Is it me, or is this the third time in less than a year that I’ve seen Wordless Wednesday photos or videos showing the effects of water/flooding on doors (here are #1 and #2)?
An AHJ from Texas sent me today’s video, which can be viewed in full here (with ads). The news story below from KLBK News shows some of the same footage.
I think we will continue to see the changing weather patterns impacting the model codes and standards – code changes are already occurring with regard to hurricane/tornado protection and storm shelters. Are the requirements changing in your state?
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Two sides of the frame are ripped out, usually the door is more solid than the frame’s attachment to the wall. If they wanted to ensure that doors didn’t come out so easily they would need to work on ensuring that the connection between the frame and the wall was as secure as possible.
Maybe fully weld the frame to a set of surrounding metal studs. It would be an expensive set of changes, but code changes usually don’t care too much about expense.
Yet another reason why LBR usually makes me nervous, even on interior doors.
Having seen a few of these videos now, it seems that the energy of the water is often dissipated by fixed furniture and interior walls before reaching the interior doors. A breakwater strategy may be worth studying to protect exterior openings in the future. It wouldn’t stop the water, but it could reduce the force hitting the door leaf. There are a lot of people specializing in this type of engineering, it would be good to get their input.