This site was developed by John Shishilla of Honor Construction of Brevard, LLC. D/B/A Honor Services for the sole purpose of sharing information about building stronger homes. The focus is about Florida but is useful in may areas.
Since 1992 when Hurricane Andrew made landfall in the state, Florida has been trying to improve the building of homes to prevent future devastation from storms. The process to improve the building codes locally and statewide has taken decades. It wasn’t until September 1994 in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, and March 2002 in most other areas of the state, that the Florida Building Codes were implemented: A Tale of Two Homes–Wind and Engineers Test Storm Resistant Homes Based on those dates, nearly 90% of the homes in Florida were built before the required building codes to harden homes. Recently, the state has reinstated a former grant program to allow older homes that are not built to these standards to undergo home improvements to withstand major windstorms. This program is called the My Safe Florida Home program. Watch a video on this here: Preparing for a Hurricane: The Engineering Behind Your Home
If your home qualifies for a free wind mitigation inspection, (click Here for criteria) the grant will focus on several areas.
Strengthen your home and get discounts on your Florida insurance
- Updating your roof covering
- Adding a secondary water barrier beneath your roof covering
- Strengthening your roof deck attachment
- Securing your roof-to-wall connections
- Adding Opening (Window and door) protection
- Having an All Hip roof
- Gable-end bracing
