PLEASANTON, CA –  Simpson Strong-Tie, which makes wood-to-concrete and wood-to-masonry connectors, offers advice on how to build hurricane resistance into home construction projects.

Although building codes now require homes to be built with a continuous load path - connects studs to frame and foundation -  there are still certain parts of the country where codes are not enforced, says Simpson Strong-Tie.

In the Gulf Coast region, the building codes were not always followed prior to Hurricane Katrina. New legislation has now been passed requiring homes to meet specific code requirements.

Florida adopted a strict set of building codes after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the U.S.). With the new Florida codes in place, homes built after 1996 suffered significantly less damage from Hurricane Charley in 2004 than homes built before 1996.

Simpson Strong-Tie, which is making donations to hurricane relief through the www.redcross.org, also offers a booklet on hurricane building construction techniques. Download the Simpson Strong-Tie PDF here>>