My neighbor laughed at me for adding extra roof straps during the 2020 derecho in Iowa

Back in August 2020, my neighbor Gary (retired carpenter) told me I was wasting my time putting hurricane straps on my garage roof. Said our 1950s house had stood fine for 70 years without them. When that derecho hit with 140mph winds, his garage roof ended up three houses down the street. Mine stayed put. Has anyone else had an old timer give them bad advice about building to modern codes?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella90424d ago

Gary was dead wrong and honestly that kind of old school thinking can cost people thousands. Those 1950s houses weren't built for 140mph winds period. My dad was the same way about our attic vents back in 2005 during the Florida hurricanes. Some of these older guys think if it survived a few storms it must be fine but they don't understand how weather patterns have changed. You did the right thing adding those straps and now Gary knows why codes get updated every few years. Bet he won't laugh at modern building practices again.

andrew64624d ago

Man you ever see those old timers get real quiet after the first big storm hits? My neighbor was the same way about his foundation bolts back in 2017. Said houses stood fine without them for sixty years. Then we got a Cat 3 and his garage shifted two inches. He spent triple what I did on straps just to retrofit after the fact. Funny how quick they change their tune when they're staring at repair bills.