Impact garage doors for Plantation and Davie homes

Signs your door may not be rated for Broward

• No approval sticker on the tracks or panels, and no approval number anywhere in your files.
• Push on the middle of the door and it bends in.
• The wind mitigation inspector couldn't verify a rating for the garage door.
• The door has glass panels, and nobody can tell you if it's impact glass.
• The door is original to a house built before the mid-1990s.
• A storm once bent a section or knocked a roller out of the track.

We check your door against its paperwork

We look for the door's approval number on its label and in your house records, look it up, and compare what's installed with the approved drawing: struts, hinges, rollers, track brackets and anchors. You then receive our answer in writing. Either the door matches its approval, or it can be reinforced with an approved kit, or it should be replaced.

Reinforce or replace

Some doors can be upgraded with a reinforcement kit or brace system, but only one that has its own approval and goes in exactly as approved. A door with no approval on record, or with damaged sections, is usually a replacement. Then we walk you through the new garage door, the permit and the inspection.

What HVHZ means for a garage door

All of Broward County lies within the HVHZ, Plantation and Davie included. The Florida Building Code applies the same HVHZ rules across the whole county.

Two rules matter most for your garage door:

• Wind. The code sets Broward's design wind speed, which for most homes is 170 mph. Engineers turn that speed into the pressures each opening must handle, pushing in and pulling out.
• Impact. The outside of the house, exterior doors included, has to pass the large-missile impact test or be covered by an approved protection device. The test uses a 9-pound 2x4 traveling 50 feet per second. Garage doors are covered by this rule whether they have windows or not.

Two kinds of approval: Florida and Miami-Dade

Plantation and Davie take either one. The state issues the Florida Product Approval; Miami-Dade County issues the Notice of Acceptance, or NOA, which must still be in date. Each lists the test pressures, says whether the door is impact-rated and comes with the drawing installers must follow.

Two details matter. First, a Florida approval states whether the product can be used in the HVHZ, and not every one can. Second, Miami-Dade NOAs expire: the NOA for one common residential door ran out on August 5, 2026. If the paperwork you're shown has a date on it, check the date.

What's inside a door built for wind

From the driveway, a wind-rated door can look like any other. The difference is in the parts behind the panels. These are the ones to look for:

• Struts. Steel bars across the sections, often one per section, in the size and place the drawing calls for.
• Track brackets. More brackets holding the vertical tracks to the wall, often heavier ones, with the screw spacing the drawing sets.
• Hinges and rollers. The type and number the drawing lists, sometimes with longer rollers or retainers that keep the door in its tracks under load.
• Anchors. The fasteners that tie the tracks and jambs into your wall. In the end, they carry the load.

The approved drawing is the rule book, more than the sticker. Swapping in parts that aren't identical can weaken the door, which is why we repair a rated door with the parts its approval lists.

Wind mitigation and your insurance

A wind mitigation inspection uses a state form that rates how the home's openings are protected, and the rating follows the weakest protected opening. The garage door counts. A single garage door with no rating can drag down the score of a house full of impact windows.

A better rating may qualify you for wind mitigation credits on your premium. Your insurer can tell you whether, and by how much, so ask before you buy.

My Safe Florida Home

My Safe Florida Home, the state's grant program, includes garage door reinforcement in the upgrades it helps pay for, and it counts garage doors as exterior doors under opening protection. Grants go up to $10,000, and the state puts in two dollars for every one you pay. Under the current state rules, the home's original building permit has to date from before January 1, 2008, the home's value has to be $700,000 or less, and income limits apply. You start with the program's inspection and apply once the report says your home qualifies. The program opens applications as the state funds it, so its site shows when you can apply.

The sales tax refund on impact garage doors

Florida now refunds the sales tax paid on impact-resistant garage doors bought between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2029, up to $500 in total per owner. The Department of Revenue sets these rules:

• The home is a site-built homestead with a just value of $700,000 or less, and you can claim for one property only.
• The door is rated for impact and wind pressure under one of the standards the state lists.
• You file Forms DR-26S and DR-26HH with copies of the receipts by September 30, 2029.

When a contractor supplies and installs the door for one price, the contractor doesn't charge you sales tax on that price. The tax was paid when the contractor bought the door, and that receipt is the one you need. Ask us for it when you sign.

After a hurricane

Storm bent the door or knocked it off its tracks? Leave the opener off. Don't touch the emergency release on a raised door either, since a damaged door can drop. Take photos from outside and inside before anything moves, including any label, and keep the broken parts. Then call (954) 866-2996. We secure the opening first and talk about repair or replacement after. There's more on our emergency repair page.

Impact door and storm questions