Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30
Most of the roof damage we get called out for after a storm did not start during the storm. It started as a lifted shingle, a loose piece of flashing or a limb resting on the roof, and the wind finished it. Here is the plain version of what to do about that. None of it costs anything and most of it you can do from the ground.
Before the season
- Walk the perimeter of the house and look up at every slope. You want shingles that are lifted, curled, cracked or gone, and anything sitting up there that should not be.
- Clear the gutters and the valleys. Pine needles pack down hard around here, and water that cannot run off sits on the roof and finds a way in.
- Get limbs cut back off the roof. A branch touching a roof wears the surface in normal weather and takes shingles with it in a storm.
- Look at the flashing. Anywhere the roof meets something else, a wall, a chimney, a vent pipe, a skylight, is where leaks start.
- Look up at your ceilings inside, and in the attic if you can get up there safely. A faint brown ring or a damp rafter means water is already getting in.
- Photograph the roof now, from the ground, all four sides. Dated photos of an undamaged roof are worth more after a storm than a memory of one.
- If nobody has been on the roof in a few years, have somebody get up there before the season, not after.
When a storm is on the way
- Do not get on the roof. Not to check it, not to cover anything. Whatever is up there can wait.
- Clear the gutters one last time if they need it and you can do it safely from a ladder.
- Bring in or tie down anything loose in the yard. Patio furniture, trash cans, ladders and yard art all become things that hit a roof.
After it passes
- Stay off the roof. Wet shingles, soft decking you cannot see and downed power lines make this the worst possible time to climb up. If we had to keep one rule and drop the rest, this is the one.
- Look from the ground, all four sides, and compare against your photos. Missing shingles, a bent or lifted ridge, torn flashing, granules washed into the driveway and dented vents all count.
- Check the yard. Roof material on the grass came off a roof, and it is usually yours.
- Go through the house and look at every ceiling, then the attic if it is safe. Damp insulation and fresh stains tell you where to look outside.
- Photograph what you find and keep the photos with the date on them.
- If water is coming in, call somebody the same day. A tarp on the right spot stops a small repair turning into decking and drywall.
- Be careful with whoever knocks on your door in the days after a storm. Ask who they are, who they work for, and check the license number before anybody gets on your roof. Florida license numbers are public and take a minute to look up.
- Questions about your policy go to your own insurer. What we can do is get on the roof, photograph what is there, and put it in writing so you have it.
When to have somebody look
Any of these is reason enough: the roof is over about fifteen years old, a storm has just been through, you can see something wrong from the ground, there is a stain on a ceiling, or you are about to sell. You do not need to know what is wrong before you call. That is what the visit is for.
Book a free roof inspection in Pensacola, FL, or call (850) 600-0803.
