Why did some roofs and fencing blow down during the storm whilst others didn’t?

We have all suffered over the past few weeks after storms Dudley and Franklin battered the British Isle leaving a wave of devastation behind, and before the winter is done we’ll have been hit by storms Gladys and Herman too.

Some of the worst hit areas where in the North West in towns such as Abram, Wigan, Leigh, Hindley and Warrington where many homes sufferer damage to roofs, walls and fencing

Storms here in the UK do seem to be getting stronger and some meteorologists suggests that as the world warms, storms, hurricanes will get stronger and stronger with devastating results, because warmer water provides more energy for the storms.  Other more rational people look back in history and notice a common cycle or mild and extreme weather over the past few thousand years.

Whatever the reason, these storms are causing damage to property such as ripping roofs off houses, knocking down trees and demolishing fencing, but when you look down a typically street after a storm has hit you wont see rows and rows of properties without roofs or fencing just the odd one, but why?

It’s all down to maintenance, upkeep and quality.  If you maintain your property and use quality materials then a 90mph gust of wind is not going to do any damage. If your roof is already old and leaky with missing tiles/slates then the wind is going to get inside of your loft space and the build up of pressure will blow off your roof, its simple physics.

If you can’t afford a new roof right now then you need to plug those holes before the next storm so that the wind cannot get inside. The apex design of most roofs (also known as a gable roof) prevents the wind from applying enough force to a single area. This is why a lot of new builds use what’s known as a hip roof that has an apex (slope) to four sides rather than the traditional two sides.

Research has confirmed that hip roofs cope with strong winds better than gable roofs.

Roofs are rarely blown of from the outside, it’s only when the wind gets inside that you have a problem.

What about panel fencing?

Why does some blow down and others don’t

It is exactly the same rule for panel fencing; not everyone’s fencing is blown down during a storm, but if your fence panels already rattle around in mild winds then they’ll have no chance of staying in place during a storm where the winds can get up to 90mph.

With fencing it can simply be down to poor installation. Lots of people buy panels and drop them in place themselves, and these are the fence panels that rattle in the wind and annoy your neighbours at night. You can always tell when a panel has been installed by a professional fencing company because it will fit snugly into the gap with no play. This is because the fencing company will add batons to each side if there is any play, so if you want to keep your fence panels in place, even during high winds and storms then spend that little extra and pay for installation, you won’t regret it.

Another reason that some fence panels will blow out or break into pieces during storms and high winds; even if they do fit snugly into the gap, is quality. Not all fence panels are the same, some are cheap, flimsy, thin and lightweight making them attractive to people who have a limited budget, but you can also get heavy duty, strong fence panels, usually from a reputable fencing supplier that will last much longer and withstand even the most violent of storms.

The cheap fence panels are typically the ones that you pick up at your local garden centre or DIY chain and are usually purchased by someone who is putting their property on the market, the fencing looks nice and new when prospective buyers look round in the spring, but you don’t really care whether they last through the winter because you’ll have moved out and the flimsy fence panels will be someone else’s problem.

If you are buying fence panels to last then contact your local fencing company and have heavy duty fence panels installed, yes they are initially more expensive than the cheap garden centre panels but eventually work out to be less expensive when they are still in place and looking good after 5-10 years when you would have replaced the cheap panels 3 or 4 times.

Learn more about quality fencing by visiting Rasburn Fencing and looking around