HAIL OR WIND DAMAGED ROOF WARRANTY?

So you have wind or hail damage and an insurance check for your roof replacement, but what if your current shingle manufacturer had a LIFETIME warranty.  If it does, then you may be in luck as the roofing manufacturer may pay for the roof replacement which means "YOU KEEP THE INSURANCE PROCEEDS" .  When getting your free roof damage inspection/estimate ask the roofer if he knows what brand of shingles are on your roof.   One shingle manufacturer actually includes a warranty for up to 2 1/2" diameter hail.  The recent storms in St. Louis, Missouri caused damage and the hail was mostly smaller than 2 1/2" so you may be covered by the shingle manufacturer.

Keeping Part of Your Hail Damaged Roof Insurance Check

If you do have some hail damage that needs to be repaired, another option is to add a 2nd layer of roofing over the existing roof.  Many roofing companies will advice against this but that is because they make less money this way.    Even if you have hail dings but your shingles are not curled up on the ends and its fairly smooth, then going over your existing roof with a 2nd layer is fine.  I have done this literally 20+ times on rental houses over the years and many years later I had no issues.  So when the insurance company pays you for a tear off and replace, just add a 2nd layer which can be less than half the price of a tear off and pocket the difference. 

DO IT YOURSELF ROOFING

Another option to keeping a much of your insurance check is to replace the roof yourself.  You can buy shingles for approx $50 per 100 square feet.  Installing shingles isn't rocket science but its hard work.   Many roofing supply companies will sell to home owners or you can buy them from Lowes or Home Depot.  They often charge about $40 extra dollars to deliver to the roof.  This is definitely worth it!   One concern about delivering to the roof though is that often times the large truck must pull onto your driveway and can cause it to crack.  This is especially true when the truck has multiple roofs loaded onto the truck.   When roofing yourself, consider architectural shingles as they are the easiest to install as their pattern is random so if your a little off on alignment no one will notice as with normal asphalt shingles which look terrible even if your alignment is slightly off.

Replacing Damaged Shingles Only

After a hail storm, your roofing contractor can meet the insurance adjuster and negotiate a whole new roof.   If you have a common type of shingle and/or your shingle is still made then you can pocket the check for the whole roof and pay the roofing contractor to fix only the damaged shingles.  Often, there are only a few hail hits that did any damage so replacing the whole roof isn't usually necessary.

Also, if you get money for slightly dinged gutters keep the money.  Modern gutters don't rust and dings are usually hard to see unless your on the roof or your really looking hard.  Times are tough keep the money.

REPAIRING MINOR HAIL DAMAGE ROOFS

When you keep your insurance check for the hail damage you may want to fix a ding or two from the occasional large piece of hail.   First gather the sand roofing granules from the gutter.  Then put a tiny layer of clear silicon over the spot on the shingle that is dinged.  Then put a thin layer of granules on the wet silicon.  Presto.   In the rare instance the ding ever leaks you don't have to worry as shingles are overlapped and the one underneath will protect the house from water.

Keeping the Insurance Check From a Hail Damaged Roof

Don't Replace Your Hail Damaged Roof - Keep Your Insurance Check For Hail damage - If you have received an insurance check to replace a hail damaged roof, you may wish to cash the check and keep the proceeds due to a job loss, financial hardship or you even have other investment opportunities that you would like to spend the money on.  Well this blog is here to tell you that keeping that insurance check might be a good idea.  I am a landlord and live in the mid-west and my properties have been through numerous hail storms.   The truth is that a roofing company can find damage on most roofs and claim it is hail.  When they meet the insurance adjuster to state their case, the insurance adjuster usually pays out for marketing reasons, not for roof damage reasons.  Often, the insurance adjuster won't even get on the roof if a roofer from a roofing company claims their is hail damage.  Most damage claimed to be hail damage is not going to effect your structure negatively due to the simple fact that the shingles overlap.  In the unlikely event that rain ever leaks through a "hail dimple" after many years, there is a 99.5% chance that it will leak onto the shingle underneath it which will protect the house from water damage.

In my years as a landlord, I have kept over 20 insurance checks and up to 20+ years later the roofs didn't leak.  I eventually replaced the roofs because they got old and looked bad which had nothing to do with hail.
  
So unless you had softball sized hail which caused massive dimples and blisters that you can see from the ground, then keep your insurance check from hail damage.  Your better off  investing the insurance check and getting years more life out of your current roof and then replacing it down the road with the insurance check money you kept and invested.. hopefully having much interest in addition.

To keep your insurance check from a hail storm, YOU ALWAYS WANT TO CALL A ROOFING COMPANY FIRST who will then meet the insurance adjuster.  Most roofing companies will give FREE ESTIMATES.  If you feel guilty about wasting a roofers time by getting a free roof estimate while you have no intention of actually replacing the roof, then tell him he can put one of his roofing signs in your yard for a few weeks.  Most roofers will jump at this opportunity for advertising.   Do not call the insurance company first! If you call the insurance company first, the adjuster will get on the roof and might not be convinced of hail damage.  If you call the insurance adjuster first and you do have hail damage, they often will want to only replace parts of the roof which will yield you a smaller insurance check.   If the roofer from the roofing company is there with the adjuster, he/she can argue that your whole roof needs to be replaced because your current shingles won't match  new shingles or that your current shingle is no longer made etc...  Your best chance at getting a check for replacing the whole roof is by calling a roofing company first and let him call the insurance adjuster.

Also, your roofer can point out dings in gutters, air conditioners, decks, screens, hot tubs and covers etc...to the insurance adjuster.

Once the roofer meets the adjuster to agree on and point out damages, then the insurance company sends you a check.  Then simply keep the check and tell the roofer that you are going to wait to replace the roof.   Some insurance companies might require 3 estimates from 3 different roofing companies.

In rare instances like hail storms in a few parts of St. Louis, Missouri, Maryland Heights, Missouri, Bridgeton, Missouri, Florissant, Missouri, St. Charles, Missouri,  St. Peters, Missouri, O'fallon, Missouri there was huge hail large enough to do real serious damage to shingles and even the plywood.  In these instances fix your roof immediately.  This post is refering to those pea sized hail . 

What if I don't replace my hail damaged roof?   Don't worry