The hurricane season in Florida accounts for millions of dollars in damage every year. The damage is so substantial and consistent that it is estimated that 70 percent of your Florida homeowners insurance premium is there to cover wind damage.
In the state of Florida, insurance companies must offer premium discounts to homeowners who take the necessary steps to reduce wind damage due to hurricanes. The process of diminishing wind damage is called wind mitigation.
Wind mitigation can protect a Florida home from devastating hurricanes.
What Is Wind Mitigation?
Wind mitigation is a process that involves several specific construction methods to enhance the more vulnerable parts of your home. If a home was built after 2002, then it may already have wind mitigation systems in place. Homeowners can get a wind mitigation report done that will confirm whether or not their home meets the newest mitigation standards. If the home does meet the latest standards, then the homeowner would submit that report to his or her insurance carrier for a discount.
The More Common Wind Mitigation Systems
A big part of wind mitigation is to seal vulnerable parts of the home to protect them from wind and water damage. In this process, a contractor would seal the deck, roof, doorways, and windows. There would also be an additional layer added to the roof just under the shingles to protect the roof if shingles get blown off in a storm. This whole process not only protects the home from water and wind but also makes the home more energy efficient.
Another part of wind mitigation is to install a special wall anchoring system that distributes the waves of energy created by a storm evenly between the home’s walls and foundation. This will lighten the load on any one specific part of the home and help decrease the amount of damage. A contractor can also install shatterproof glass to prevent flying glass from causing injuries and doing more damage to the home.
Florida contractors can expand their revenue potential by getting involved in wind mitigation.
Why Wind Mitigation Is Important To Contractors
There are two reasons why Florida contractors need to be up-to-date on wind mitigation techniques. For one thing, a certified wind mitigation contractor can do wind mitigation reports that homeowners send to their insurance companies. These reports are easy to do and take only a short period of time, but they can become another source of revenue for your business.
Installing wind mitigation systems can become a very lucrative revenue stream for your contracting business. All Florida contractors are required to do one hour of wind mitigation training when they renew their contractor licenses. The smart Florida contractors expand on that information and become qualified wind mitigation companies that can install roofing systems, doors, windows, and anything else a home may need to be more protected from the wild winds of Florida.
If you want to learn about wind mitigation, then you should start a course with PDH Contractors and learn about becoming a wind mitigation contractor. PDH Contractors has all of the information you need to properly renew your Florida contractor’s license, and you will also find all of the latest information you need to stay ahead of the competition in the Florida contracting industry.