Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

On Mon, 6 May 2013 14:26:55 -0700 (PDT), Nona
wrote in Re
Reinforce Roof Against Falling Trees?:

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

I'm assuming that you have a wood frame house under that roof; in
which case there is not much you can do if one of those trees fall.
The weight of the tree is likely to collapse the frame exterior walls
as well as destroy the roof.

On May 6, 5:26*pm, Nona wrote:
Hi! *We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. *We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. *It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees

You don't have to remove all the trees. Just enough so that
none can reach the house. Or if you're most worried about
a structural collapse but willing to tolerate some lesser damage,
then you could leave trees where the top 1/4 or so could
reach the house. That load may cause damage, but it's not
likely to cause a major collapse that kills people.


and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? *I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. *Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces?

No, because it's not just the roof, it's the fact that everything
else, ie what
supports the roof, the two floors, etc is not designed to carry the
additional
weight of a 70ft tree.

*Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? *Our goal is not to
make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a
small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree
fall on the roof.

Metal sheathing is just going to crumple and the roof deck
is still going to collapse. And replacing the whole roof deck to
add that isn;t gonna be cheap. Just to replace a sheet of
plywood is $50.




Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cut back the tree line.

Or get out of there before a hurricane and live with the risk of a
tree
coming down anyhow in an unforecasted more regular storm, eg
a severe thunderstorm, high winds, etc.

On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Cut the trees down. At some point you'll prolly have to anyway.

Neighbor's insurance company refused to renew his policy until he had two trees removed.

On Mon, 06 May 2013 18:20:01 -0400, Joe wrote:

On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Cut the trees down. At some point you'll prolly have to anyway.

Also, schedule the funerals for your parents and wife. At some point
you'll prolly have to anyway.,

Neighbor's insurance company refused to renew his policy until he had two trees removed.

On 5/7/2013 1:05 AM, micky wrote:
On Mon, 06 May 2013 18:20:01 -0400, Joe wrote:

On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Cut the trees down. At some point you'll prolly have to anyway.

Also, schedule the funerals for your parents and wife. At some point
you'll prolly have to anyway.,


I'm not sure what you're alluding to but I think it's illegal. ;-)

On Tue, 07 May 2013 01:05:58 -0400, micky
wrote:

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Cut the trees down. At some point you'll prolly have to anyway.

Also, schedule the funerals for your parents and wife. At some point
you'll prolly have to anyway.,

Neighbor's insurance company refused to renew his policy until he had two trees removed.

Steel beams enbedded in concrete, at least 10 feet deep. Have these
vertical steel beams extend at least 5 feet higher than your roof.
Place one beam into the ground every six feet around your entire house.
Then weld more steel beams horizontally across the top of all these
vertical beams. Also have horizontal beams extend across the roof at 6
foot intervals in both directions. Apply several more at 45deg angles on
each corner, crossing the roof. To be even more secure, have more beams
at an angle from the top down to the ground, and sink them deep into the
ground with several tons of concrete. Be sure to run more beams in a
horizontal manner, around the entire house every 6 to 8 feet from the
ground to the roof.

What you'll have when complete is a huge solid steel cage around your
house that should handle even the heaviest tree.

As for the guy who said to cut the trees down, please remove your sexual
organs. At some point you'll prolly have to anyway.

a home around here got damaged by a tree, it smashed in part of the
roof

It made the news because although the insurance company paid the
claim, they threatened to cancel the home owners insurance unless the
other trees endangering the home were removed. Cant say I blame them
the trees were massive, over 50 feet tall and right against the home.

The people didnt have the bucks to remove the trees, and insurance
wouldnt pay to remove them

I think a weathy person saw the story and paid the costs like 7 or 8
grand......

The OP would probably be better off getting the hazardous trees
removed before something bad happens....

On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!



Only safe thing you can do is cut down any tree that would endanger the
house if it fell. I'm sure its not all of the trees.

Frank wrote:
On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into
structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe
weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in
diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous
should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove
all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb
of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to
these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where
people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural
shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or
cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood?
Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give
us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a
heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!



Only safe thing you can do is cut down any tree that would endanger the
house if it fell. I'm sure its not all of the trees.

I'm worried about mine, which are so close to the house.the biggest trunk
has my water line tied up. The power company is going to trim soon. I'm
going to ask how much can they do.

Greg

On 5/6/2013 9:26 PM, gregz wrote:
Frank wrote:
On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into
structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe
weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in
diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous
should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove
all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb
of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to
these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where
people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural
shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or
cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood?
Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give
us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a
heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!



Only safe thing you can do is cut down any tree that would endanger the
house if it fell. I'm sure its not all of the trees.

I'm worried about mine, which are so close to the house.the biggest trunk
has my water line tied up. The power company is going to trim soon. I'm
going to ask how much can they do.

Greg


I cut down a perfectly good maple figuring if it ever fell it would
cause severe damage to the house.

A friend in Myrtle Beach about 10 years ago had all the big pines
removed from around his house. In a hurricane, he figured one could
break off and come through the roof like a missile. Cost him $16,000.

If you ever hire a tree cutter, don't pay until they are done. Awful
lot of fly-by-nights in that business around here.

On May 7, 3:15*pm, Frank

If you ever hire a tree cutter, don't pay until they are done. *Awful
lot of fly-by-nights in that business around here.- Hide quoted text -


And make sure you understand what the scope of the work
is, eg is stump grinding included? A lot of people assume
when they hire someone to cut down and remove a tree,
it includes grinding the stump. Usually, that's extra...

On 5/7/2013 4:08 PM, wrote:
On May 7, 3:15 pm, Frank

If you ever hire a tree cutter, don't pay until they are done. Awful
lot of fly-by-nights in that business around here.- Hide quoted text -


And make sure you understand what the scope of the work
is, eg is stump grinding included? A lot of people assume
when they hire someone to cut down and remove a tree,
it includes grinding the stump. Usually, that's extra...


Stump grinding caused a one week break in the last job I had done but he
wanted paid for the bulk of the work right afterwards. I knew he was
not a fly-by-night so I broke my rule.

Job before, I left in stumps as they were not visible from the street.
Termites started making great work of them, so I had the house treated
and warranted

I have a ton of pines that are between 60-100 feet tall on my acre lot. By tons I mean at least 100. I could never afford to have those all taken down. Someone needs to invent something to protect a roof that would deflect the weight. We just had a huge limb come down from the biggest pine. It shook the entire house and took two maple trees out with it. Just missed the garage. I love my trees because of the privacy but some make me worry. I just don't have that kind of money. Someone said just the big scary ones would cost $50k

wrote

I have a ton of pines that are between 60-100 feet tall on my acre lot.
By tons I mean at least 100. I could never afford to have those all taken
down. Someone needs to invent something to protect a roof that would
deflect the weight.

You wouldnt be able to afford that either.

We just had a huge limb come down from the biggest pine.
It shook the entire house and took two maple trees out with it.
Just missed the garage. I love my trees because of the privacy
but some make me worry. I just don't have that kind of money.
Someone said just the big scary ones would cost $50k

Remove the closest trees that can endanger the home.

For safetys sake build a safe room somewhere in your home, or
underground but nearby.

Think steel and concrete reinforced storm shelter. near center of home
is probably the most safe, make it big enough for emergency supplies
like food and water
this room could be useful for all sorts of disasters.....

my neighbor had lots of beautful trees, first he removed the closest
ones that if they fell could hit his home. he wasnt satisfied and
removed all the trees

he is elderly, and wanted to protect his home.

He fell over a year ago in his driveway and broke his hip he has
been in a nursing home ever since.

His family had the home cleaned out, and its being sold......

they would of got more for the home before all those beautiful trees
were cut down.

"bob haller" wrote in message
...
Remove the closest trees that can endanger the home.

Actually, the very closest trees are probably not as dangerous as ones that
are far enough away to allow the tree to fall over and gain a lot of
momentum. The close trees are likely to slide against the house and do less
damage than the ones that fall over from far enough away to swing like a
hammer. All the serious hits I recall seeing were from trees set some
distance from the foundation

We had a tornado 5 blocks away a while back and it scattered an entire park
full of tall 2' foot wide oaks like pickup sticks. If you are in the direct
path of a tornado, no amount of bracing is going to help a typical
residential structure. I rode around after the storm and took pictures and
one was of a poor guy standing in front of his split-level home that was
split in half by a massive oak tree that had been almost 50' away from the
house. The tree was tall enough so that the top of the trunk cut the house
like buzzsaw. He had this "stunned mullet" look on his face that officers
used to get after being chewed out by Gen. Schwartzkopf

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../waller/1.html

For safetys sake build a safe room somewhere in your home, or
underground but nearby.

Yes! These events *usually* have some forewarning, and if you're really
concerned you can get a weather radio that will sound an alert to give you
time to reach a shelter.

http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/safety.htm

http://www.tornadoproject.com/safety/noaawxra.htm

Think steel and concrete reinforced storm shelter. near center of home
is probably the most safe, make it big enough for emergency supplies
like food and water
this room could be useful for all sorts of disasters.....

I've always believed in having at least a "retreat" room if not a safe room.
I've yet to be able to convince my wife that we should dig an escape tunnel
from the basement to the park behind us. Lots of animals have dens with
emergency escape tunnels. If' it's good enough for a fox, it's OK with me.
(-:

my neighbor had lots of beautful trees, first he removed the closest
ones that if they fell could hit his home. he wasnt satisfied and
removed all the trees

Elderly people get funny like that. I think the realization of one's
mortality makes them want to stack all the odds in their favor. For
instance, I've read that a lot more people take cholesterol meds than are
really helped by them because, as Rutger Hauer's character said in _Blade
Runner_ ,"I want more life, fu&er." Everybody wants to beat the Reaper.
Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.

he is elderly, and wanted to protect his home.

The elderly often develop very severe agoraphobia (fear of going outside)
because they view the world as ever more threatening. It's very sad.

He fell over a year ago in his driveway and broke his hip he has
been in a nursing home ever since.

I have a good friend who's now in rehab after falling, breaking his wrist
and lying four days on the floor waiting for someone to find him. We got
him cell phones, phone dialer pendants, all that stuff before the fall - but
he just refused to use them. His reasoning was that he didn't want to dial
911 and have the fireman break down his door with an axe. I think it's a
little bit of dementia creeping in.

His family had the home cleaned out, and its being sold......
they would of got more for the home before all those beautiful trees
were cut down.

Let's just hope the tree slaughter bought him at least some piece of mind.
We've lost four beautiful trees in the last few years and it really does
change the entire character of the home - and the value, too.

--
Bobby G.

On Tue, 7 May 2013 04:37:04 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:


We had a tornado 5 blocks away a while back and it scattered an entire park
full of tall 2' foot wide oaks like pickup sticks. If you are in the direct
path of a tornado, no amount of bracing is going to help a typical
residential structure.

Not bracing, but I've heard that attaching the roof well to the top
floor of the house can greatly decrease the chance of the roof coming
off in a tornado. That most roofs stay on by gravity and the nails
just help. But where they've learned to use whatever they recommend
now, even in tornadoes the roof will likely stay on.

I rode around after the storm and took pictures and
one was of a poor guy standing in front of his split-level home that was
split in half

Wasn't it split in quarters, if it was already split?

by a massive oak tree that had been almost 50' away from the
house. The tree was tall enough so that the top of the trunk cut the house
like buzzsaw. He had this "stunned mullet" look on his face that officers
used to get after being chewed out by Gen. Schwartzkopf

wrote in message

stuff snipped

There are no trees that can fall on my house

Careful, God will hear you and prove to you that he can work mighty wonders
like taking a tree (or a cow or a car) from you neighbor's house (or the
next town over) and smashing it into your home. (-: I learned a long time
ago that God has more contingencies than humans have contingency plans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us...anted=all&_r=0

says: In 1995, researchers at the University of Oklahoma wanted to study
the pattern of debris carried long distances by tornadoes. So after a
tornado, they asked people to send them identifiable objects, for example,
canceled checks, which helpfully include the name and address of the check
writer, making it easy to figure out how far the check has traveled.
In five years, more than 1,000 objects were collected, said John T. Snow,
dean of the university's College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, who
led the tornado debris project. Among the odder ones was a man's bowling
jacket. "It had his name stenciled on the back of it and the name of the
bowling alley," Dr. Snow said.

Most of the objects landed fairly close, 15 to 20 miles from where they
started. A few traveled more than 60 miles. The farthest an object traveled
was more than 150 miles. - KENNETH CHANG

I remember reading a SciFi novella a while back that described a time where
the winds starting increasing for no apparent reason until the Earth was
constantly being subjected to 200+ mph winds. It turned out that the best
form of building to resist the effects of wind-driven debris was a pyramid
shape. Makes sense since the Egyptian pyramids seem to have weathered all
sorts of sandstorms and other bad weather for thousands of years.

At the U. of Buffalo they used to tie rope lines tied to posts driven into
the ground next to the walkways so that students could "rope" their way to
class during the frequent "lake effect" blizzards. I was reminded of that
when I read about the Sherpas who allegedly tried to kill three climbers on
Everest who had allegedly interfered with their rigging climbing lines.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world...ngs-deep-rifts

It was hard enough to keep one's balance on level ground at sea level when
the "lake effect" blizzards blew through. I can only imagine what it's like
to end up high on Everest when a similar storm strikes. I guess that's one
reason a lot of people don't come back from their expedition to Everest.
Mallory must be rolling over in his grave - no wait, he doesn't have a
grave - he's been lying on the ice near the summit for almost 100 years

--

Bobby G.

In article ,
Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into
structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe
weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even
small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in
diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous
should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove
all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb
of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option
either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to
these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where
people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural
shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or
cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood?
Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give
us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a
heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Raise your house so it's above the trees.
On a budget, find a used underwater drilling platform. Try craigslist.

m

On Monday, May 6, 2013 5:26:55 PM UTC-4, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.



Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.



Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.



We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.



Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry but it's just completely impractical. Trees weigh thousands of pounds. Nothing you could build short of many inch thick concrete walls and steel trusses can stand having thousands of pounds dropped on it.

Nona wrote in
:

Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into
structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe
weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even
small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in
diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous
should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove
all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb
of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option
either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to
these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes
where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and
architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with
horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing
beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to
trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape
the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Hey Stormy. Surprised you didn't chime in with "Pray".

On Mon, 6 May 2013 14:26:55 -0700 (PDT), Nona
wrote:

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees?

Line the peak of the roof with plastic Jesuses....

On 5/6/2013 5:26 PM, Nona wrote:
Hi! We are about to get our roof replaced but are looking into structural changes to make the roof safer in the event of severe weather. We live in an area that has occasional hurricanes and even small tornadoes.

Our property has hundreds of tall oak trees (approximately 1-2 feet in diameter x 70 feet? tall) that are gorgeous but certainly dangerous should they fall on the house. It is not a realistic option to remove all the trees and bracing all of the trees would result in a spiderweb of wires all over the place that is not a safe or realistic option either.

Is there anything we can do to improve our own safety with respect to these trees? I have seen too many news stories during hurricanes where people were killed when a tree fell on their roof.

We have a two-story gable roof with plywood sheathing and architectural shingles. Would it help to reinforce the trusses with horizontal or cross metal braces? Could we put metal sheathing beneath the plywood? Our goal is not to make the roof impervious to trees but rather to give us at least a small amount of time to escape the house safely should a heavy tree fall on the roof.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Are these live oaks? If so, they have shallow roots and the larger ones
can smash a house, not just the roof. All of the "hundreds of tall oak
trees" can't be within striking distance of the house! Clean up the
ones that are close, remove branches hanging over the roof, remove dead
wood and open them up....properly pruned by an arborist, the leaf mass
is open to allow the wind to pass THROUGH, not blow down the entire tree.

During hurricane preparedness in FL, we attended an interesting talk by
the local arborist. One feature of live oaks that makes them dangerous
is when two trunks grow together...you can see the enclosed bark on the
main trunk....these split and fall more easily in wind.