HeadLines Today’s Top News Stories

First-Ever Building Code

Requires Tornado-Resistant
Garage Doors
Mayor Is “Fixated on Garage Doors”
By Tom Wadsworth, CDDC
Editor, Door + Access Systems

The Progression of Collapse

In a special presentation to the
Moore City Council on Feb. 18,
Chris Ramseyer used the following
1 2
images to display how the
progressive deconstruction of a
home starts with the garage door.
All photos and captions were
provided by Chris Ramseyer.
“Failure starts with the garage door.” “Then the garage door fails.”

30 Door + Access Systems | Summer 2014

 O
n March 17, 2014, the city of Moore, Okla., became the “first city in the nation
to address tornado impact on homes,” according to a city press release issued
immediately after the city council approved a historic new building code.
A key focus in the new code is the requirement that “garage doors shall
be rated to 135 mph wind or above,” far above the 90-mph rating commonly
required throughout the non-coastal United States.
From this city of 55,000 in metropolitan Oklahoma City, the news has spread across the
country, and garage doors have been a primary topic of conversation.
“The mayor of Moore … is fixated on garage doors, knowing they are a key to protecting
the city,” reported Heide Brandes in an April 6 story distributed by Reuters, the world’s largest
international multimedia news agency.
In that story, Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis is quoted as saying, “Garage doors are the first to
come off during a tornado. Once the garage door comes off, the roof comes off.”

Says Who?
The unanimous approval of the code by the Moore City Council was based on research presented
by civil engineers Chris Ramseyer and Lisa Holliday. After Moore’s devastating EF5 tornado on
May 20, 2013, the National Science Foundation Rapid Response team of 35 researchers from five
universities, including Ramseyer and Holliday, quickly descended on Moore and closely evaluated
residential structural damage. In March 2014 the team issued its 133-page report.
“A home is deconstructed by a tornado, starting with the breaching of the garage door,”
said Ramseyer.
As a professional engineer with a Ph.D., Chris Ramseyer is highly qualified to make such a
statement. He was a key member of the NSF team, and he serves as associate professor at
the University of Oklahoma and as director of the Fears Structural Engineering Laboratory
at the university.

The Gateway to Deconstruction

Ramseyer also served on a special committee set up by the Moore City Council after the 2013
tornado to develop an enhanced residential building code for tornado resistance. He convincingly
demonstrated how the garage door buckling led to the different stages of failure, from door failure
to roof failure, then outer wall failure. With the garage and roof gone, the attic is open to wind and
failure of the roof rafter system and lateral bracing.
Ramseyer is well aware that any home has little chance of survival against the 200+ mph winds
of an EF5 tornado. Thus, his research focused on minimizing damage to homes on the periphery of
DEVASTATION: In the May 20, 2013, tornado, the tornado’s path, which might be only 70 feet away from the heaviest damage.
the hardest-hit areas of Moore were completely By building better homes, Ramseyer told the city council, the damage area can be narrowed,
destroyed, and many homes were swept clean, and more people can survive closer to a major tornado.
down to the concrete slab. Photo by Andrea continued on page 32
Booher, courtesy of FEMA

3 4 5
“… which results in the roof falling next.” “… followed by a wall.” “… and the total removal of the garage. This now
leaves the attic as an opening to create internal
pressure and continue the process. In essence the
building is deconstructed by the tornado.”

Door + Access Systems | Summer 2014 31

 This aerial photo of Moore, taken on May 21, 2013, continued from page 31
shows that lesser winds cover a larger area than The new building code for Moore includes 12 specific code changes, and a stronger garage
the hardest-hit area. The NSF report says, “EF0 door is one of them.
to EF2 winds cover approximately 85 percent of “The garage door was an issue from day one,” said Stan Drake, Moore’s assistant city
a damage area that is produced by strong EF4 manager, who served on the new building code committee. His background includes 40 years of
and EF5 tornadoes.” Credit: Photo by Jocelyn Augustino, working for the city, with experience in the building department.
courtesy of FEMA
A Door Dealer on the City Council
Another key player in Moore’s new building code was Terry Cavnar, owner of Moore Overhead
Door and a member of the Moore City Council. As city councilman, Cavnar fully supported
Ramseyer’s statements about the garage door.
“Chris Ramseyer was able to confirm what we thought we knew about the garage door being
a critical part of the integrity of the home,” Cavnar told us.
All new homes Back in 1999, Moore was ravaged by another EF5 tornado. “We could tell then if the garage
door failed, the home was badly damaged,” he said.
Cavnar is not only a door dealer, but he has also been a State Farm insurance agent for 31
must be built to years. In that role he has examined many homes damaged by tornadoes over the years.
“Consistently,” he said, “if the garage door was blown in, the home was badly damaged.”

withstand winds Why Moore? Why Now?

In the last 15 years, Moore has been hit three times by devastating tornadoes: in 1999, 2003, and

up to 135 mph. 2013. All occurred in the month of May.

The 2013 monster tornado is reported to have killed 24 people, injured hundreds, and caused
more than $2 billion in damage to some 2,400 buildings. The deadly 1999 tornado killed more
than 35 people and destroyed thousands of homes, leaving $1 billion in damage.
“So, for us to do nothing and say it isn’t going to happen again was unacceptable,” Cavnar
told us.

The Price of Protection

Besides wind-resistant garage doors, Moore’s new residential building code requires enhanced
roof sheathing, hurricane clips or framing anchors, and continuous plywood bracing. All new
homes must be built to withstand winds up to 135 mph. The code applies only to residential
buildings and to new construction.
A key factor that sped acceptance of the new building code was Ramseyer’s estimate that the
cost to build a code-compliant home was only about one dollar per square foot more than usual.

32 Door + Access Systems | Summer 2014 continued on page 34

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“The proposal was … easy to buy into, especially when we found out the overall additional
cost was minimal,” said Terry Cavnar.
Ramseyer’s original cost analysis put the upcharge on a 135-mph garage door as $600. That
cost was exceeded only by the $1,200 estimate for changing to 16" on-center rafters.
Cavnar believes that $600 is probably too high for the garage door project. “We are
projecting the increase on a 16' x 7' door to be about $400, including additional labor.” The exact
upcharge amount depends on the door size, style, and other factors.

Widely Available
The events in Moore have been closely followed by several
garage door manufacturers, including Mid-America Door, a
regional manufacturer in Ponca City, Okla., only 100 miles
north of Moore. Like most major manufacturers, “Mid-
America Door is ready and currently supplying wind-load-
rated product in Moore,” said Brandon Rutz, vice president of
manufacturing at Mid-America.
Rutz generally described the newly required doors as
horizontally reinforced doors mounted to a 2x6 jamb, similar
to the garage doors that are typically required in Florida.
Mid-America is the primary door supplier for Moore
Overhead Door.
“We are now able to offer a full line of wind-loaded
doors, from standard raised-panel doors all the way to
decorative carriage-style doors,” said Pam Roat, manager at
Moore Overhead Door.
Another key dealer in the Moore area is Calvin Bauer of
Overhead Door of Oklahoma City. He said he is also prepared
with wind-loaded doors that meet the new code. Janet
Thompson, Overhead Door’s product manager for wind-load products, added that Overhead
Door has a wide array of doors that qualify.

Enforcing the Code

Moore Assistant City Manager Stan Drake said the new code is being enforced through
inspections. The city’s building department makes four inspections of new
homes: one at the footing stage, a framing inspection, rough-in
inspection of electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, and
one final inspection.
“The garage door inspection
is a new inspection,” he
said. “The homebuilder
will determine when that
inspection takes place.
But the door will be
inspected before they do the
Sheetrock so we can see the
structural members (around the
door frame).”
“This has been one of the
easiest code changes I’ve ever
seen,” added Drake, “and I’ve been
involved in numerous code changes.
There was some phone call opposition
from a couple of older homebuilders, but they never made a stand.”

Joe Hetzel Comes to Town

The largest potential battle came on April 11, when Joe Hetzel, DASMA technical director, came
to town only six days before the new code took effect. He was invited to speak in the city council
34 Door + Access Systems | Summer 2014
chambers at a special meeting to discuss garage doors and the new code.
“Our chambers seat about 60-75, but we had standing room only,” said Drake. “I was
shocked at the number of people who were there. It was a packed house.” Expert Conclusions
Many homebuilders attended, along with door dealers, three representatives from About Garage Doors
garage door manufacturers, city administration officials, and Chris Ramseyer, widely
recognized as the brains behind the new code.
The following statements come from the
“I was concerned (about Hetzel’s presentation),” said Ramseyer, “because rumors
about the meeting seemed to suggest that (DASMA) may not support the idea of wind- March 2014 report, titled “Tornado Damage
rated doors.” Assessment in the Aftermath of the May 20th
“But Joe hit the right note with the builders when he mentioned up front that your 2013 Moore Oklahoma Tornado.” Funded
industry was ready for this and had prepared, knowing that it would happen,” said by the National Science Foundation, 13
Ramseyer. “Joe knows his stuff.” doctorate-level researchers authored the
“That man was very knowledgeable,” added Drake. “I learned a lot.” 133-page report.
Hetzel spoke for a full hour. “The main message we gave,” said Hetzel, “is that the
garage door industry has been prepared for increases in wind-load requirements across the
• “Residential structures in lower wind-speed
country and that we have products that will meet the requirements.”
“I believe we instilled a sense of confidence in our industry’s products,” he added.
areas were examined and found to fail at
garage door openings and at connections.”
More Than Moore? (p. 2)
The looming question for the garage door industry is, “Will this new code spread to other • “Though slight in terms of property damage,
cities or states?” the consequences of losing the garage door
As the Reuters story stated, “The (Moore) council hopes the standards will serve as a were frequently severe.” (p. 51)
model for other cities, particularly those vulnerable to tornadoes.” • “Loss of the garage door ruptures the
“We can learn from this devastating event to build stronger homes and neighborhoods
building envelope and allows the inside of
across the United States—and it starts in Moore,” said Mayor Glenn Lewis.
the garage to be pressurized by tornado
Ramseyer sees that interest is indeed building elsewhere. By mid-May he had given
about 20 talks on the subject to audiences in Oklahoma City, Norman, Purcell, and winds.” (p. 51)
elsewhere. He reported that Habitat for Humanity is adopting the new code system-wide • “Garages that protruded from the main
in central Oklahoma, even when outside Moore. footprint of the house seemed to be
Regardless of whether other cities adopt the new code, the city of Moore seems to be especially vulnerable.” (p. 51)
proud of their aggressive action to protect people and property. • “Residential structure damage patterns were
“These code changes will save lives,” said Terry Cavnar, “and they will limit the examined and it was found that damage
amount of damage caused by tornadoes.” often initiated at garage doors …” (p. 127)
“This is certainly a new chapter in the life of Moore Overhead Door,” added Pam
Roat. “We look forward to working with our homebuilders to build a safer product and a
safer community in the beautiful city of Moore, which we are proud to call home.”

Door + Access Systems | Summer 2014 35