Have heavy rains, high winds, or hail from a recent storm caused structural damage around your house and on your roof? Roof damage needs to be dealt with quickly to keep the rest of your home, and your family protected from the outside elements.
That’s why it’s essential to be able to conduct a storm damage inspection and identify common damage after a severe storm, including:
- Physical damage from flying debris
- Loose or missing shingles
- Cracks, dents, holes, and gaps
- Water damage or water stains
- Excessive loose granules in gutters
- Standing water on your roof’s surface
- Significant increase in energy consumption
- Damage to windows, downspouts, metal gutters, and vinyl siding
Storm damage shouldn’t be left to fester and get worse. You need to find and reveal damage, then make repairs right away to maintain both the usability and beauty of your home. Use this helpful guide to identify the visible signs of damage to your roof after a major storm and make the necessary fixes to keep your family safe and protected from future storms.
Start Your Storm Damage Inspection at Ground Level 👀
Severe storms can wreak havoc on even the strongest and most durable roof system, as well as other areas and features of your home, including:
- Windows
- Gutters
- Siding
- Doors
- Roof vents
- Exterior light fixtures
- Outdoor furniture
- Wooden decks, patios, and porches
The list could truly go on and on, which is why it’s so crucial to perform a storm damage assessment after a strong storm. This ensures everything is functioning properly to protect your home, family, and personal belongings from harm.
Start your storm damage roof inspection from solid ground. Perform a visual check of various areas of your home for potential damage, looking for things like clogged gutters, roof debris or tree limbs on the ground, broken glass, missing shingles, and other obvious signs of storm damage.
Take Proper Safety Precautions Before Peeking at Your Roof ⚠️🦺
Once you’ve finished your floor-level inspection, the next thing you’ll need to do is get up on your roof to look more closely for the most common damage from storms. This will give you a better look at roof damage on the actual surface of your roof, but it’s important to take adequate safety precautions to ensure you won’t fall off.
Your safest bet is hiring a roofing contractor to perform a professional roof inspection instead of putting yourself at risk. However, if you’re a handy property owner who feels confident in your ability to climb up and do a DIY inspection, take time to purchase the right OSHA-certified safety tools to keep yourself safe, including:
- Safety harness
- Roof harness anchor
- Rubber-soled shoes
- Sturdy ladder
- Someone to spot you!
Once you feel safe to start your roof-level inspection, you can perform a thorough assessment of any signs of roof damage, such as:
- Cracks, gaps, and water leaks in your attic
- Obvious structural damage from fallen tree limbs or other debris
- Numerous small cracks radiating from one area of the underlayment
- Small circular divots or dents in shingles from hail damage
- Damage to metal or PVC gutters
- Malfunctioning roof vents or roof flashing
- Completely torn-off roof shingles
Remember to document all of the damage you see after a storm. This will come in clutch when you need to make a claim for insurance purposes.
Steps to File a Homeowners Insurance Claim 📂
Many homeowners take advantage of homeowners insurance coverage to keep themselves protected from steep replacement or repair costs after a strong storm causes damage. If you uncover storm damage during your roof inspection, you can often fall back on your homeowners insurance policy to pay for roof repair costs.
Here are nine simple steps to help you file a roof storm damage claim:
- Identify the storm damage with a visual inspection
- Document any storm damage properly for insurance purposes (photos, videos, before/after examples, etc.)
- Go over your homeowners insurance policy coverage
- Schedule a private, professional roof inspection for your home with a local and reliable roofing contractor
- Speak with your insurance company before filing any insurance claims
- Meet with an adjuster from your insurance company
- File your homeowners claim and wait for approval
- Review your insurance claim payment from your insurance company
- Finally, schedule your storm damage repair services with a trusted roofing contractor
Still not sure how your homeowners insurance actually works? Your roofing contractor may offer insurance claims assistance to help make dealing with storm damage a smooth experience for you.
- ⏱ File your claim quickly and within the given time period for better approval odds.
- 🧾 Acquire an in-depth roof report from your roofing contractor.
- 🕵️ Receive a private, professional assessment of your home’s roof before meeting with an adjuster. Ask your contractor to accompany you during the adjuster’s inspection to ensure all property damage is appropriately pointed out.
- 📸 Document everything — and we mean everything to back up your claims to your insurance company.
- 🚫 Avoid doing any unlicensed DIY repairs, as this can void your warranty or insurance coverage.
- 🛠 Keep up with regular roof maintenance to avoid significant damage during the year.
Tips to Get Your Insurance Company to Pay ✅💰
Many people have had negative experiences with insurance companies throughout their lifetimes. Whether finding medical coverage to treat a critical disease or dealing with auto-vehicle insurance after a car crash, filing an insurance claim — and then getting approved — can be a challenge.
Check out these solid tips to improve your chances of having a roof damage insurance claim approved:
Find even more tips to get your roof damage claim approved in another one of our helpful guides here.
Schedule a Storm Damage Roof Inspection With a Trusted Contractor 🤝
When your home is hit with storm damage, you need to find a roofing contractor you can trust to perform a quality storm damage inspection. And that’s where Best Exteriors can come to the rescue.
Our reputable and experienced team of roofing contractors has served the Worthington, Ohio, area with expert, affordable roofing services for years. Now, you can rest assured that your roof is in good hands when you hire us for a storm damage roof inspection.
Contact us today to get started on your storm damage roof inspection with a roofing contractor you can trust to get the job done right.
