

He is also breaking up much of the concrete on the ground, because the tidal surge caused it to push up against the pillars, cracking them during the storm. All these light fixtures here, they're all going away, every one of them." All that foam, it's new, that happened last month. "We put probably 100, maybe 200 Simpson hurricane clips up there," he said pointing to the third-floor ceiling as he walked through the home. He learned many lessons from Michael and is upgrading his home yet again. "The storms are, in my opinion, from what I've seen getting stronger," he said, standing on the sun-drenched beach in front of his home. Now, seven months later, despite his success, King says his precautions didn't go far enough. Of the roughly 800,000 homes built nationwide in 2017, barely 8% had concrete frames, according to the U.S. "I want poured concrete walls because I felt like it had a better chance of fighting the storm." "I said from the beginning, we have to have a concrete house," said King. King went well beyond any standards and, while he wouldn't give an exact figure, spent many thousands of dollars specifically on hurricane-resistant materials. The home sits 12 feet above the ground and is anchored 28 feet into the ground. Even before the concrete pillars were poured, they had hurricane wind-resistance not just in mind, but in every aspect of the design. Russell King and his nephew has it built primarily as a retirement home for King, an attorney in Tennessee. That range is likely similar in other states as well.
#Gold fortified home wind speed code
In Mississippi, for example, it would cost $3,000 to $5,000 more to build an 1,800-square-foot home to gold standards versus basic code standards, according to the IBHS.
#Gold fortified home wind speed driver
The biggest driver of those costs is in impact-resistant windows and doors, shutter systems and upgrades to any other openings that expose a home to the elements. But in areas that have weak codes or lack them altogether, the gold standard would be much more costly. Since Florida's codes are already so high, building to the gold standard there wouldn't add much to the price of construction. The standard has three levels, bronze, silver and gold, with the last being the highest protection. Those that do sell for 7% more, according to a University of Alabama study. It is a voluntary guideline, and so far only 12,000 homes nationwide have built to that designation. A decade ago it created a "fortified home" standard to protect against hurricanes and hail. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety has gone even further. Florida's standard is the highest mandatory code in the nation.

They have improved hurricane resistance dramatically in new construction there. Florida imposed new mandatory building codes after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, at first locally and then statewide in 2002.
