best way to secure your home is to make it as difficult to break into. And an excellent place to start is by installing a hurricane code approved garage door. 

What’s a Hurricane Code Regulated Garage Door? 

It’s an impact-resistant overhead door that’s sturdy enough to be completely weatherproof and burglar-proof. In fact, hurricane garage doors installed from LockTight are capable of withstanding the direct impact of a tropical storm. 

Essentially, an impact resistant garage door is built with multiple layers of reinforced material. Some homeowners even add bracing kits for extra strength, if they live in a particularly windy area. Hurricane garage doors are built to take the highest forms of abuse. The hurricane code ensures they will be strong enough to secure your garage entrance. 

However, hurricane rated garage doors do not come equal. At LockTight Impact, we offer some of the strongest, most durable garage doors for your peace of mind. With a hurricane garage door, you are not only assured of protection from Mother Nature’s playfulness, but also security and burglary-proofing of your property 

Choosing The Right Garage Door According To The Florida Hurricane Code

There are a few things you should watch out for when choosing a hurricane rated garage door, viz –

• Multiple structural layers for tank-type fortification from the elements. Our Hurricane Master garage doors are manufactured with the DAB InterForce® system, which makes them strong and resistant, without causing panels to sag. 

• Sturdy tracks and even sturdier rollers for durability, so the doors won’t be easily dislodged by powerful winds, or determined burglars. At LockTight, we are extremely proud of our wide selection of doors with heavy metal tracks, upgraded hinges and rollers. 

• Rigid reinforcement rods which act as braces on the interior of the garage. These roads buttress the door, and serve as additional protection. In fact, every component of a hurricane-rated garage door is built with strength in mind.

• Another thing to look out for is insulation. Extreme temperatures aren’t good for your car, or anything else you store in your garage. An insulated door gives you extra protection and keeps the interior temperatures peachy all year long. 

• Your new garage door should comply with local building codes. This is guaranteed when you get a hurricane rated garage door from LockTight. Our doors have the highest level of impact resistance and surpass the most stringent hurricane code requirements. 

Where To Buy Hurricane Code Regulated Garage Doors?

You also want to make sure you’re getting your doors from a reputable dealer like LockTight Impact Doors and Windows, with sufficient experience installing the type of garage door that will properly safeguard your home. Hurricane rated garage doors certainly don’t come cheap, but the savings they provide by protecting your property from tropical storms, gale-force winds and burglary make them worth the cost. 

However, if you find the upfront costs of hurricane rated garage doors prohibitive, there are other ways you can secure your garage entrance. Hurricane-proofing your standard garage door may not provide as much wind protection as a proper impact resistant door, but it makes your garage difficult for burglars to break into. 

How to Hurricane-Proof Your Garage Door 

You can use any combination of these four methods to make your standard overhead garage door up to the Hurricane code standards: braces, hurricane panels, sandbags, and threshold seals 

     1. Install a bracing kit 

This is probably the sturdiest way you can fortify your garage entrance if you cannot afford to get an actual hurricane rated garage door. The braces are identical to the reinforcement rods that come with many impact-resistant garage doors. 

When you install the rods behind your garage door, it becomes much harder for violent winds to enter your garage almost impossible for burglars to use brute-force to break in. 

     2. Attach hurricane panels 

For older garage doors, you’ll need additional protection on the exterior to prevent it from damage. Hurricane panels are relatively inexpensive and can be placed outside doors, windows and garage entrances to provide some level of impact resistance. 

While this does not provide sufficient security to your property on its own, it increases the overall strength of your entrance. Use this to protect the exterior of old garage doors while a bracing kit provides strength on the interior. 

     3. Seal your garage door 

If you find that your overhead garage door leaves a gap underneath, above or by the sides of your garage entrance, you need to seal those openings. You don’t want water, dirt and small animals into your garage. Even more so, burglars can potentially use the gaps as anchorage to open your garage door. 

When you check your garage entrance, ensure any openings at the bottom, top and sides are sealed properly. 

• For the bottom seal, there is usually a strip of rubber or vinyl that compresses as the door closes. It’s time to replace the seal if you notice sunlight or cold drafts entering from the bottom of your garage door. 
• The top and sides of your garage door will require weatherstripping. If you notice gaps, it means the original weatherstripping is worn out, and you should install a new one.

     4. Use sandbags 

In a tropical storm, flooding is just as big a problem as wind. Over garage doors, if not properly sealed, will let the water in regardless of braces or hurricane panels. You’ll need to seal your garage door, but a determined flood will take advantage of any gaps if you fail to do it properly.

Placing sandbags behind the closed garage door is an effective way to keep the water out. Arrange a good number of them along the entire length of your garage door to ensure a water-tight defense. 

Get the Ultimate Protection with Hurricane-Rated Doors from LockTight Impact

The best way to ensure your home security and safety is to get impact-resistant doors for your home. If you’re looking at safeguarding your garage, look no further than LockTight Impact for the hurricane rated garage door of your choice. We are Florida’s leading contractor for impact-resistant doors and windows. 

Follow Your Zones Hurricane Code

If you live in a hurricane-prone area, it is a good idea to first check the local hurricane codes so you know what grade of impact-resistant garage door to install. The building code requirements for Florida are particularly stringent and can be confusing, so it’s best you speak with a LockTight technical expert for guidance. 

With our decades of experience servicing homes and businesses in South Florida, you can rest assured that your home security is in capable hands. Call us now one (954)-500-LOCK to get a free consultation.