Drawing a value from a cell

I have a spreadsheet I am using for structural design. In it I evaluate values for seismic loading and wind lateral loading on shear walls. In column D I have seismic loads (lb/ft), in column E I have wind loads (lb/ft). In column H I use a formula to calculate the load on a wall based on the Max of columns D and E. My formula is:

=IF(MAX(D11:E11)=D11,D11*C11*$B$9&" Seismic", E11*C11*$B$9&" Wind")

As you can see, I figured out a way to add text to the cell so when it does the calculation if column D results in a higher load then it adds the text "Seismic" to the cell and if column E results in the higher load it adds the text "Wind".

My issue now is that the actual value in this cell which is derived from the formula gets used by other cells in order to calculate other things. Upon adding that text now my other cells give the #VALUE! error. So my question is, is there a way in the subsequent cells to have a formula that draws the value from column H? Is there a way, for example, for an equation to "remove" the word and only see the value?

Thank you Ace. That gets me halfway there.

This is helpful, but it only works if my Wind (column E) gives me the higher value. If column D gives me the higher value it's still seeing that text and screwing me up.

If all else fails I'll use another column as nigel suggests.

I have attached an excerpt of the file if that helps.

Please note, that the formula in the related cells has changed from what I originally posted, though it provides me with roughly the same result. It's just more correct from a technical (engineering) standpoint. But the formula still gives me a max value and appends the aforementioned text depending on the value.

Ace, Can you provide some further info? I can't mimic what you did with the CF. So if I have D11 to 25 and E11 to 25 and I want to use the formatting in H. Are you saying I select H11:H25 go to the CF tab and do "use a formula"? I don't know if I am doing something in the wrong order or what. I cannot duplicate your CF. If I actually look at your CF Rules it looks wrong, but it works perfectly.