Storm/Wind Mitigation

[cabinetman]

It's probably not news that South Florida has some involved specifications for qualifying for storm/wind mitigation discounts for homeowners insurance. We have been trying to get whatever discounts we could possibly qualify for since the homeowners insurance fiasco went off the deep end.

Besides being able to understand the way their policies are written, it's difficult to get a straight forward answer to many questions. It seems that the insurance carriers purposely leave enough latitude in their favor to not cover, or the ability to refuse a claim.

Our homeowners went over $4500/year. It wasn't until we found out what changes could be made to get discounts. Initially, because the structure is over 50 years old, puts us into a risk column. It seems if our house has withstood all the hurricanes since 1952, we should get a huge discount and a trophy.

So, our quest started with a new roof, new windows, and new doors. I replaced all the windows and decided that the impact windows would give some mitigation, but went with storm panels over new non-impact windows. The cost of impact windows would have been more money than non-impact and storm panels. My figuring was that impact windows can still break. I didn't want to go through all the work of the installation, just to have to replace broken impact windows.

Here is where the rub starts for wind mitigation. The discounts only apply if all openings are protected. If there is one that isn't, no discount will apply. One door has to be available for egress, so that door has to be approved. If there is another door, that door could be approved, or the opening covered with panels.

So we decided to get a an approved back door. Yesterday I spent time in both Lowes and HD looking at either a metal door, or fiberglass. both approved for discounts. It seems that the fiberglass door is more popular than the steel one for many reasons. Both doors come pre-hung with wood jambs. I couldn't find out the core on the metal door, but the fiberglass one has polyurethane fill, and has as an option for a polyurethane jamb.

We will likely go with the fiberglass one with at least a half lite. Anyone have any experience with those doors?

.

[dbhost]

My back door is fiberglass / PU fill I believe. No light though. Just a flat door. During Hurricane Ike we had a fairly large hunk o tree fall into / get blown into it with no ill effects.

I know what you mean about insurance insanity... They try to use any excuse not to pay damages.... Hence the reason I am getting up on the ladder and fixing storm damage on my ceiling (still)...

[chopnhack]

Hey Mike, just a heads up with that... when you apply you open up the door for more inspections. I had Citizens hounding me for a year. They wanted to do a roof inspection and the roof was new 4 years prior... They came out and did more than "just a roof inspection" they had a metal sensor and located the rebar around the perimeter walls, they climbed inside the attic and searched for nails from the plywood to the trusses - length and spacing, they shoved paper gauges to determine the thickness of the plywood sheathing all in an attempt to located deficiencies to increase the rate.

[cabinetman]

My back door is fiberglass / PU fill I believe. No light though. Just a flat door. During Hurricane Ike we had a fairly large hunk o tree fall into / get blown into it with no ill effects.

I know what you mean about insurance insanity... They try to use any excuse not to pay damages.... Hence the reason I am getting up on the ladder and fixing storm damage on my ceiling (still)...

It seems that since in our area, the State of Florida/Citizens is the carrier for homeowners, that there would be less insanity, but there isn't. I found out that since I have no attic, their interior inspection would be only for inspecting the ceilings.

I've replaced all the ceilings, and have two areas around A/C vents that have gotten damp from condensation that I'll have to touch up before our next inspection, which is due shortly.

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[cabinetman]

Hey Mike, just a heads up with that... when you apply you open up the door for more inspections. I had Citizens hounding me for a year. They wanted to do a roof inspection and the roof was new 4 years prior... They came out and did more than "just a roof inspection" they had a metal sensor and located the rebar around the perimeter walls, they climbed inside the attic and searched for nails from the plywood to the trusses - length and spacing, they shoved paper gauges to determine the thickness of the plywood sheathing all in an attempt to located deficiencies to increase the rate.

Chop, that's just crazy. What part of the State are you in? We have no attic, so they will play heck trying to pull something like that off.

Right after Wilma, I took our back door which was a full panel of jalousies, and modified it. I added a center rail, and a bottom panel. For the lite it was the top half, and I used clear polycarbonate. When we got our last inspection, the door didn't qualify for any mitigation whatsoever because it wasn't stamped, or IOW, not tested for wind mitigation. It is likely more than adequate, but because it's not "approved", or has no NOA, it doesn't qualify. It's just another way to stick it to us.

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[chopnhack]

Yes, unless its a stamped product and in many cases with paperwork, they wont accept it... I've been through the gambit with them before...

[cabinetman]

Yes, unless its a stamped product and in many cases with paperwork, they wont accept it... I've been through the gambit with them before...

You're right about that. Our hurricane shutter panels have a stamping in the metal with the approval. I have close to 100 of them. Last year when they inspected our house, the panels were in one big stack and they only looked at the first few.

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[cabinetman]

Door Update

I went to Lowes and HD to get an idea of what's available. I ruled out Lowes as they were much higher in price. After my first HD visit, I went to a different store, and got a different story about what's available. To make a long story short, after the 4th HD, we ordered our door.

I couldn't get over how different the supplies were to the stores. I expect they have the same online access to their suppliers. All we wanted was a smooth exterior door with a half lite. The lite could be just a plain lite...no divisions or decoration. It had to be approved for...as our insurance agent said (his words)...approved for wind loads and large missile impact.

Some stores said they couldn't get one, or that it wasn't available. So, we settled on a steel door, half lite, with a poly jamb.

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[chopnhack]

That's a winner C-man, just have to keep careful eye on the steel on the bottom of the door to make sure it doesn't start to rust - where the water tends to drip off. Best of luck

[cabinetman]

That's a winner C-man, just have to keep careful eye on the steel on the bottom of the door to make sure it doesn't start to rust - where the water tends to drip off. Best of luck

Thanks. I think I'll enjoy watching the guys installing it.

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[chopnhack]

HaHa.... at least you know how its supposed to be installed so when those HD sub contractor chuckle heads come out and do the three stooges routine, you know where to send them