DASMA TDS 175 - Post-High Wind Event Door Inspection by a Technician

After a major wind event, a garage door that looks intact from the outside may have damaged tracks, shifted hardware, or bent panels that make it unsafe to operate. DASMA TDS 175 gives technicians a systematic protocol for evaluating a door before putting it back into service.

What this data sheet says

TDS 175 outlines a post-wind inspection procedure for sectional garage doors. It is written for trained door systems technicians but describes the inspection logic in a way that helps homeowners understand what the technician is looking for.

"A door that has survived a high-wind event may have sustained hidden damage. It should be inspected by a trained technician before being operated."

Inspection points covered by TDS 175:

• Visual panel inspection. Look for bowing, cracking, delamination, or permanent deformation in any section. A panel that was pushed in and returned to shape may have internal damage not visible on the surface.
• Track inspection. Check for bends, twists, or sections that have pulled away from the wall or ceiling. Even slight track displacement can cause the door to derail on the first cycle.
• Hardware inspection. Verify that all brackets, hinges, rollers, and cable drums are in their original positions and that no fasteners have pulled through.
• Spring and cable inspection. Excessive wind loading can stretch or partially unwind torsion springs without breaking them. Cables may have slipped off drums. Neither condition is visible without a close look.
• Bottom seal and weather stripping. Damage here is a lower-priority structural concern but affects future wind and water performance.
• Operate manually first. Before reconnecting the operator, the technician should manually cycle the door once to confirm it travels smoothly and does not bind. Binding on manual cycle indicates track or hardware damage that would become a bigger problem under motorized operation.

When it applies

TDS 175 applies after any wind event that could have stressed the door near or above its design pressure:

• Front Range Chinook events. Sustained gusts of 70 to 100 mph occur along the Front Range every winter. A door rated for the local design pressure may still experience near-limit loading in a strong Chinook.
• Hail storms. Hail is a separate hazard, but the same wind-driven forces that accompany large hail events warrant a post-storm check.
• Any storm that visibly moved or displaced the door. If the door looks crooked in the opening, is difficult to manually lift, or makes unusual sounds during operation after a storm, treat it as a post-wind event situation.

What this means for you

Do not operate an electrically the door after a severe storm until you inspect it manually. A damaged track that derails the door under electric power can cause the cable to wind off the drum, creating a sudden drop and potential injury.

Take photos before you touch anything. If an insurance claim is involved, the pre-inspection condition of the door is important documentation.

Cosmetic bowing may or may not indicate structural failure. A technician trained on TDS 175 can tell the difference. A homeowner cannot reliably make that call from visual inspection alone.

G Brothers responds to post-storm service calls across the Denver metro and Front Range. We follow the TDS 175 protocol before operating any wind-stressed door.

Full text and source

Download DASMA TDS 175 from the official TDS index at https://www.dasma.com/technical-data-sheets/.

This protocol applies to residential and light-commercial sectional garage doors. Rolling steel doors and fire doors require different post-event inspection procedures.