Wind-rated garage doors

The Texas Department of Insurance puts the problem in one sentence: "Garage doors are particularly vulnerable to high winds, because of the long span of the opening they cover and the relatively lightweight material they are made of." FEMA's advice for severe wind is plain about it too: "These doors can fail under wind pressure." The code answer is a door tested for wind load and labeled with the result.

What the rating means

The International Residential Code requires garage doors to be tested under ASTM E330 or ANSI/DASMA 108 and labeled with, among other things, "the positive and negative design wind pressure rating" (IRC R609.4, as quoted by the International Code Council). Both numbers matter. As the door industry's association puts it, "A garage door is subject to either being blown into the garage or pulled out of the opening" (DASMA TDS #152).

The rating is a pressure in pounds per square foot, not a wind speed. Design pressures on garage doors, by DASMA's account, "range from 10 psf to over 70 psf" depending on location, and "the building code requires design pressure (psf) on the label" (DASMA TDS #1502). A claim in miles per hour is not what an inspector looks for.

Reinforcing an existing door

FEMA notes that "Garage doors can be reinforced with girts and by strengthening the wheel tracks." The door industry's association adds a caution: "Owners should avoid adding reinforcement to a garage door themselves" (DASMA TDS #152). It is a job to plan with a technician who knows the door's make and model.

The Texas coast

The Texas Department of Insurance says that "properties in 14 coastal counties and in parts of Harris County east of Highway 146 are in a designated catastrophe area," and that to buy a policy from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, "most homes and properties must have a certificate of compliance." The counties, as TWIA lists them, are Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Cameron, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Willacy.

TWIA names garage doors among the improvements that need to be certified: "Windows, entry doors, and garage doors." A door replaced in those counties without the inspection may make the home ineligible for a TWIA policy. Ask, before the work, whether the installer arranges the windstorm inspection and which product evaluation the door carries.

South Florida

In Florida, "the High-Velocity Hurricane Zones (HVHZ) are specifically defined as Miami-Dade and Broward Counties" (Florida Building Commission). Garage doors used there commonly carry a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, and such a notice sets a condition on the job: "A copy of this entire NOA shall be provided to the user by the manufacturer or its distributors and shall be available for inspection at the job site at the request of the Building Official." Ask for the NOA number and look it up on the county's product control site.

On the 2012 revision of Florida's uniform wind mitigation inspection form, which insurers use, garage doors had their own entries. The form was revised effective April 1, 2026 (Citizens Property Insurance); ask the inspector how the current revision treats your door.

Everywhere else

Inland, the same code section still applies where the local code adopts it, and the label still tells you what the door was tested to. Your building department can say what pressure your address requires.

Updated 2026-09-30.