1. Assess your needs.

A licensed contractor will be able to tell you which parts of your home’s structure should be reinforced for protection from wind, rain and other types of damage. Get a list of contractors who perform inspections and retrofits by calling the City and County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Management at 723-8956. Once you reach prospective contractors, ask to see proof of their licensing and check references before deciding who will do the job.

2. Know the code, then ask for more.

Make sure your contractor is familiar with Hawaii’s building code, which requires that homes be constructed with specific reinforcement features. In the most severe cases, homes built to code could still incur serious damage, according to Tim Waite, sales engineer with Simpson Strong-Tie.
Consult your contractor for even more protection. “We follow the Hawaii codes, but occasionally a client will ask us to incorporate guidelines from the Florida Dade County code,” says Marshall Hickox of Homeworks Construction, a design/build firm that incorporates hurricane protection into its new builds and remodels. “It’s the strictest code in the nation for residential hurricane preparedness.”

3. Reap the financial benefits.

Retrofitting can lower your home insurance premium by as much as 35 percent. Visit soest.hawaii.edu/seagrant and download a free copy of the University of Hawaii’s Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Natural Disasters. Visit section 4.7 for a list of approved improvements. Then, contact your insurance agent to find out how discounts will work with your existing plan.

4. Make sure your existing roof is properly secured.

“Once you lose your roof, you lose everything,” says Waite. If your roof is held down with nails alone, there’s a chance it could blow off in high winds. For more protection, consider hurricane ties, small attachments that aid nails in anchoring your roof more sufficiently.

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