Wind-Rated Steel Garage Door
A wind-rated single layer steel door is what most of Florida outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone puts on a house, installed from about $950 for a standard single car opening. It is rated to hold against wind pressure, which is what the code asks for in most of the state, and it is not impact rated, which is what Miami-Dade and Broward generally want. It is the cheapest door you can legally install new, and for an inland garage that is often exactly the right answer.
from $950 to $1,800
Rating and code
Ratings are stated as what applies, never as a specific approval number. A Miami-Dade NOA or a Florida Product Approval is issued against a tested assembly at a specific size, it goes on your permit, and the licensed contractor who pulls that permit is the one who puts it there. A number printed on a website proves nothing about the door on your opening.
Wind rating and impact rating are two different tests and confusing them is the most expensive mistake a Florida homeowner makes on this purchase. Wind rating is about pressure: can the door stay in its opening when the storm pushes and pulls on it. Impact rating adds a second question: can it survive being hit by flying debris.
Most of Florida requires the first. Miami-Dade and Broward, the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, generally require both. Which one applies to you is decided by your address, not by your preference, and it is settled at the permit stage rather than by anything a salesperson says.
For an inland garage this door is not a compromise, it is the correct specification. Buying impact rating you are not required to have is money that would do more good spent on insulation, which you will feel every day, or on a better opener.
Who this door is right for
- Inland Florida addresses outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone
- Detached garages and workshops that are not conditioned
- Rental property and flips where the budget is fixed
- Replacing a door that failed and needs to meet current code at least cost
Reasons to choose something else
- No insulation at all, so an attached garage will run hot and the room over it will feel it
- Single skin steel dents easily, and a dent in the bottom panel is permanent
- Not impact rated, so it is generally not the door for a Miami-Dade or Broward permit
- The thinnest steel is also the loudest, and it shows every knock
Starting prices for a standard single door. Your final price depends on the door, the model, the wind rating a replacement needs and what we find. You get a written quote before any work starts.
Request this door
Leave your details and we call you back to measure the opening, confirm the rating your address needs, and give you a written price.
Wind-Rated Steel Garage Door
Price shown is installed, for a standard opening. The final number is confirmed after measuring, and the rating is confirmed against your address.
(561) 897-9930Frequently Asked Questions
Is a wind-rated door enough for a hurricane?
It depends entirely on your address, and that is not a dodge. Outside the High Velocity Hurricane Zone a wind-rated door is what the code asks for and it is a real, tested rating rather than a marketing word. Inside Miami-Dade and Broward the code generally wants impact rating too, because the risk being designed against there is debris and not only pressure. We check which applies to your address before quoting.
How do I know the door is actually rated?
By the paperwork, not by the brochure. A rated door carries either a Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance, issued against a tested assembly at specific sizes and configurations. That number goes on your permit. Ask for it in writing on the quote, and if a company will not put it there, that tells you something.
Can I add insulation to this door later?
You can buy kits and they help a little, and they are not the same thing as an insulated door. A factory insulated door bonds the insulation between steel skins, which adds stiffness as well as R-value. A retrofit kit is a panel stuck to the inside face, which does not add stiffness and can affect the balance the springs were set for. If insulation matters to you, it is cheaper to buy it built in than to add it twice.
