If you’re a property owner, you can’t predict when and how severe weather will hit you. You’ll need to take steps when your roof is damaged and you’ll need to completely understand the steps to take. Severe rain, high windstorms and monsoons can all cause heavy damage to your roof.
After your roof experiences severe wether, you have to assess the damage you’ve experienced. You can then be able to discuss what happened with your insurance representative and your roof repair contractor to help you avoid hidden costs or issues. (You should do this during daylight hours, which means you might have to skip to step 2 before you inspect the damage.) Use binoculars when you’re checking the damage so you can see the details closely.
Take the area thats been damaged and figure the estimated square footage. Look to see if there are any shingles missing and note how severe the damage is. In some smaller cases, you may just have a few random shingles missing or sheered off. Make a note of the material that’s visible and exposed. Here’s what to look for – the ends of missing shingles, tar paper or exposed plywood. Notice the shade and color of the material thats exposed. If you have some shingles from when the roof was installed or last repaired, you can check the packaging for the right shingle style and color you’ll need.
If you have a little experience with repairs, try to make some temporary fixes to minimize your damage. Personal items inside your home could be damaged by water if your roof is leaking directly above a living area. Put a garbage can or bucket under any leaking water and move any valuable items away from the area so they won’t get damaged more. You may need to use a tarp to cover badly damaged areas to get them waterproofed immediately. If they’re smaller repairs that are needed you can get them shingled right away.
Call your insurance representative and check your insurance policy if it looks like there’s enough damage for a claim. If there isn’t, it may make more sense money wise to hire a roofer yourself and get any needed repairs done. If you’re involved in a large, natural disaster where big swaths of residential properties are hit by severe weather or a big storm, you may want to contact your insurance company ASAP so you can get on a good contractor’s schedule immediately. Good, reputable roofing companies will have their calendars filled up quickly after a severe storm in their area, due to demand.
If you need to hire a roofing contractor, be sure it’s a reliable, professional roofing company. Be careful not to hire any fly-by-nighters that flood these areas after a storm and rip off vulnerable, uneducated property owners. Avoid these type of contractors at all costs. These traveling contractors that chase storms around will give you poor quality workmanship and be gone as fast as they arrived, leaving you with bigger issues than you had from just the storm.
