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After a Texas storm: what to check, and in what order
What is worth looking at from the ground after wind or hail, what needs somebody up there, and how not to get taken by a door knocker.
We get storms that do real damage and we get storms that mostly make noise. From the driveway that evening they look about the same. The useful thing after a bad one is knowing what to look at, in what order, before deciding whether anything needs doing at all.
From the ground, the same day
- Walk the perimeter. Shingle pieces in the yard, granules washed into a pile at the bottom of a downspout, chunks of siding or trim in the grass.
- Back up and look at the roofline. Lifted shingles, missing ones and a shifted ridge cap are usually visible from the ground.
- Check the chimney chase and any siding up on the gables. Wind gets under an edge and lifts it before it takes anything off.
- Look at the gutters for dents and for runs pulled loose.
- Then go inside and look up. Ceilings, corners, anywhere something comes through the roof. A stain that was not there yesterday is the thing that matters most.
What actually needs somebody up there
Anything you can only half see. And anything at all if there is a fresh stain inside. The damage that matters is usually small and in an awkward spot: a lifted edge, a torn boot around a vent, flashing that has moved where the roof runs into a wall. None of that shows itself from the driveway.
I do not want you on the roof after a storm. Wet shingles, loose debris and damaged decking are how people get hurt, and the looking is the easy part of this. Take pictures from the ground while it is fresh. Those are the photos worth sending me.
Door knockers
After every storm that makes the news, crews turn up in the neighborhood offering free inspections. Plenty of them are perfectly legitimate. The ones to be careful with run to a pattern:
- They found serious damage in five minutes, from the ground, on a house they have never laid eyes on.
- They want a signature today, and the paper is presented as authorizing an inspection when it reads more like authorizing work.
- They offer to handle your claim for you, or to make your deductible go away. Whatever that arrangement is, it is not a favor to you.
- They cannot give you a local address, and the truck is plated several states from here.
You are allowed to say no and get somebody local up there instead. Real damage will still be real tomorrow, and a repair done in a hurry by a man you cannot find in a month is worse than the leak was.
Related: Roofing & Siding
I get asked for roofing & siding most often in Cedar Park.
More from the blog
- How I price a job, and why I won't guess over the phone
- The new-build punch list your builder never came back for
- Is your shower failing, or just ugly?
- Before you call anyone: the photos to send
- One visit or three? How to group a punch list
- Drywall cracks: which ones matter and which ones don't
- Why a texture repair shows, and how matching actually works
- Choosing flooring that survives a Central Texas house
- Gutters: what they are actually protecting, and when to clean them
- Cabinets: reface, repaint, or replace?
- Interior painting: the preparation is the job
- Building outdoors in this sun: what actually lasts
Ready to get that list handled?
Send a few photos and I'll tell you what it takes, in writing, before anything starts. I work across Leander, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Round Rock and the towns nearby.