Houses and major storms, Part II

Q. I live in a hurricane zone, according to my insurance company, and they’re telling me I need a windstorm letter from a professional, but in checking my policy, I noticed that I’m not really covered for much, including water and wind damage. They don’t cover contents of the home, only structural damage, and with all kinds of limits, it looks like I’m left to pay for most of the loss. I’m not sure that Irene was such a big deal, but I am concerned about the next one. What should I do to improve my chances in case of flooding and wind other than moving away? Any ideas besides buying pumps or rebuilding out of concrete would be helpful.

A. Last week I wrote about insurance companies and payment issues for policies not covering everything unless you go to extremes. I explained what to do and how professionals design for severe wind and rain protection. I start at the top, simulating a “load path” to analyze, examining effects on materials based on wind speeds and driving rain. Most homes are one to two stories, so ground-level wind speeds are typically used. We measure the entire home, drawing each wall location to the quarter inch to picture how loads are distributed from roof peak to foundation.

I’m often in homes where walls are cracking and floors are sagging because somebody arbitrarily placed posts and beams or someone assumed a material was strong enough and wouldn’t shrink, crush, or move. Cheaper, quicker — and wrong. The peak needs reinforcement with manufactured bracing, which varies in size, shape and nailing holes based on wind pressure loading. The nailing holes are specifically arranged to prevent shearing and separation of materials during extreme force events. Although few installers examine the manufacturer’s testing information for required patterns of nailing and which ones fail first, a trained professional does.