Strapping down your roof for a hurricane - photo

[Jon]

Strapping down your roof for a hurricane. Is this a thing? Do people do this? We don't really have hurricanes where I live.

[Toolmaker51]

Those are the 4" straps used on full size semi-trailers. I'd wager 24 of them, minimum. At $11.00 USD~ = $260+. Not including at least 8 ratchets. $30.00+

My solution, more entertaining. Way less expensive too.

[Frank S]

TM 51 if that were the case we should name all future Hurricanes after her
Jon in answer to your question yes people who live in Hurricane zones will try most anything to try and protect their property. The problem most don't realize is if they try to strap their roofs down such as that person has done. if it is a composition roof the straps can only protect right where they are holding things down But I think most are concerned that the wind will get under the overhang of the roof and rip decking and all off the shingles can be easily replaced but if the decking goes then the whole house will be a write off. Note they also have what looks like 2x4's along the edge.
If they would replace their soffit and fascia with a 1 piece formed aluminum or steel trim that extends over the decking 18" then replace their composition roof with formed steel standing seam roofing, with triple the amount of the proper securement fastenings the only thing they would have to worry about then wold be to shutter their windows and glass doors Plus they would be adding a significant fire protection
But one other thing is so many who live in Hurricane prone areas also live down low. their houses are right on the ground in low elevations where storm surges or even a slightly heavy rain fall will flood them. That's just crazy to me. The only way I wold ever be caught living near the ocean would be in a house made of concrete and the ground floor would not be any part of the actual living quarters

[Tuomas]

Kinda fits the theme.

[PJs]

My guess is this wouldn't work and a band-aid at best and at worst could cause more issues.

Those stakes in the ground would need to be in at an angle perpendicular to the roof pitch and my guess is at least 2' long and in good Earth...the water will soften it from surge or the shear amount of water dropped at Velocity. As for the roof straps the straps themselves might hold up providing the Harmonics generated from the horrific wind and rain torrents of the unsullied portions of the straps turning out frequencies that crumble the house and loosening the soil the stakes are in even more. Might be interesting music though.

Then there is the truss spacing to the straps...doesn't look good to me and like Frank says if the sheeting comes loose its over. Not only that but loading on specific trusses from the straps would probably create buckles in other portions of the sheeting and roof tiles and may effect too much point specific loading on the substructure. As long as the hurricane isn't a direct strike of any thing over a tropical storm...Maybe...but I'd be looking for cracks in the walls at a minimum after...on a stucco house to boot.

One other thought is the Power Pole and Xformer in the back; depending on the origin of the hurricane, a clockwise rotation may just throw that Xformer directly into the house and a 200lb Xformer at say ~40-60mph...stucco, framing, wood roof...none would likely weather that storm, well. I've seen the wake of Tornado's in person after it bounced over our trailer park and was chased by a cyclone leaving Alabama...Best you can do imho, is pucker up and get low or not be there in the first place (says someone living in earthquake country). Mother nature in full force makes a Rorschach symbol out of most places we build.

PJ

[moperformance]

Strapping down your roof for a hurricane. Is this a thing? Do people do this? We don't really have hurricanes where I live.

Yes! Necessity is the mother of invention. Better to be safe than sorry,etc.
Born and raised in Daytona Beach,Fl. So Yes. Whatever it takes

[ranald]

I'm unable to comment on hurricanes but similar to Cyclones in southern hemisphere. Cyclones mostly give most damage to houses by the lifting motion or sucking up so homes built in Queensland since the eighties have had some cyclone rating structural work engineered according to the risk of exposure. The nearer the coast generally means a higher rating like many above 51 metres per second wind whereas further inland may only have a cyclone rating of 40 metres per second or less. As the rating goes higher, so does the size of the cyclone rods (long threaded rod that connects the footings to the roof structure) and other tie downs. Internal walls that brace against the possible wind direction also have rods or if in a lower cat rating may only have starter bars (or bolts). Its all about keeping the whole house tied together & secured to the earth. The size of roof battens increase, length of roofing screws, closeness of trusses etc. An "inspector" checking the house I was owner building in the late eighties exclaimed "you don't need to do that" refering to the sleel rods I was tieing from the footings to the reinforcing mesh of the slab. My response was "I know: but this is my own house". He nodded and walked off. The few dollars & time spent on unseen structural improvements were a "peace of mind" for me.

I have seen homes that have lost or broken a tile or two & emergency workers have done more damage climbing all over the roof to place a temperory tarp over the roof with similar tie downs or even much lighter ones.

During the 60's I was holidaying with my parents in northern Qld when a cyclone hit the coastal areas causing flooding hundreds of miles inland. It was like we were travelling in the eye and totalling missing all the carnage as we travelled north & then back south towards home. cars were thrown and washed off the highway, big gumtrees down everywhere,roads flooded, roofs blown away etc. What was particularly interesting was at Cannonvale (near Earlie Beach, Whitsundays ((Barrier Reaf delight)) the houses at low flats near the sea were mostly all destroyed whereas the really expensive (to construct) ones on top of the ridge (couple of hundred metres higher) immediately behind those destroyed were completely ok. The theory is that the wind up high hit the ridge and eddied down the almost vertical slope to doubly impact on the flats below. I would have thought, until I witnessed that, that the more exposed ones on top would have suffered more but "there you go".

[IAMSatisfied]

The edges of a roof are the most vulnerable part when it comes to wind damage. What they're doing with the straps is simply keeping the drip-edge of the roof from getting peeled up and tearing the whole layer off shingles with it. The straps are holding 2x4s or 2x6s on the drip-edges to help prevent wind from getting underneath. This is also helping strengthen the eaves against wind-lift. These measures are a physical form of insurance and not a guarantee against damage. Every little bit helps... better safe than sorry.

[suther51]

While I do not live in a hurricane area i have heard of doing this with mobile homes. Localy I have seen a mobile home torn to shreds by straight line winds. Owners belongings spread across a hay field, makes one pause.
Eric

[Frank S]

A long time ago I used to live in a mobile home park everyone there had dozens of old tires littered about on their roofs.