Wind does significant damage to homes across the country every year. However, many of us think that wind damage only occurs in a tornado, hurricane or derecho. Even an afternoon thunderstorm can lead to a wind damage insurance claim on your roofing system or whole home.
What to Look For
We often advise walking around your home after every storm and at least a few times a year to look at your roof. That’s because if you don’t know what your roof looks like normally, it’s harder to know when something isn’t quite right. Any wind gust can lift your shingles. If there are strong sustained winds your lifted shingles can become bent, loose or even fly off. So, as you walk around your home looking at your roof, look for any misaligned shingles, missing ones or shingles that don’t appear to lie flat against your roof.
Why Wind Damage is More Common in Older & Newly Installed Roofs
It makes sense to most homeowners that wind damage happens to older roofs where the shingles have already aged. However, homeowners with new roofs are often surprised when they suffer storm damage. This generally happens for one of the following reasons:
- The roofing company improperly installed the shingles. If this is the case, talk to the installing company about their installation warranty.
- There is an issue with the manufacturing of the shingles themselves. Your roofing company may find that parts of or the entire batch of shingles they used had a manufacturing issue which, although rare, should be covered by their warranty.
- Winds above the wind rating for the shingles you installed. All shingles come with a wind rating. If the winds exceeded the wind rating of your shingles, you will likely have wind damage which should be covered by your insurance company.
There are some other reasons for wind damage to a new roof, like foot traffic, animals and tree branches but those are less common.
Cooley Roofing Can Help
Whether you know you have wind damage or suspect you do, call the experts at Cooley Roofing. We will provide you with a thorough inspection, accurate quote and we accept all insurance claims. If the roofing company who installed your roof denies that there is an issue and you want our opinion, we’ll help with that too. Reach us by calling (336) 766-6488 or fill out our contact form today to schedule your appointment.
