Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
(OP)
I have a project located in a wind borne debris area and in a flood zone. The structure has several garage overhead door openings. Are there garage doors rated for for hydrostatic loadings?? Are there garage doors rated for wind borne debris?? Are these strctures typically designed as partially enclosed??






RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
Hydrostatic pressure is a different animal. The redneck solution in South Louisiana includes big dimensional lumber stacked in channels bolted to the building. You couldn't lift a garage door built that strong.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
The first flood project I worked on a few years ago the client said "I'm installing flood vents so you don't have to worry". I knew nothing about ASCE 24. They said flood vents were acceptable in the code and that I didn't need to sign off on their method to mitigate construction. Two months later they told me I had to sign off on their flood vent design. I found out the project was in a V zone and what that meant and the project went south from there.
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
On my project described above, the client intentionally keeps the doors to the building open just in case the area floods..... at least that is what they told me. In the end it didn't matter as they were in a V zone and by they time they were done there was to be nothing left of the siding and stud materials.
RE: Typical Garage Doors - Wind Borne Debris & Flood Loads?
No on the hydrostatic pressure. Depending on the flood zone elevation, this could amount to several feet of water, and you would need steel floodgates to properly resist those lateral forces. Also, no garage door opening is water tight. In most flood events the water rises at a rate that allows the water to leak around the garage door gaps. But you likely will have to have flood vents like SteelPE was discussing, see the attached document.