When the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) does a hail demonstration next week, the media on hand will extend well beyond the normal media collection of network morning shows and The Weather Channel.
The popular PBS program “This Old House” will have its cameras in Chester County on Tuesday, one day ahead of the latest IBHS demonstration, according to a release.
“On Tuesday, February 19 PBS series This Old House will travel to Richburg, South Carolina to The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety where they will be shooting a segment with host, Kevin O’Connor. The segment will focus on the dangers of hail and research being done to protect homeowners and houses and will be featured in the 34th national season of This Old House,” the release says.
On Wednesday, IBHS will create the first-ever full-scale hailstorm in a controlled laboratory environment during a test demonstration to compare and contrast how different types of roofing and siding perform during a hailstorm. The test specimen is a 20 ft x 30 ft residential style structure featuring a variety of cladding materials (roofing and siding). A car and typical outdoor furniture, toys, and accessories will be placed on the turntable surrounding the test specimen in IBHS’ large test chamber to simulate a common outdoor space. Approximately 10,000 hailstones of varying sizes (1″, 1.5″, and 2″) will be fired at the test specimen using multi-barreled air cannon arrays hung 60 feet above the test specimen. The “This Old House” segment will air sometime later this year.