A severe hail storm hit the Underdog’s neighborhood a few weeks ago. We weren’t there at the time, but apparently there was tennis ball-sized hail crashing down for a good 10-15 minutes. Since our Underdog is far from perfect, we didn’t worry about it too much. {I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that images of busted out windows and a leaking roof did pop into my head.} We had the house inspected by a professional back when we put in our offer and he determined that the current roof had a few small leaks and about 2-5 years of life left in it. We plan on popping in some skylights over the future kitchen, so we started looking at roofing options early on because we figured the skylight installation would be a good time to go ahead and have a new roof put on too. We’re very interested in a metal roof for its eco-friendliness and durability. We were happy to find a local roofing company that’s done quite a bit of commercial metal roof work and is looking to take on the residential market. After meeting with them, getting an estimate and asking a lot of questions – not to mention doing all the same with a few other companies – we decided we’d go with them for our roof install whenever we got around to that project. {We like to research and make decisions in advance before we get around to actually carrying out the project.}
Fast forward one month to the hail storm that pelted our new neighborhood. Like I said, we weren’t present when the storm occurred but neighbors said it was pretty awful. When the storm was over the ground was covered in ice balls {that’s how I describe hail to Layne} and cars and houses were left damaged. In fact, our next door neighbors put in a claim to their insurance company for damage to their roof and were fully compensated after a roof inspection. Handy Hubby talked with the homeowner and was surprised to discover that even though his roof wasn’t leaking, the insurance company still deemed the roof needy of replacement and wrote him a check. Apparently homes with lower pitched roofs {as is the case with most ranches} suffer more from hail detriment than homes with higher pitched roofs. Which makes sense. The lower pitch allows for more direct impact on the roof when wind isn’t playing a role.
Older shingles are less resilient to hail damage because they are more brittle. Problems arise when asphalt shingles suffer severe granule loss and material removal at the edges. Leaks may not appear immediately but those conditions will definitely set you up for problems in the future if they’re not addressed properly. That means our Underdog had two factors working against it during the hail storm: low roof pitch and older shingles. So even though we had budgeted for a new roof, Handy Hubby called up our insurance agent to file a claim for hail damage. Last Friday the adjuster came out to the house and wasn’t on the roof 5 minutes before she told Handy Hubby that we’d indeed be needing a new roof due to the damage. That’s right. We’re getting a check to have our roof replaced. Coincidence? Act of god? The calm before the storm? Good luck? Proof that Handy Hubby may have batted an eye or two at the female insurance adjuster? …which I’m totally cool with given the results. An omen that we’re making the right decision to sell our current home and take on the unbelievable task of undertaking the Underdog? I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’m okay with it. Grateful for it even. Of course, the amount of the check is for a traditional asphalt roof. We want a metal one. We’re happy to pay the difference. If all goes as planned, we’ll be shelling out $1,500-$2,000 for a new metal roof in the near future. Not too bad considering the quotes we got for metal roofing ranged from $9,500 all the way up to $16,000.
And so I leave you with images of rockin’ metal roofs.
Do any of you have experience with metal roofs and want to put your two cents in? Or maybe you’ve filed an insurance claim due to a storm recently? Share!
images: 1) Terra Daily 2) Dana Miller for House*Tweaking 3) ATR Exteriors 4) LGC Roofing 5) Pana Roofing 6) Luxury Housing Trends 7) North Carolina Metal Roofing 8) Roofing-PRO LLC 9) Contemporist
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