HURCAN Series

New PlexiDor HURCAN Door Series and Wall Series

HURCAN Door Series

PlexiDor HURCAN Series is designed for the storms of Florida, as well as other coastal areas and high-wind regions.

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HURCAN Wall Series

PlexiDor HURCAN Series is designed for the storms of Florida, as well as other coastal areas and high-wind regions.

-Click for more information-

Impact rated dog doors approved for home storm protection in Coastal Storm and High Wind Regions “The Hurricane Dog Door”

The PlexiDor® HURCAN Series is the only NAMI certified dog door designed for the coastal areas from Maine to Florida to Texas (except HVHZ). The PlexiDor team manufactures in Florida – we know storms first hand. This is a hurricane dog door.  A standard PlexiDor dog door passes testing for non-coastal areas right out of the box. The new HURCAN Series, with our integral shutter system, passes the stringent impact testing required to achieve certification. Simply attach the shutters for maximum protection during severe storm conditions.

Additional impact approval information, including design pressure ratings of specific PlexiDor models can be found at FloridaBuilding.org – The Florida Product Approval (FPA) number is FPA #FL-41814. Usage limitations and installation instructions are also listed. If you live in an area highlighted in green or blue on the map below, you need a PlexiDor® HURCAN Series dog door to meet state building code. If you live in an area shown in white or red/blue stripe, you can use the standard PlexiDor dog doors shown in the front of this catalog. Item Number Series PlexiDor Size Frame Color Impact Rated Dog Doors.

The map shows Wind-Borne Debris Regions in blue and green. These are the areas that require the PlexiDor® HURCAN Series dog door to meet state building code.  Note, the dog doors are not Miami-Dade or Broward approved. (HVHZ)

History of Florida Hurricanes and the HURCAN PlexiDor.

Florida needs hurricanes to move massive amounts of heat north.  If this tropical heat is not pushed north, Florida would be a desert like North Africa.  The Midwest enjoys the rain that makes the corn grow, as well.  And who doesn’t like corn on the cob?  In August 24, 1992 hurricane Andrew caused $27 billion in damage in Florida.  My young bride, who hailed from New York, got the taste of her first hurricane.  We were between housing and living with my mother in her beach condo on the 3rd floor.  Andrew put an entire palm tree in the living room of floor 4 above us.  Good thing the wind was not weaker.  The palm tree would have been in my mother’s living room.  All this is true, scout’s honor.  My wife would say that when I brought her to Florida I gave her a hurricane for her birthday.  She is an August baby.  We still live and love living in Florida. We raised our family here, and have lived thru many many hurricanes.

Because of Hurricane Andrew the Florida building code become the most strict in the USA.  Anything on the envelope of the building needs to be lab tested.  This includes, doors (like the PlexiDor dog door), windows. facia, roofing, etc.

There are 3 levels of testing:

1: The interior requires doors to meet structural testing.  2: Most of the coastal areas need to meet structural testing and the missile test of firing a 2×4 at 50 feet per second at the door 3 times..  This is testing for the Wind-borne Debris Regions.   3: In Miami-Dade and Broward county, the structural test, the missile test, and the water pressure test.  All must be passed.  Miami-Dade is officially the (HVHZ) High Velocity Hurricane Zone.  

Because of hurricanes, Florida is the fenestration capital of the United States.  Approximately 65% of all windows are made in Florida.  We make the cool stuff.  You can fire 2×4 out of a cannon at Florida windows and doors.  The PlexiDor is a cool Florida dog door.  We make the cool stuff that can take the beating of a Florida Hurricane.  For 20 years the PlexiDor has met the building codes off of the coast line.  In 2021, we decided to take on the challenge of building a Florida Product Approved (FPA) dog door in the Wind Borne Debris Region (WBDR).

We took 6 dog doors, hopped in the car, and went to testing the lab.  We knew they would pass the level one testing.  To our surprise, all 6 passed the missile test as well.  But, there was an issue.  The PlexiDors had defended the envelope of the house.  However, the PlexiDors where totally beat up and no longer functional.  That is not good.  Doody would be in the house, after a hurricane with no power and no A/C.  “P” “U”!  And, that is not the PlexiDor way.

So we got Volker, the head of our engineering department, brainstorming on making a kick ass hurricane durable dog door that still functioned after being missiled 3 times.  We were going for it all. A Florida dog door that can take a ringing & keep on swinging, and  good looks to boot.   So Volker, our 3rd generation German engineer, again scout’s honor, went to work.  Volker and his wife are beach volleyball bums on the weekend.  They decided that Florida was better than Germany on the weekends.

So a few months later we went back to the test lab with 3 more dog doors.  Again they all passed being missiled,  but none functioned after the hits.   That would mean a lot of dog messes in the house after a hurricane.   Back to the factory we went.  We had learned what did not work.  And, we had more fun shooting the 2×4 cannon.

Volker ’s chin started to get longer from all of the chin pulling.  

A few months later, we went back to the testing lab and success!  We passed the cycle pressure testing and the 3 missile tests.  And, the PlexiDor functions fine.  Here is a short video of one of the final missile tests.  Your home protected.  And, after the storm doody is outside where it belongs.

The tech details for the engineering geeks:

The standard PlexiDor has a design pressure for inswing and outswing of +/- 50 PSF.  This meets building codes all over North America, except some coastal regions.  Check with your local county building permit department.

The HURCAN PlexiDor dog door units pass the 2×4 missile test and have a design pressure of +/- 50 PSF.   The HURCAN PlexiDor wall units again pass the missile test and have a design pressure of +/- 75 PSF.  And after being missiled 3 times, they still function.  So after the big storm, you can still sleep undisturbed while your best friend does his early morning doody.

FPA# FL-41814

Units are available for entry doors, block walls, concrete walls, and wood frame walls.

Call us if you have any questions.  

Joseph Ambrose, President