The reduction on the windstorm portion of your homeowner’s insurance that is allowed for a strong roof-to-wall attachment averages 35%, and is the largest discount for many homeowners. It is exceeded only by the discount for a hip roof (sloped on all sides), which averages 47%. As part of explaining each category of connector, we will show the actual text in the Florida wind mitigation form, outlined in yellow, and include an illustration of each one. If there are several different types of connectors, which would occur when an older house has had a more recent addition, the weakest connection is required to be used for the form. 

    “Toe Nails” is the way a roof structure was secured to the walls until around the 1960s, and it is nails driven diagonally through the side of the roof truss/rafter into the top plate of the wall. In an older masonry house, the truss/rafter may  be toe nailed to a wood plate that is bolted to the tie beam at the top of wall.

    There is no discount for toe nailing. The reason it has a low rating is that it is just nails, and they are approximately aligned with uplift force on the roof framing caused by a hurricane (in withdrawal). They offer little resistance, and the nails simply pull out under uplift. The higher-rated connectors are metal plates that are secured with nails that are are perpendicular to the uplift force (in shear). 

    Also, connectors that are not nailed to the truss/rafter with a minimum of three nails, or are offset so far as to reduce their structural effectiveness, are kicked back to the Toe Nails level. An offset of more than 1/2-inch between connector and truss will void the strap discount. This usually happens when the straps are placed incorrectly in the wet concrete of a freshly-poured tie beam and cannot be relocated. Shown below is a hilarious example of where a builder tried to do a work-around after setting the straps far away from the trusses.

 The nailing of the connector to the wall below it is not required to be inspected because it is typically not visible when construction is completed.

    The photo below shows a strap with only two nails securing it to the truss, so it will be dropped back to the toe nails level discount.

    See our blog post Is it worth it to upgrade my roof tie-down hurricane straps for a better wind mitigation insurance discount? if you want to improve your roof-to-wall connection for better hurricane-resistance and insurance discount.

    The first level that receives a worthwhile discount is Clips, also known as “Hurricane Clips," and a photo of one is shown at the top of this page, and also an illustration below.

    And here’s an example of an incorrectly installed hurricane clip that will also get kicked back to the toenail discount level because the nails connecting to the truss to the top plate of the wall are in withdrawal. The bottom of the clip should be positioned at the side of the top plate, so the nails are in shear.


    Next is “Single Wraps,” a strap that goes over the top of the truss/rafter and down the other  side, secured with a minimum of two nails in front and one more on the back of the wrap. A Single Wrap that is not nailed properly gets dropped back to Clips level if it has three nails on the front side.

    The best tie-down discount is for “Double Wraps,” which is either one Single Wrap on each side of the truss/rafter or a single metal connector, like the one shown below, that is secured with a minimum of three nails on each side; however, we rarely see double wraps.

    The inspector is required to include a photograph of the metal connector observed as part of the submission of the Wind Mitigation Form, which is formally known as “OIR-B1-1802.”

   To learn more about how to make your home more hurricane resistant, click below to download a pdf of the booklet “Make Mitigation Happen,” by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

WindMitBooklet.pdf

    Also, see our blog posts How do I get the hip roof discount for my homeowners windstorm insurance? and What are the different roof deck attachment discount categories for a wind mitigation inspection?

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Here’s links to a collection of our other blog posts about INSURANCE:

* Could faulty work or lack of a building permit for home improvements cause an insurance company to deny a claim?

• Why is a fuse box/panel an insurance problem for homebuyers?

• How is Citizens Property Insurance different from other Florida homeowners insurance companies?  

• Do I need a home inspection to get insurance? 

• Is the 4-point insurance inspection strictly pass or fail?

• Is a wind mitigation inspection report (OIR-B1-1802) required for homeowners insurance in Florida? 

• Which building permit date is used for the Building Code section of the wind mitigation form? 

• What determines the year of a house? 

• Should I give a copy of the home inspection report to the bank or insurance company?  

• How do I get my home ready for a four point inspection for insurance?

• Can I do my own wind mitigation inspection?  

• Will a house without air conditioning pass a 4 point inspection?  

• What’s the difference between a gable and hip roof for my insurance? 

• Why does my homeowner's insurance want a four point inspection? 

• What is the wind mitigation inspection for homeowner's insurance? 

• Which water pipes are an insurance problem and possibly uninsurable? 

• Why did I get no discounts or only a small discount from my wind mitigation inspection? 

• Why does my homeowner's insurance want a roof inspection? 

• Is it common for an insurance company to require an inspection? 

• How do I get insurance if my home can't pass a 4-point inspection? 

• How does a repaired sink hole under a house affect its market value?

    Visit our ROOF AND ATTIC and INSURANCE pages for other related blog posts on this subject, or go to the INDEX for a complete listing of all our articles.

Diagrams - Simpson Strong-Tie