Your roof’s primary purpose is to protect your home. The roof is the reason why water doesn’t get into your home to cause water damage inside. It also prevents debris like leaves and tree branches from falling inside. Therefore, when the roof gets damaged, it can constitute an emergency.
Roof damage that isn’t addressed right away can result in a lot of very expensive damage inside the home. If something, like a storm or a tree branch falling onto your roof, happens that damages your roof and threatens the integrity of the inside of your home, you should follow these steps.
Don’t Panic
Any emergency can be a trying situation. However, there’s a good chance that the damage isn’t as bad as it looks to you as the homeowner. A professional roofer can assess the full extent of the damage, but until a roofer can get to your house, it’s important to stay calm so you can follow the next steps to protect your home.
Protect The Interior of Your Home
The next step, no matter when the damage occurs, is to protect the inside of your home as best as you can. This is to minimize any damage that occurs inside the house. Place buckets underneath anywhere that’s leaking. Move furniture and belongings out of the way of any drips. Put up plastic tarps or other waterproof materials over any holes that you can find.
Contact a Reputable Roofing Company Like SCI Roofing & Construction
It’s important to take steps to protect your home first because a roofer may not be able to come out right away. It’s not safe for someone to be on your roof examining damage in the dark or during a storm. Once a roofer is able to come out to your home, they will inspect the damage and may put up tarps on the roof to cover any holes.
A roofer may also be able to tell you if your home is safe to live in while the damage is being repaired. Depending on the extent of the roof damage, you may need to vacate the house until it’s safe again. It’s also a good idea to get an estimate from the roofer for how much it will cost to repair the damage. This information may be useful when dealing with your insurance company.
Contact Your Insurance Company
Once the damage to the roof has been assessed, you should contact your insurance company to make a claim. You should call your insurance company before arranging for any of the damage to be repaired. The insurance company will send out an adjuster to inspect the damage and provide an estimate for the damage and for alternative living arrangements should your home be unsafe for you to live in until the damage is repaired.
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