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Roofers are the shadiest contractors I've ever had to deal with in the insurance world. There are good ones, but they are far from the norm. Almost every roofer I've ever dealt with will tell you to file a claim. Just heard a story last week that a roofer told an adjuster while there's no visible hail damage, hail has ammonia in it and the ammonia is what damages the shingles.

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Agreed. Kind of like the collision repair shops that give inflated estimates so you can recover the deductible.

Homeowners have been known to climb on the roof after a hurricane and pull up a few shingles. Some got caught doing this sort of thing. The homeowners were not expecting a drone to be taking pictures right after a storm.

When the adjuster comes out see what he has to say. Let him do all the talking. I found that was the best approach.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
When the adjuster comes out see what he has to say. Let him do all the talking. I found that was the best approach.

All of the roofers today, except one, stated that I should call them once I have an appointment with the adjuster, and they'll come meet with me and the adjuster.

One said to ask the adjuster if they want the roofer there, and call them if the adjuster does.

What do ya'll suggest?

Just me and adjuster, or roofer too? Or ask first?

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
When the adjuster comes out see what he has to say. Let him do all the talking. I found that was the best approach.

All of the roofers today, except one, stated that I should call them once I have an appointment with the adjuster, and they'll come meet with me and the adjuster.

One said to ask the adjuster if they want the roofer there, and call them if the adjuster does.

What do ya'll suggest?

Just me and adjuster, or roofer too? Or ask first?

It can go either way. A lot of it will come down to the roofer and how reputable they are in your area. Local field adjusters will know the shit roofers and the good roofers. Some adjusters enjoy calling out roofers while others will agree it needs to be replaced just to move the claim along and close it out. Generally staff adjusters will stand their ground more than an independent adjuster. Some carriers are stricter on their requirements of proof for hail damage. Photos, hail hits within a specified square footage and a brittle test for example.

Best advice I can give you is to make sure the roofer is reputable. Check their web sites, references, reviews and the likes. If you can't find those or they are crap, then chances are they adjuster will know they're full of it as well.

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Bought a truck with a sunroof that leaks. Shopped around. 'We don't show a sunroof as an option for that model year truck.' the dealership said. Layering silicone and rebuilding the gasket as it appeared in a cross section elsewhere. This was a royal PITA, but much better than the previous owner's attempt: Duct tape.

make sure the drain holes are clear. sun roofs are not necessarily water tight but they are designed to channel the water away from the interior of the vehicle

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It can go either way. A lot of it will come down to the roofer and how reputable they are in your area. Local field adjusters will know the shit roofers and the good roofers. Some adjusters enjoy calling out roofers while others will agree it needs to be replaced just to move the claim along and close it out. Generally staff adjusters will stand their ground more than an independent adjuster. Some carriers are stricter on their requirements of proof for hail damage. Photos, hail hits within a specified square footage and a brittle test for example.

Best advice I can give you is to make sure the roofer is reputable. Check their web sites, references, reviews and the likes. If you can't find those or they are crap, then chances are they adjuster will know they're full of it as well.

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I agree with this. It depends on personalities. Some adjusters are fine with a roofer being present. Others would view it as a threat. I would lean towards just dealing with the adjuster myself, and having the roofer come later if you disagree. People do not like to be pushed around, and some roofers do not have good social skills. Make sure the adjuster walks the whole roof. You cannot evaluate from the ground.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

It can go either way. A lot of it will come down to the roofer and how reputable they are in your area. Local field adjusters will know the shit roofers and the good roofers. Some adjusters enjoy calling out roofers while others will agree it needs to be replaced just to move the claim along and close it out. Generally staff adjusters will stand their ground more than an independent adjuster. Some carriers are stricter on their requirements of proof for hail damage. Photos, hail hits within a specified square footage and a brittle test for example.

Best advice I can give you is to make sure the roofer is reputable. Check their web sites, references, reviews and the likes. If you can't find those or they are crap, then chances are they adjuster will know they're full of it as well.

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I agree with this. It depends on personalities. Some adjusters are fine with a roofer being present. Others would view it as a threat. I would lean towards just dealing with the adjuster myself, and having the roofer come later if you disagree. People do not like to be pushed around, and some roofers do not have good social skills. Make sure the adjuster walks the whole roof. You cannot evaluate from the ground.

While I agree with you, I've never personally met an adjuster that will get on a 12/12 pitch. Hell anything more than a 5/12 and they would ask me to send them photos when I was in the field. Drones are becoming more common, but not all adjusters carry them. With a 12/12 they may just rely on the word of the roofer or what they can see from ladder. I've seen some just order up an EagleView, write an estimate and cut a check minus the deductible on the spot. If anything, the 12/12 pitch may be your saving grace if the hail damage is suspect.

Well look at the bright side. You live in the AR,LA,MS,AL,TN,GA Dixie ally area so odds are you get to have a new roof every couple of years.

Did I said bright side....sorry I meant shit show.

We are near Knoxville and our house built in 99 made it about 15 years before hail damage caused us to file a claim.

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Originally posted by cslinger:
Well look at the bright side. You live in the AR,LA,MS,AL,TN,GA Dixie ally area so odds are you get to have a new roof every couple of years.

Did I said bright side....sorry I meant shit show.

Couple years? Hardly.

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Originally posted by SBrooks:
We are near Knoxville and our house built in 99 made it about 15 years before hail damage caused us to file a claim.

Yeah. We're just approaching 15 years, and over a dozen hail storms, and our hail claim is apparently still less than a sure thing.

Waiting on the outcome. Any news??

Have to wait until mid next week to meet with the adjuster.

Got the leaking area tarped to prevent further damage.

If the claim is accepted, we'll move forward on getting a new roof. Estimates are ~$15,000.

If the claim is denied, we'll repair that one section for around $1000ish (it's a valley so that adds to the cost), and nurse the roof along until the next major hail storm, then reassess for another potential claim.

So it looks like either way, repair or deductible, we'll be out a grand. The question is whether or not we get a new roof for our $1k, or just a repair to one area.

Thanks for the update.

If you do in the end go for a complete re-roof, be prepared for a good many days of hammering, pounding and sawing. I'd forgotten about that until the last several weeks a house a block or so away was undergoing a re-roof. From 7am until dark the hammers banging and sawing. I was stuck pretty much at home here during mine and just put headphones on. Luckily at the time I didn't have any dogs or cats. It's an awful lot of racket, although necessary. Even the neighbors were relieved when they finished my roof.

After hurricane Andrew in 92', that was pretty much the everyday norm, all you could hear for months of rebuilding.

Hope all goes well either the re-roof or a good patch until further down the road. It is a good feeling of relief when a good roof is put on though, especially with our tropical weather here. No more water stains and especially drips. Good luck RogueJSK!

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If you do in the end go for a complete re-roof, be prepared for a good many days of hammering, pounding and sawing

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I found this to be untrue. An ample crew can finish the average house in one day. I have had my roof replaced twice after major hurricanes and it was always done in a day. Admittedly not everybody in my subdivision had it done the same day. Unless you are a masochist stay outside and watch carefully. You can request hand nailing, but expect to pay more. It is important that the nails not be driven too deeply. Agree on how many nails per shingle.

While we haven't yet gotten to the point of discussing how long my specific house would take, I've seen that a number of the roofing companies around here advertise one day jobs.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

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If you do in the end go for a complete re-roof, be prepared for a good many days of hammering, pounding and sawing

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I found this to be untrue. An ample crew can finish the average house in one day. I have had my roof replaced twice after major hurricanes and it was always done in a day. Admittedly not everybody in my subdivision had it done the same day. Unless you are a masochist stay outside and watch carefully. You can request hand nailing, but expect to pay more. It is important that the nails not be driven too deeply. Agree on how many nails per shingle.

Mine took a week Mon-Fri. As mentioned they were in fact friends that owned a roofing business. When they stripped my roof down to the wood. They uncovered several areas that had rotten wood and needed replacement plus added an overhang that had been ripped off over my pool deck by Andrew that has never properly been repaired. All tongue/groove woods. In addition, they replaced all my soffit and facia. They did an excellent job and permits were pulled and inspections. They took photos of all their work every step of the way for me because I couldn't climb the ladders. And yes, there was a lot of pounding and nailing/sawing. That was my experience. Maybe yours has been different. They had a trusted 3-4 man crew for a week. It's been 6yrs and rock solid.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
While we haven't yet gotten to the point of discussing how long my specific house would take, I've seen that a number of the roofing companies around here advertise one day jobs.

How many square feet is your roof? Lots of hips and valleys? Dormers?

If the roof is simple and has few details, a lot can happen in a day, even large ones.

Tongue/groove would take longer. You had major work done. Most roofs do not involve replacing soffit and fascia as well as overhangs.

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Originally posted by arcwelder76:

How many square feet is your roof? Lots of hips and valleys? Dormers?

If the roof is simple and has few details, a lot can happen in a day, even large ones.

Estimates say roughly 55 squares, so I assume 5500ish square feet. House itself is 2400.

12/12 pitch. (One estimate claims 14/12.) Lots of peaks, valleys, and gables, but few hips. One purely cosmetic dormer, which quite frankly we don't like, and are going to talk about deleting whenever a new roof goes in.

Roof looks similar to this house:

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Tongue/groove would take longer. You had major work done. Most roofs do not involve replacing soffit and fascia as well as overhangs.

Understood. My friend Jamie who did the work told me that is what he called a complete re-roof, which included the soffit/facia. My roof was originally done after hurricane Andrew by a crew of folks sweeping thru neighborhoods just trying to get a roof back over folks heads. It wasn't done by professionals by any means. Just a group of Church volunteers trying to get some normalcy back into peoples lives. One section of my roof was ripped off and tossed into the pool. The Army Corps of Engineers who were going thru the neighborhoods pulled it out of the pool and dragged it out front to the roadside trash piles. The roof really wasn't done well, just a quick job as they had to move on to several other homes in my block. I had leaks thru my gravel stops onto and in the facia/soffit areas that rotted the woods and several other rooftop leaks that caused inside leaks. It was 15yrs later for the new roof.

I just wanted a good job done once and for all, I didn't mind shelling out the money, though it did sting, was worth it in the long run.

I had a hurricane insurance inspection done a few months back and he mentioned that they in fact did a great job.

Sorry to thread drift RogueJSK. I hope that you get the necessary work or repairs done to your satisfaction. I mentioned "piece of mind" thats what makes it worth it IMO.