4 Practical Tips To Deal with A Damaged Roof After A Storm
Your roof is the first line of defense to protect your home against natural elements and severe weather conditions. Though it protects your home from rain, winds, and heat, storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes can cause severe damage to your roof.
It can be difficult to deal with the aftermath of a storm, especially if your home experiences severe damage. You need to take the proper steps to recover from the damage and start again with a new hope.
Though the insurance can cover the damage, there has to be a thorough inspection to gauge the damage caused by the storm. A roof insurance inspection service helps you get an accurate estimate of the damage to help you in the insurance claim process.
To help you further, here are four practical tips for dealing with a damaged roof after a storm.
1. Vacate the home
Your family’s safety should be your priority during and after the storm. You need to ensure everyone is safe and isn’t injured. Strong winds can blow off the roof shingles and cause the roof to break down.
No matter how minor or major the damage is, it’s essential to vacate the home to ensure everyone’s safety. The roof might look alright, but even a cracked beam can cause the entire roof to tumble down.
Therefore, it’s always advisable to temporarily vacate the house after a natural disaster. You can return once you get professionals to inspect it and make the necessary repairs.
2. Call in roofing experts to assess the damage
Once the storm subsides, your next step should be to inspect the roof insurance. It will help you assess the damage to prepare an estimate for your insurance company.
You can do the primary inspection on your own. But it may not reveal the underlying damage. You will need to hire a professional roof tarp company to get a quick and accurate assessment of the extent of damage to your roof.
They have all the essential equipment and skilled individuals to climb up the roof for inspection and check the damaged areas. In most cases, the random roof shingles are missing, but severe storms can damage the underlying surface as well, causing the roof to leak, or causing irreparable damage to it, in which case, it may have to be replaced completely.
3. Minimize property damages with temporary fixes
If your roof is critically damaged, there are chances that the water must be leaking or pouring inside your home. It can cause further damage to the interiors, furniture, carpets, electronics, and whatnot.
You can do some temporary DIY methods to reduce this damage. You can place a garbage can or bucket to catch the leaking water. You can also move the furniture or remove the rugs or carpet to protect them from damage. However, you must understand that these are all merely temporary measures, and none of them deal with the actual cause of the issue.
If ignored, the damage may worsen and cause expensive, irreparable damage to your roof. That is why you must contact the roof contractors as soon as you can, so they can take care of it before it worsens.
4. Inform your home insurance company
If the damage is too big to be fixed, you should call your insurer to cover the damage. Roof repairs and replacements are usually under your homeowner’s insurance. Document all the damages and call the insurance representatives for further procedure.
Ensure you follow the above steps to protect your family from danger and your roof fixed at the earliest.
