Storm Damage Repair

Have ready

Photograph the damage before anything is moved: the roof, the gutter, the siding, and any water inside. Keep the date and the storm in your notes. Have the policy and claim numbers if a claim is open, and leave the attic access clear. The first three checks on arrival are whether the roof can be dried in, how far the wind lifted the field beyond the obvious tear, and whether the fascia or the gutter took the load. Water that is already inside is checked from the attic, not the ceiling.

• Tarp or dry-in
• Damage survey
• Repair in sequence
• Photos for insurance

The visit

A storm damage repair visit starts by naming the failure, not by selling the fix. We check what the problem touched, protect the floors and the rooms below, and leave a written scope. The work is done in one sequence by the same company, so the trade that caused the damage is the trade that closes it.

What fails first on the Shore is what we look at: salt-rotted fasteners, water finding the soft spot, and the 'quick fix' that never dealt with the cause. For storm damage repair, the tell is usually visible on the first visit, and we say what it means in plain English.

Permit

Emergency dry-in and a storm repair are not normally permit work in New Jersey. The tarp goes on and the building department is not involved. A permit enters when the repair becomes a full replacement, when sheathing or framing is replaced, or when the town wants one for the scope in writing. Storm work also gets looked at by your insurance adjuster, which is a separate visit from a municipal inspection. Keep the photos and the damaged parts until the claim closes.

On the Shore

A Shore storm arrives with wind-driven rain, and the damage it leaves is rarely where the water shows up. Wind gets under a lifted tab and peels the field back course by course, and the same wind pushes rain sideways into the eave, the ridge, and every penetration that was already marginal. Salt spray coats what the storm touched, and that film starts the fasteners corroding before a repair is even scheduled. Dry-in first, survey second, so the damage does not double while the claim is worked out.

When we leave

The dry-in gets checked for slope and for how it is fastened, since a tarp that ponds water is a second problem. Repairs are hosed at the patched area, and the attic is checked for new staining after the next rain. Photos of the damage, the dry-in, and the finished repair are given to you for the claim file. The care note: leave the tarp until the adjuster has seen it, and do not throw out damaged material before the claim is settled.

Built with

Storm repairs use the shingle profile that matches the existing roof where stock allows, over synthetic underlayment, with ice-and-water membrane back at the vulnerable edges. Temporary dry-in is heavy polyethylene or reinforced tarp held with battens, not a thin drop cloth. Fasteners are hot-dip galvanized or stainless, and the metal trim, drip edge, rake edge, and gutter are aluminum. Anything that has to be ordered means a longer dry-in, and that gets planned for rather than discovered.