The morning after a named storm clears your county, the work you do in the first forty-eight hours determines what your insurer will pay, what your roofer can do, and how soon your house dries out.
I have walked too many of these mornings with clients to keep the advice in my head. Here it is.
Hour zero — safety first
If anything is hanging, broken, or wet inside the envelope, the roof is no longer keeping water out. Move what you can move. Turn the breaker for any area where water meets ceiling fixtures. Do not climb the roof. Almost every reported post-storm injury happens between the ladder and the ridge.
Hours one through six — document, do not call
Before any contractor, adjuster, or neighbor walks the property, you need a photographic record.
- Establish the date. A newspaper, a phone screen showing the date and time, or a piece of mail beside the damage. One photo is enough.
- Wide first, then close. Each side of the house from the property line, then each side from twenty feet, then close-ups of every visible defect.
- Inside, too. Every wet ceiling, stained wall, and water mark. A damp baseboard is evidence; a dry one in six weeks is not.
Cloud-back the photos before they are deleted.
Hours six through twelve — the three calls
In this order:
- Your insurance carrier. Open the claim. Get a claim number. Do not say more than you need to; "I have storm damage, here is my policy number" is the script.
- A roofer you already know. Not the truck in the neighborhood. The roofer who knows your house, has your specification on file, and can give you an honest read on what you are looking at.
- A tarp service if you need one. Same-day tarping prevents the secondary damage that turns a $15,000 claim into a $60,000 one.
Hours twelve through forty-eight — protect, do not repair
Cover. Stabilize. Dry. Do not allow permanent repairs until your adjuster has either seen the damage in person or signed off on a written scope of work. A permanent repair done before the inspection becomes invisible to the claim.
If the storm pushed tiles out of position but they are still on the roof, leave them. If a metal panel lifted, leave it. Move only what is in the yard.
What we will do for you
Our clients get a same-day call from us during the all-clear and a documented walk within seventy-two hours. The walk produces a written narrative, a measured loss report, and full photographic record — packaged in the format your insurer wants. We do this whether or not you are repairing with us.
The thirty-six homes we set last year are now thirty-six insurance baselines. None of them have called yet this season. Long may that hold.
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