In typical NY fashion we have had some ridiculous weather this April and even worse, we had a pretty bad wind storm two days ago. As a roofing company and siding company in the Upstate, NY / Syracuse area we receive a LOT of calls after something like this happens and many people aren’t sure what to do. Molly received a call yesterday morning from a lady who was so upset, she could not stop crying! Her Manlius, NY home had shingles ripped off by the wind overnight in the wind storm. So if this happens to you, what are the top 5 things you need to do?
- CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY: Absolutely the first thing you should do is contact your insurance company. If you’re a renter then contact your renters insurance company if they cover these types of damages and then contact your landlord or property management company. You want to be quick when calling because if you have damage, you can bet 100’s of other homeowner’s have wind damage as well. Your insurance adjuster will be swamped with calls and it may take over a week before they can get out to even assess the damage!
- CONTACT A CONTRACTOR: The second thing you must do if you have wind or storm damage to your home is to contact a roofing or siding contractor in your area. Your insurance company may provide a list of companies but you must consider that the insurance company utilizes a national fixed price database and in our experience these prices are low to save them money! They don’t pay their approved contractors well, instead they promise them a lot of work. Good work isn’t cheap and cheap work isn’t good! If you’re worried about your roof leaking in the time between your insurance claim is approved, ask your contractor to tarp your roof to HUD specifications. HUD has great guidelines on how to properly tarp. An improperly tarped roof is as good as useless.
- SET YOUR BUDGET: If you’ve been on the fence about upgrading your roof or changing your siding by hiring a roofing contractor or siding installer and then your home was damaged in a storm, it may be a blessing in disguise! Your insurance company will only cover an equivalent material but this could still be a heavy discount in a way. If you were looking to upgrade from shingle to metal, your insurance claim could cover up to 90% of the cost!
- FIND THE BEST CONTRACTOR: The best contractor is not found based on price. I can not stress this enough, do not choose a contractor based only on price. Don’t pick the most expensive contractor or the lease expensive, and don’t just go for the middle. Talk to your contractor, did they get to their estimate on time? Did they have 50 excuses as to why they need to re-schedule their estimate? These guys are junk, they’re un-organized and can’t even get to an estimate on time. Don’t trust them with your new roof. Look at their vehicle, sure some people like to stick to one vehicle for along time. I just bought a 2017 Ram 2500 and for a truck that was almost $70,000 I plan to keep it for a long time! However if you’re contractor pulls up in a $1,200 rust box, you have to consider why they’re not able to afford a better vehicle, especially when in this industry; vehicles are the best tool we have. Don’t be the guy to give a new contractor a shot.
- Document Everything: If your roof is damaged in a snow storm and it begins leaking, you could have a lot more damage and if you don’t bring it up to your insurance company in time then you may be out of luck! Leaking roofs can cause black mold, rotted sheathing, moldy drywall, water damaged drywall, electrical issues, insulation damage, and many other issues that are easy to miss!
If you’re in the Syracuse area and you’re looking for a General Contractor, Roofing Company, Siding Installer: please consider giving us a shot! We’re one of the highest rated companies in Oswego, Onondaga, and Oneida counties.