Storm Damage Repair

Storm damage is not always obvious from the ground. Hail can bruise shingles in a way that shortens their life by years without cracking anything visibly, and wind damage often shows up as lifted shingles along one edge of the roof rather than a hole.

We assess storm damage on Minnesota homes and carry out the repairs. If you are filing an insurance claim, we can document what we find, though the claim itself is between you and your insurer.

What this covers

• Hail and wind damage assessment
• Emergency tarping and temporary protection
• Roof, siding and window storm repairs
• Documentation of observed damage

Hail, wind and snow load leave different marks

Each storm type damages a roof differently, and the marks name the culprit from the driveway. Hail comes straight down and hits everything on the same plane. Wind works on edges from one direction. Snow load pushes down slowly and shows inside the house first.

Hail damage is scattered and random. On asphalt shingles it reads as soft dark circles where the granules have been knocked off and the mat shows through, not in rows and not near any edge. Soft metal keeps a dent honestly: check gutters, downspout elbows, roof vents, air conditioner fins.

Wind damage is directional, starting at an edge or ridge and working inward. You will see a run of shingles lifted along one rake or eave, sometimes still attached with the seal broken, sometimes gone and showing the course below. Wind also throws things, so a single hole with a branch in it is a wind event even though it does not match the rest.

Snow load is a weight problem and rarely marks the roof covering. You notice it inside: an upstairs door that sticks, a new crack running diagonally from a window corner, a sagging ceiling. Outside it shows at the eaves, where drifted snow and ice pull gutters loose and bend fascia.

• Hail: random circular bruises, granules in the gutters and at the splash block, dents in soft metal on all sides
• Wind: damage along one edge, creased or lifted shingles, debris strikes, one side worse than the others
• Snow load: sticking doors, new drywall cracks at door and window corners, sagging gutters, deflection you can see by sighting along the ridge

What to do in the first 48 hours

Stay on the ground. A roof after a storm is wet, may be covered in loose granules that act like ball bearings, and can have soft spots you cannot see. Nearly everything worth documenting can be seen from a ladder on level ground, an upstairs window, or a phone camera zoomed in from the yard.

Walk the perimeter and photograph everything before it is moved: gutters, the ground under the downspouts, window screens, the siding on each elevation, and any debris where it landed. Get a wide shot of each side, then close shots of anything specific. Photographs taken the day after a storm are worth more than photographs taken three weeks later, because nobody has to argue about when the damage happened.

If water is actively coming in, deal with the water first. Move what you can and put a container under the drip. If a ceiling is holding water in a bulge, poke a small hole at the low point and drain it into a bucket rather than let it come down all at once. Then call for temporary protection.

Downed power lines, a damaged mast where the service wire enters the house, or a gas smell is a call to the utility and the fire department, not to a contractor. Electrical service and gas work are outside what we do and belong with the licensed trades that handle them.

Cosmetic damage versus water getting in

A good deal of storm damage is real damage doing no harm. A dented gutter still carries water. A dented vent cap still vents. If a component's job is to move water or keep it out and it still does that job, leave it alone, and we will tell you when that is the case.

The line is whether the water barrier is broken or shortened. Granules protect the asphalt from ultraviolet light. A shingle with a hail bruise may not leak for years, but it will age faster than the shingles around it. That is a genuine loss, and it is why hail damage is worth documenting even when nothing is leaking today.

Functional damage is more urgent. A creased shingle will not reseal and will lift in the next wind. A puncture is an open hole. Torn or displaced flashing at a chimney, wall or valley lets water in at the spot hardest to dry out. Cracked window glazing lets water into a wall cavity where you will not see it until the drywall stains.

Some things can wait for the next dry season: a dented downspout, a bent gutter that still drains, a hail-marked vent hood. Photograph them now and repair them when it is convenient, often when you are having other work done anyway.

Documenting damage for an insurance claim

We can inspect the house and write down what we find, with photographs, locations and a plain description: which elevations show damage, how many hits appear in a test area, whether shingle seals are broken, where flashing has moved, and what the interior shows. We give you that record to hand to your insurer.

What we cannot do is settle your claim. We are not adjusters and we do not decide what is covered. Your policy, your deductible and your insurer's assessment determine that. We will not tell you what your claim is worth, and be careful with anyone who does before the adjuster has been out.

A few things make the record more useful. Report the storm date if you know it. Keep your own photographs separate from ours. If an adjuster is coming, we can be there when they inspect. Do not have anything permanently repaired before the inspection, though temporary protection to stop water is expected and reasonable.

If the damage raises a question about the structure itself, a sagging ridge, a cracked rafter, a wall that has moved, that needs a structural engineer. We can note what we see in the documentation, but the assessment and the load calculations belong to a licensed engineer, not to us.

Temporary protection and the order of repairs

Storm work happens in two stages. The first is stopping water and further damage: tarping, board-up and covering openings. This is temporary by design and it is not a repair. A tarp is fastened over the damaged area and secured so wind cannot get under it, and it is meant to hold for weeks, not for a season.

The permanent work waits for two things: the insurance question settled if you are filing, and weather that lets the materials go on correctly. Asphalt shingles need warmth to seal, so a repair done in cold weather may need hand-sealing to hold until the sun does the rest.

The order of repairs follows the water. Roof covering and flashing first, because everything below depends on them. Then the envelope, siding, windows and wall penetrations. Interior finishes last, and only after the leak is confirmed stopped and the wet material has dried, because closing up a wet cavity trades a visible problem for a hidden one.

If there is any question about the framing under the roof, that gets looked at before anything is closed in. Same with anything touching a chimney's liner or venting: we can repair the roof and the flashing around a chimney, but the safety of the flue itself is a specialist's work.