When you look to buy a new home, you may well check weather reports to see just what kinds of weather can be expected. Your home, which is after all your investment, will be at risk of damage where severe conditions are experienced. Each time will represent another moment to keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. However, that risk is considerably reduced when the right kind of roof is fitted to a house. For instance, a roof is resistant to storm damage because of its materials and shape.
This article will therefore consider Houston Hurricanes alongside the type of roof that is required to help protect you from this type of weather.
What the Weather is Like in Houston, Texas, USA
Greater Houston’s hurricane period is something to take seriously as a householder looking to protect a home as much as possible.
In terms of the weather here, since 2014 there have been seven incidents of flooding, which included Hurricane Harvey, which the city was subjected to these conditions for four days. 2020 saw Hurricane Laura, which would barely miss before heading east to Louisiana.
For more information on Houston’s susceptibility to hurricanes and for details of a roofing company that can help, follow the website link above.
Roofing Materials
Metal roofing is widely considered the best option to offer hurricane resistance. The different varieties of metal available will come with warranties and offer protection against winds reaching speeds of 140 mph. Category 4 hurricanes will be in the range of 130 to 156 mph. To help combat them, metal materials will offer the highest protection possible. It is worth investing in this type of material to protect your home from the amounts of damage that could result. Home insurance does not protect what you care about, it merely financially compensates. In any case, if you happen to live in Galveston, Houston, along the Gulf Coast, where hurricane winds are at their strongest, your home insurance might not cover damage resulting from wind or hail. It is then up to you to mitigate the risks by making sure that you have the best roof possible. Your roof will then become your insurance policy and what provides peace of mind.
Roof Shape
It is a proven fact that the more slopes you have on your roof, the greater wind resistance it has. This is useful when it comes to high winds and hurricanes. If the hurricane is going to target property, it will be the weaker one in terms of shape and structure. Also, of course, it is good to have a roof well-maintained in Houston, so that it is more likely to withstand a hurricane. We do not want to give such a powerful force the edge.
A roof that engineers have spent time developing, that will fair the best when there is a hurricane, is one that is the shape of a hexagon or octagon. The multi-panels will be capable of reducing wind load. If, however, this shape does not appeal to you, then you should at least opt for a 4-slope hip roof. Multiple sloped roofs will always prove a better bet in high wind situations. I say a better bet because there are no guarantees when there is a high wind, unpredictable and indiscriminate weather. You can, however, do all you can by choosing a roof shape suitable to Houston and its record for hurricanes. This can be when purchasing a house or afterward when you have the option to fit another roof as well as keep the maintenance of your existing roof up-to-date, for the protection of your home and its contents.
There is no doubt that climate change will mean more extreme weather including hurricanes in the future for regions such as Houston.
In summary, check yourself the hurricanes that Houston is known for and make sure that the roof on your property is adequate to cope with them, in terms of it not only being regularly maintained but in terms of considering a replacement so that it is constructed in hurricane-resistant materials and have a shape that can cope with high winds and storms.
