Storm-Proof Your Garage Doors

Retrofitting an Existing Garage Door

When a storm is coming, retrofit kits are used to bolster the hurricane-resistance of existing garage doors. Their effectiveness is usually contingent upon the integrity and strength of the door itself — an old wooden door is not going to hold up to a Category 4, whether it has been reinforced or not. “If the garage door was faultily installed or in poor condition, you cannot expect the same results from our product,” says Jack Stumpff, co-owner of Secure Door in Plantation, FL. Secure Door is the only Florida Building Code-approved garage door retrofit kit available on the market, and it is also designed to be installed by the do-it-yourselfer.

Retrofit kits like Secure Door’s products commonly include bracing systems that install on the inside of the garage door. Secure Door’s telescoping, lightweight, high-strength aluminum braces install vertically through the header above the door and through floor mounts that are drilled into the concrete floor. The braces also attach through the hinges in the door itself to protect both from external pressure and internal negative pressure in a hurricane. “Three of our braces installed on a 7-foot-by-16-foot garage door will protect up to 180 mph,” says Stumpff. “It takes about 40 minutes to retrofit the garage for our reinforcing braces, and all a homeowner needs is an electric drill, a 1⁄2-inch masonry bit, an adjustable wrench, and a screwdriver.” Once the garage has been retrofitted, the braces themselves take three to five minutes to actually attach in preparation for a storm.

Retrofit kits cost significantly less than a new door. A single Secure Door kit for a single garage door costs $150 plus shipping and handling. A two-kit solution for a double-door garage that is dealer-installed will run about $500 — still almost a third of the cost for a new door of the same size.