My roof is leaking!

[kymom99]

I leave on Sunday for a cruise. We have had torrential rains here and last night we realized the roof above our spare bedroom is leaking and has been for some time. I am just sick about it.

My question is this. A friend told me she had a leak and it ended up being covered by insurance because they found hail damage. So if I call a roofer to look at it, will he tell me if it might be eligible for insurance? I'm hesitant to call the insurance company in case they say it's not covered but raise my rates anyway. The roof is old. I'm not sure where to go with this and I got very little sleep last night worrying.

 

[JinxedSydney]

I am speaking from the knowledge of having my FIL as a roofer for 53 years, but I was NOT a roofer myself.

First, make sure the roofing company you call is well-established and has insurance. When I worked for my FIL, nearly 1/4 of our income was from fixing "fly-by-night" company's shoddy roofing and repair work. For your roof, it does NOT pay to cut corners. I cannot stress this enough. Paying the cheapest company who has been in town for 6 months is NOT a good idea.

Second, your leak could be from literally anything: hail damage, shingle failure, wind-driven. You cannot possibly know until you have an inspection. Unless you had documented hailstones last night, don't count on it being covered by your insurance.

Third, you're not the only one who had leaks after these storms. Roofers are probably backed up. Time is of the essence here. The longer you wait to get it fixed, the more damage--and not to frighten you, but water not only ruins ceilings, but electrical, and anything the water trickles to if there is anything off with the level of the roof/ceiling/foundation. I've seen some weird, weird leak pictures. You should start calling to get a roofer soon.

You say the roof is "old." Are you talking 20 years on a 20 year shingle? You should let the company coming out know that you'd also like to be scheduled for an estimate for a new roof.

It's not cheap for a repair. I'm sorry. It's a specialized craft and unless you can chase leaks and patch yourself, you're kinda stuck.

 

[Alesia]

I am speaking from the knowledge of having my FIL as a roofer for 53 years, but I was NOT a roofer myself.

First, make sure the roofing company you call is well-established and has insurance. When I worked for my FIL, nearly 1/4 of our income was from fixing "fly-by-night" company's shoddy roofing and repair work. For your roof, it does NOT pay to cut corners. I cannot stress this enough. Paying the cheapest company who has been in town for 6 months is NOT a good idea.

Second, your leak could be from literally anything: hail damage, shingle failure, wind-driven. You cannot possibly know until you have an inspection. Unless you had documented hailstones last night, don't count on it being covered by your insurance.

Third, you're not the only one who had leaks after these storms. Roofers are probably backed up. Time is of the essence here. The longer you wait to get it fixed, the more damage--and not to frighten you, but water not only ruins ceilings, but electrical, and anything the water trickles to if there is anything off with the level of the roof/ceiling/foundation. I've seen some weird, weird leak pictures. You should start calling to get a roofer soon.

You say the roof is "old." Are you talking 20 years on a 20 year shingle? You should let the company coming out know that you'd also like to be scheduled for an estimate for a new roof.

It's not cheap for a repair. I'm sorry. It's a specialized craft and unless you can chase leaks and patch yourself, you're kinda stuck.

This is great advice!

Get on the phone with a good roofing company right now.

 

[kymom99]

I am speaking from the knowledge of having my FIL as a roofer for 53 years, but I was NOT a roofer myself.

First, make sure the roofing company you call is well-established and has insurance. When I worked for my FIL, nearly 1/4 of our income was from fixing "fly-by-night" company's shoddy roofing and repair work. For your roof, it does NOT pay to cut corners. I cannot stress this enough. Paying the cheapest company who has been in town for 6 months is NOT a good idea.

Second, your leak could be from literally anything: hail damage, shingle failure, wind-driven. You cannot possibly know until you have an inspection. Unless you had documented hailstones last night, don't count on it being covered by your insurance.

Third, you're not the only one who had leaks after these storms. Roofers are probably backed up. Time is of the essence here. The longer you wait to get it fixed, the more damage--and not to frighten you, but water not only ruins ceilings, but electrical, and anything the water trickles to if there is anything off with the level of the roof/ceiling/foundation. I've seen some weird, weird leak pictures. You should start calling to get a roofer soon.

You say the roof is "old." Are you talking 20 years on a 20 year shingle? You should let the company coming out know that you'd also like to be scheduled for an estimate for a new roof.

It's not cheap for a repair. I'm sorry. It's a specialized craft and unless you can chase leaks and patch yourself, you're kinda stuck.

Yes it's over 20 years old. This was my parents house originally. I was going to ask for someone to look at fixing vs replacing so that I can decide. I have little if any hope that insurance will cover it. Just going off of what a friend said.

One man has done work for my sister and she has been satisfied. Another did several houses in our area after a bad storm and my friend was highly pleased. A third was recommended by another friend.

 

[Anthony1971]

I would think one of the fastest ways to have your insurance company send you a letter near your renewal date that they will not be renewing your policy is to put I a claim for roof damage on an older roof..... They know how old your roof is as that is a question they ask when you get the policy and something they inspect. If you had the rood replaced after you got your house insurance you will get a discount on your policy(not a big discount maybe 50.00 or about). Should you have your rood replaced and the roofing company does bad work your insurance will cover the issues and will have little to no effect on your policy as they will sue the roofing company. To agree with the roofer above GET IT FIXED it will cost you far more not to. Should not be able to fix it now get yourself a big tarp (as in big enough to cover the entire area you think it is coming from and 5 feet further) a box of roofing nails and put it over the entire area... this will lesson the damage and buy you a few months at best.... Sorry no one likes to spend 5-15K or more for a new roof.

 

[JinxedSydney]

Yes it's over 20 years old. This was my parents house originally. I was going to ask for someone to look at fixing vs replacing so that I can decide. I have little if any hope that insurance will cover it. Just going off of what a friend said.

One man has done work for my sister and she has been satisfied. Another did several houses in our area after a bad storm and my friend was highly pleased. A third was recommended by another friend.

Hopefully, by the time I've posted this, you've called all three.

I am not a fan of Anthony1971's suggestion (sorry), to get a tarp. You may live in an area with code restrictions or an HOA. And please consider what it takes to get on a roof in a storm to nail it down. I don't know if the pitch of your roof even makes that a viable option. Or if the leak is in a valley, that means tarping the entire drainage area.

You never know, kymom99, it may be an easy fix for now (there are lot's of caulking around chimneys or vents that fail). Can't know until someone gets eyeballs on it.

 

[PatMcDuck]

We were able to get instance $$ for our 18 year old roof (with 20 year shingles) after Hurricane Sandy (NJ). But, I think we got "lucky", because they were trying to process some smaller claims quickly. We submitted an estimate, and they gave $$ to REPAIR, not replace it. I asked, "off the record, can I just use this $$ towards and entire new roof?" They said OH YES, of course. It paid for 1/2 the cost.

Just to add, a new roof looks great, and it a relief not to worry about it. In our case, we had an estimate and they also called the roofer. Again, post Sandy, this was done in an emergency insurance type setup. I did not expect much, was shocked they cut the check on the spot.

You want to move as quickly as possible, so that you can hopefully just layer the new roof on top of the old one, and not have to strip it and worse, replace damaged plywood underneath. Good luck.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I'm sorry you're losing sleep and having this right before your trip! The only thing I can contribute here is the roofer will have ZERO knowledge on if your insurance might cover it. ZERO. Do not look for insurance advice from a roofer.

 

[kymom99]

We were able to get instance $$ for our 18 year old roof (with 20 year shingles) after Hurricane Sandy (NJ). But, I think we got "lucky", because they were trying to process some smaller claims quickly. We submitted an estimate, and they gave $$ to REPAIR, not replace it. I asked, "off the record, can I just use this $$ towards and entire new roof?" They said OH YES, of course. It paid for 1/2 the cost.

Just to add, a new roof looks great, and it a relief not to worry about it. In our case, we had an estimate and they also called the roofer. Again, post Sandy, this was done in an emergency insurance type setup. I did not expect much, was shocked they cut the check on the spot.

You want to move as quickly as possible, so that you can hopefully just layer the new roof on top of the old one, and not have to strip it and worse, replace damaged plywood underneath. Good luck.

This is a room we seldom use and I feel pretty sure it's not a brand new leak. I'm pretty sure there will be repairs to the wood under the shingles.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes it's over 20 years old. This was my parents house originally. I was going to ask for someone to look at fixing vs replacing so that I can decide. I have little if any hope that insurance will cover it. Just going off of what a friend said.

One man has done work for my sister and she has been satisfied. Another did several houses in our area after a bad storm and my friend was highly pleased. A third was recommended by another friend.

Get estimates from all three. Depending how you feel about the contractors themselves, go with the middle estimate.

 

[Candlelady]

We had a leak 5 years ago. Didn't realize it and in the middle of the night we thought we left the water on in the kitchen. Drip, drip, drip...then the ceiling fell into the kitchen along with all the water that had leaked into the insulation. Fun times.
Insurance did not cover the roof, but did cover all all the damage. Photograph everything.
Good luck. It will all work out.

 

[JinxedSydney]

You want to move as quickly as possible, so that you can hopefully just layer the new roof on top of the old one, and not have to strip it and worse, replace damaged plywood underneath. Good luck.

This may/may not work depending on the age/deterioration of the shingles and the building codes. In our area, you can only have two layers, and that is only if the first one is an old-type single profile (lays flat).

This is a room we seldom use and I feel pretty sure it's not a brand new leak. I'm pretty sure there will be repairs to the wood under the shingles.

Those repairs, if not structurally threatening, can wait. Don't worry too much over that. For now, just get that leak patched up and enjoy your cruise!

 

[Southernmiss]

Post Katrina we had a leak in a 2 year old roof over our garage. Only got $ to patch the leak. We chased that leak for 11 years with various people patching it until We finally paid out of pocket for a new roof and replacement roof plywood 2 years ago. Our insurance did decrease by about $100 A year.

Best thing we ever did. Can't tell you how much sleep I lost over worrying about that roof. Dh is now repairing sheet rock damage in the garage from the leak. Fortunately, no mold issues.

On a 20 year old roof, I'd bite the bullet and replace it in a heartbeat.

 

[manning]

Hopefully, by the time I've posted this, you've called all three.

I am not a fan of Anthony1971's suggestion (sorry), to get a tarp. You may live in an area with code restrictions or an HOA. And please consider what it takes to get on a roof in a storm to nail it down. I don't know if the pitch of your roof even makes that a viable option. Or if the leak is in a valley, that means tarping the entire drainage area.

You never know, kymom99, it may be an easy fix for now (there are lot's of caulking around chimneys or vents that fail). Can't know until someone gets eyeballs on it.

HOA. I'll take the fines any day. Way cheaper than replacing a roof. I had a leak and my insurance company covered the repair.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I can't speak to what has been said above, but in our case we had a roofing leak due to multiple, local storms. We called a reputable company which we have previously used. He was able to work with our insurance company on our behalf. We didn't have to pay a cent for a new roof. Insurance paid the entire cost. And we still have the same homeowner's insurance which has not raised its rates on us.

Good luck!

 

[tvguy]

The timing is the pits for sure, but at 20 years, it's worn out.
Mine started leaking in the middle of a $100,000+ remodel. Damaged a brand new ceiling. So what's another $10,000 when you are spending more on the remodel than you paid for the house 30 years ago!

 

[BLAZEY]

Labour Day weekend in 2015 DH woke up to splat,splat at his feet. Had a rainstorm and the roof was leaking at his feet, Called 3 different roofers, all highly recommended. Only one guy came out that day. He said it would need replacing ( we knew it was coming up on the end of it's life) but he said he could patch it so it would leak and would be back on Tuesday to give an estimate for replacement. We ended up using them solely on the fact that he came out that saturday morning to patch it so that no further damage was done. All 3 estimated were withing $200 of each other. Our new roof was installed later that week.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I leave on Sunday for a cruise. We have had torrential rains here and last night we realized the roof above our spare bedroom is leaking and has been for some time. I am just sick about it.

My question is this. A friend told me she had a leak and it ended up being covered by insurance because they found hail damage. So if I call a roofer to look at it, will he tell me if it might be eligible for insurance? I'm hesitant to call the insurance company in case they say it's not covered but raise my rates anyway. The roof is old. I'm not sure where to go with this and I got very little sleep last night worrying.

Only your insurance company can tell you if it's covered or not. You shouldn't be taking advise from your friend on that. You should be looking at your policy contract to see what can cause your rates to increase.

Wear and tear and if maintainence should have been done on the roof can play into if the insurance company will cover the loss or not. The insurance company will take into consideration what a roofer advises them but the roofer is not your insurance company and therefore you shouldn't be taking their word as the word on if something is covered or not.

Hopefully by now you've figured something out though

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Our 18 year old roof (as well as almost all the roofs in my neighborhood) was replaced this past Fall due to hail damage during a May storm. We only had to pay $500 of our $1000 deductible. The roofer took care of the other $500. So far we've seen no rate increase. Fingers crossed.

 

[_Kristi_]

I'm in Texas and we had a strong hail storm that caused a lot of damage to our roof. I called our insurance company first to get advise on what to do instead of contacting a roofer. My adjustor was actually really helpful. We discussed materials he recommends and talked in length about what makes a good roof and things to look for in a roofing company. I felt much better after talking to him when it was time to interview roofing companies. I found the companies through the shingle manufacturer's website. They list master elite installers. I got bids from 4 of them and went with the one I felt the best with. We went with a GAF Timberline 50 year shingle. Good luck! It's definitely not fun to spend money on but when you experience a storm that exposes all the holes in your roof like we did with Harvey, you quickly prioritize the roof over the vacation.