How effective are hurricane clips?
PlaneWood
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
Are they worth it in areas of the country prone to high winds? Should they be applied at every stud, every 2nd stud, just at corners? When I built a small apt for my mother, i used them at every 2nd stud at the sill plate and at every rafter.
Was just reading about the guy that wanted his house framed with screws. Looks like using nails and hurricane clips would be more effective than just using nails or screws.
For the last several years, all track builders in the Houston area have been using hurricane clips. Is that now part of a code in southern coastal areas?
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Replies
When I was in Puerto Rico (where they don't have codes to speak of), the guy running the Lutheran relief effort (who was quite familiar with hurricane damage) had "borrowed" the code from the Bahamas, I believe. Used ties top and bottom on every other stud, IIRC. And of course trusses were tied down.
The main thing is to keep the roof on. Beyond that you want to keep a wall from blowing out and not have windows blow out. Once you've lost the roof or a wall then the structure is severely compromised, and even a modest wind will eventually destroy it. And losing a large window can cause pressure differentials that stress the rest of the structure.
(By "window blow out", I mean the entire window, with frame, simply slides out or in. Quite common, as I understand it, with windows that are just nailed through flange or trim vs being fastened to framing through the side of the jamb.)