Emergency Storm Damage Roof Restoration
If a storm just came through and your roof is leaking, call (919) 977-5318. Red Letter Roofing runs emergency storm response across Raleigh, Garner, Durham, Cary and the surrounding counties, and we can tarp or dry in your building before the next round of weather arrives.
After that, the work is slower. Storm claims are won or lost on documentation, and most of the money owners leave on the table gets lost in the first week. Here is what to do now, what the different kinds of damage look like, and how the claim actually runs.
What To Do In The First 24 Hours
- Make sure the building is safe. Downed power line, collapsed section, or water near electrical panels? Leave and call the utility and fire department first.
- Photograph everything before anyone touches it. Ceiling stains, wet insulation, damaged inventory, dented gutters, siding, HVAC units, yard debris. Timestamped phone photos are what an adjuster wants.
- Stop the water from inside if you can do it safely. Move furniture and stock, put down buckets, and punch a small relief hole in a bulging ceiling to drain it into a container. One that ruptures on its own does far more damage.
- Do not climb on a wet or damaged roof. Decking that took an impact can look fine and still give way.
- Call a roofer for emergency stabilization. Most policies require you to prevent further damage, and tarping is a covered expense on nearly every policy.
- Open the claim with your carrier. You do not need a repair estimate first. Get a claim number.
- Keep every receipt. Tarps, fans, dehumidifier rental, a hotel night, a plumber. It all goes on the claim.
Hail, Wind, and Impact Damage Look Very Different
Hail damage
Hail bruises a shingle rather than tearing it. On asphalt, look for round black spots where granules are knocked off and the mat is exposed, plus a soft dented feel when you press the spot. On metal and gutters, hail leaves dimples. On a low-slope membrane, it fractures the sheet over the insulation and opens a leak path that may not show inside for months.
This is the damage owners miss most, because from the ground the roof looks normal. Once the mat is exposed, ultraviolet light takes over and that shingle has a fraction of its remaining life.
Wind damage
Wind works on edges and seams. It lifts shingle tabs, breaks the factory seal strip, tears off ridge caps, peels drip edge and flashing, and on commercial buildings it catches the membrane at a corner and pulls the field. A shingle lifted and laid back down looks intact but no longer seals, and it will blow off in the next storm. Look for missing tabs, exposed nail heads, shiny lines where the seal broke, and gutters full of granules.
Fallen limbs and impact
The Triangle has a lot of mature oak and pine. Impact can fracture decking under an intact shingle, split a rafter, and drive a puncture that leaks for weeks unnoticed. Any limb strike needs the decking checked from the attic side, not just shingles patched from above.
Signs You Need Roof Repair Now
Wake, Durham and Orange counties sit far enough inland that wind rarely reaches coastal speeds, which makes people underestimate the risk. Inland roofs take a different beating: hours of sustained wind from an unusual direction, rain driven up under shingle courses and behind flashing, and huge rainfall totals from a system that slows over the Piedmont.
So inland storm damage is water damage first, structure second. A roof that sheds ordinary rain will still leak when rain is driven sideways at it for six hours. Add saturated ground and you get the other Triangle problem, healthy trees going over onto buildings. Ordinary thunderstorms count too: one supercell dropping quarter-size hail across a few neighborhoods does more roof damage here than most named systems.
The Insurance Claim Process, Step by Step
Free damage evaluation
We inspect the roof, flashings, gutters, soft metals and interior and tell you honestly whether you have a claim. Not every leak is storm damage, and a denied claim still shows on your loss history.
You open the claim
Call your carrier for a claim number and an adjuster assignment.
We meet your adjuster on site
The most important step. When your roofer is on the roof with the adjuster, damage gets identified together instead of argued about later.
Scope and estimate
The carrier issues a scope of loss, usually in Xactimate, and we review it line by line.
Supplements
Initial scopes routinely miss code-required ice and water shield, drip edge, ridge vent, decking replacement, extra layers, or steep and high charges. We document each omission with photos and code citations and submit a supplement.
Approval and scheduling
You approve, we order material, we schedule.
Build and documentation
We install, photograph the process, and send the carrier a completion package so recoverable depreciation gets released.
What Red Letter Documents for the Adjuster
- A labeled photo set of every slope and elevation, with a marker for scale
- Test squares showing hail impact density per 100 square feet, the standard most carriers use
- Close-ups of granule loss, mat exposure and seal failure
- Soft metal collateral evidence: dents in gutters, downspouts, vents, HVAC fins and fascia wrap, which proves hail size and direction
- Flashing, pipe boot, counterflashing and penetration condition
- Attic and interior photos showing water path, wet insulation and decking staining
- Moisture survey results and core cuts on low-slope commercial roofs
- A written scope citing anything current code requires that the original roof did not have
- Drone imagery where pitch or height makes walking the roof unsafe
Commercial Storm Response
About 85 percent of our work is commercial, and those claims run differently. The building has to keep operating and the assembly is layered, so visible damage is not the whole story. We handle emergency membrane patching, wet insulation removal, drain and scupper clearing, curb and flashing repair, and full replacement when the assembly is saturated. See commercial roofing.
Why Building Owners Call Red Letter
We have been on Triangle roofs for years, with a team that brings years of collective management experience, so we know what these storms do to these buildings. We work directly with adjusters, we do not pressure anyone into filing a claim that should not be filed, and we do the work ourselves. Our office is at 1316 Bobbitt Drive in Garner. Homeowners can start with residential roofing, or see our Raleigh roofing page.
Service Areas
Raleigh, Garner, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Wake Forest, Carrboro, Morrisville, and 20+ North Carolina counties.
Emergency response is fastest inside the Triangle.
Storm Damage FAQ
How long do I have to file a storm damage claim in North Carolina?
Most policies measure the window from the date of loss, and many carriers apply a one year limit on wind and hail. The longer the gap, the harder it is to prove which storm caused the damage.
Will filing a claim raise my rates?
A weather claim is not an at-fault claim, and carriers generally treat them differently. Claim history is still a renewal pricing factor, which is why we say plainly when damage is not claim-worthy.
My roof is not leaking. Is there really damage?
Frequently, yes. Hail almost never leaks right away. It strips the granule layer and shortens the roof’s life, and the leak shows up a year or two later, after the claim window has closed.
What does emergency tarping cost, and is it covered?
Emergency mitigation is covered under nearly every policy and usually reimbursed as part of the claim. Typical tarp and dry-in work here runs from the low hundreds to the low thousands depending on roof size, pitch and access.
Do you repair, or do you always recommend replacement?
We repair when a repair will hold. If damage is confined to one slope, one flashing detail or a small membrane area, a roof repair is the right answer and we will say so.
Do you handle the claim for me?
We document, meet the adjuster, write supplements and submit the completion package. We are not public adjusters and do not negotiate the claim for you, which North Carolina restricts. You stay the decision maker, and the roof side of the file stays airtight.
Get Your Roof Evaluated
A storm damage evaluation is free and takes about an hour. You get a written report with photos whether or not you file a claim or hire us. If replacement turns out to be the answer, see roof replacement.
Call (919) 977-5318 or request your free storm damage evaluation.