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Wind Mitigation Retrofits: Everything you need to know

Wind Mitigation Retrofits

What are wind mitigation retrofits and how much does it cost?

Wind mitigation retrofitting is upgrading your exterior roof to wall connection in order to receive discounts on your wind mitigation form for homeowner’s insurance. Your roof to wall connection can be held together by nails or engineered hardware and is responsible for holding your roof down during a high wind event. So what is the upgrade and how can you save money?

In most cases for retrofitting, a home will have what is called “toenails” and be upgraded to “clips”. To understand a toenail, we must first understand what a clip is.

What is a clip?

A clip is a piece of hardware that connects your exterior wall to your roof system. To receive the discount, there must be 3 nails in the hardware, however, most older homes were only built with 2 nails. Here is a picture of a clip with 3 nails:

You can see the three nails attaching to the truss system.

If your home has a clip, you should be receiving a discount if your wind mitigation has “clip” marked. However, a “no discount” attachment would be called a toenail, which can be the clip with less than 3 nails into the truss. Furthermore, a toenail could also be just a single nail driven at angle through the truss and into the top plate. This is very difficult to see, but is able to be determined with older homes without hardware like the clip.

It is important to review your own wind mitigation form and find out which roof-to-wall attachment you have in order to save money on homeowner’s insurance.

You may also have a single wrap which is a slightly higher discount that the clip. A single wrap, wraps over the truss system and has 2 nails on the upside and 1 on the downside. View the pictures below:

Single Wrap downside for wind mitigation

What is the cost of retrofitting?

We have consulted with a Florida local retrofit company who charges about $950 if the repair can be done in the attic. This means, a contractor would have to add a nail to every connection point while crawling though the attic. The cost of the retrofit can increase if the contractor cannot access the attic or has to add hardware. If this is the case, a homeowner would be charged for the removal and replacement of soffit vents in order to access where the truss system meets the exterior wall.

Is the retrofit worth it?

In almost all cases, the retrofit is worth the cost if you are upgrading from toenail to a clip discount, but you should still contact your insurance company to find out what discount you are currently receiving and how much you would save on your premium if you were to upgrade. It is estimated to save about 15% – 20% if you complete the retrofit.

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