How to protect a roof from wind with Bob Vila

In this how-to video, Bob is joined by Leslie Chapman-Henderson of FLASH — the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes — at the storm-ready house in Punta Gorda, Florida. Chapman-Henderson explains that FLASH was born after Hurricane Andrew to bring information about safer building technologies to homeowners in hurricane zones. Since that time, FLASH has expanded its work throughout the country, helping to educate homeowners on protecting their homes from natural forces like wind, water, hail, wildfires, and earthquakes. She tells Bob that homeowners spend 250 billion dollars each year on home improvements. Chapman-Henderson urges homeowners to think about safety and enhanced protection when making home improvements. Roofs are a key threshold of protection in a storm-ready house, she says. Reinforced concrete walls are a great start, but it is essential to keep the roof tied down. Chapman-Henderson explains how wind works dynamically, pulling and pushing on a house to peel off the roof. The only way to keep a house together is to maintain the connections between the roof and the walls, the floors and the walls, and the walls with the foundation. When a house works as a unit, it stays together. Bob and Chapman-Henderson look at the engineered truss system that supports the roof and ties it into the walls to distribute the wind load that will hit it during a hurricane. Watch this video home improvement tutorial and learn how to protect a roof from wind.