What Should I Do If My Roof is Damaged in a Storm?

The storm has passed, the power might still be flickering, and there are shingle pieces in the yard. Most homeowners in Hickory and across Catawba County have never had to deal with storm damage to a roof before, so the first day or two can feel like a scramble. This guide covers what to do in the first 48 hours, in order, so you protect the house, stay safe and set yourself up well for everything that comes after.

First: Make Sure Everyone Is Safe

Wait until the storm has moved through before you go outside. Then walk the property and look for hazards before you look at the roof.

• Stay away from downed power lines and anything touching them. Call the utility company and keep everyone clear.
• Watch for limbs hanging in trees or resting on the roof. They can shift or fall hours later.
• If a tree has come through the roof or you smell gas, get everyone out of the house and call for help.
• Stay off the roof. Wet shingles are slick, and a storm-damaged deck can give way under your weight.

Nothing on the roof is worth a fall. You can see everything you need in the first 48 hours from the ground, a window or the attic.

Protect the Inside of the House

If water is coming in, your first job is limiting the damage indoors. Put buckets or containers under drips and lay towels down around them. Move furniture, electronics, rugs and anything valuable away from wet areas. If a ceiling is bulging with water, keep people out of the room below it. If water is near outlets or light fixtures, shut off power to that area at the breaker panel, as long as you can reach the panel without standing in water.

Take photos before you clean anything up. A picture of the stain, the drip and the wet carpet is worth much more than a description later. Keep receipts for anything you buy to protect the house, from buckets to fans.

Check the attic too, if it's safe to get up there. Look for wet insulation, damp wood and light coming through the roof deck. Water often travels before it drips, so the wet spot in the attic may not sit right above the stain on the ceiling. Our post on what a small roof leak really costs explains how water moves once it's inside.

Walk the Property and Take Pictures

Once it's safe, walk around the house with your phone. You're not trying to diagnose anything yet, only to record what you see before it gets moved, cleaned up or rained on again. Look for:

• Shingle pieces, granules or debris in the yard, driveway and gutters
• Missing, lifted or creased shingles you can see from the ground
• Dents in gutters, downspouts, roof vents and the air conditioning unit
• Fallen limbs on or near the house
• Damage to siding, windows, screens, cars and fences

Write down the date and rough time of the storm, and anything you remember about it, like hail size or how strong the wind got. If neighbors took damage from the same storm, note that as well.

Hail is easy to miss from the ground. Soft metal is the tell: gutters and AC fins often show dents when the shingles look fine from the yard. For a closer look at what wind and hail leave behind, see our post on the types of roof damage we find around Greater Hickory.

Call for a Professional Inspection

Photos from the ground only go so far. Bruised shingles, cracked tabs and broken seals often don't show until someone is up close. A professional inspection tells you what the storm did and what it didn't, with photos and notes you can keep.

We do these inspections for free, and our team includes a BEI certified forensic roof inspector. We'll show you what we find and explain it in plain language. Sometimes the answer is that the roof came through fine, and that's worth knowing too.

Talk to Your Insurance Agent

If the inspection turns up storm damage, the next conversation is with your insurance agent. Whether to file, what your policy covers and how a claim is handled are questions only your policy and your insurance company can answer. Every policy has its own terms and deductibles.

It helps to have your photos, notes and inspection report in hand when you call. Our week by week look at the roof insurance claim timeline walks through each stage and what tends to slow it down. If you'd like a neutral source, the North Carolina Department of Insurance publishes consumer guides for homeowners.

Our part is the documentation and the support. We document the damage in detail and stay with you through the process. You can read more on our page about roof insurance claim assistance in Hickory NC.

Take Your Time Choosing a Contractor

After a big storm, a lot of roofers knock on doors. That's normal in this line of work, and plenty of good local contractors do it. What matters is that you take the time to check who you're hiring. Ask for proof of license and insurance, look at reviews, and get the scope of work in writing. Our guide on how to choose a roofing contractor covers what to look for.

You don't have to decide anything in the first 48 hours. Protecting the house, documenting the damage and getting an inspection are the only jobs that can't wait.

What Not to Do in the First 48 Hours

A few common mistakes make the days after a storm harder than they need to be:

• Don't climb onto the roof or lean a ladder against a damaged gutter to get a better look.
• Don't throw away damaged belongings, wet carpet or pieces of the roof before you've photographed them.
• Don't pressure wash or sweep the roof. You can wash away granules and hide hail marks.
• Don't wait weeks to call anyone. Policies can set deadlines for reporting damage, so ask your agent what yours says.

Keep everything in one folder or one note on your phone: photos, the storm date, receipts, the inspection report and the names of everyone you talk to. If questions come up months later, you'll be glad it's all in one place.

If the Roof Needs Replacing

Sometimes a storm is the last straw for a roof that was already near the end of its life. If a replacement is the right call, we install CertainTeed shingles on every roof, and we're a CertainTeed ShingleMaster certified contractor, one of the highest tiers CertainTeed offers. We're Google Guaranteed, hold an A+ rating with the BBB, and have more than 170 five-star reviews from homeowners across the area.

Get a Free Inspection After the Storm

Call Catawba Valley Roofing and Restoration LLC at (828) 962-0617 for a free inspection. If you'd like a price range first, our free instant roof estimate tool gives you one in a couple of minutes, no phone call needed.

We serve Hickory, Conover, Newton, Maiden, Claremont, Taylorsville, Morganton, Lenoir, Lincolnton, Mooresville, Statesville, Sherrills Ford, Denver, and the surrounding communities of western North Carolina.