The First Hour After the Storm
Stay off the roof. That's the first thing we tell every caller, and we mean it. A storm-hit roof has loose shingles, decking that may be punctured under debris where you can't see it, and a wet, slick surface. If a tree came down, treat every wire on the ground or touching the house as live and call the utility before anyone goes near it. Nothing on your roof is worth breaking that rule for.
What you can do safely is document from the ground. Walk the yard and photograph any shingles or shingle pieces you find, then zoom in on the roof section they likely came from. Shoot dented gutters and downspouts, limbs resting on or against the house, and every interior stain or drip. Those ground-level photos establish what the storm did before anyone touches anything — and they matter later, when an adjuster asks.
Then the honest triage. Active water coming inside, a visible opening in the roof deck, or a limb still sitting on the roof — call now. That's an emergency and it gets a same-day truck. Missing shingles with no water inside, lifted flashing, granules washed into the gutters — that's urgent, but it can usually hold until morning. A missing shingle over intact underlayment rarely leaks in the next twelve hours. A hole in the deck always does.
What Hit Your Roof? Match the Damage to the Repair
"Storm damage" is a category, not a diagnosis. Wind, hail, impact, water, and ice each attack a roof differently, and each gets repaired differently. Find what you're seeing below — every entry links to the full page on how we handle that specific damage.
Wind damage — creased, lifted, and missing shingles
Wind damage concentrates where pressure peaks: edges, rakes, and the ridge. The detail most homeowners miss is the crease — a creased shingle is a dead shingle even if it's still nailed down, because the fold breaks the fiberglass mat and the tab will fail along that line. Wind also breaks seal strips you can't see from the ground, leaving shingles loose for the next storm to finish.
Hail — bruised mats you can't see from the driveway
Hail bruises the shingle mat and knocks granules loose, and most of it is invisible from the ground. The tells show up on the soft metals first — dings in gutters, downspouts, and vent caps. Hail is inspection-driven damage: someone has to be on the roof pressing on the mats before you know whether you have real damage and a real claim.
Fallen limbs and impact — the open hole
A limb through the deck is the clearest emergency on this list. An open hole takes on water with every band of rain that follows the storm, so it gets tarped the same day. If the limb took out windows, siding, or a wall section on the way down, we secure those openings too.
Water intrusion — the leak that shows up later
Sometimes the first sign of storm damage is a ceiling stain or a drip at a light fixture two days after the sky cleared. Water travels: it enters at one point, runs along rafters and decking, and surfaces somewhere else entirely. Finding the actual entry point — not just the stain — is the job.
Winter storms — ice, weight, and freeze-thaw
January nor'easters do their damage with weight and ice as much as wind. Heavy snow loads stress framing, and the freeze-thaw cycle builds ice dams at the eaves that force meltwater backward, up under the shingle laps and into the house.
Storm Damage and Your Insurance Policy
Here's why the word "storm" matters to your wallet: on a standard homeowner's policy, wind and hail are covered perils, while gradual wear and deferred maintenance are excluded. A roof opened by last night's wind is usually a claim. A roof that's been quietly failing for five years usually isn't. Every storm claim lives or dies on which side of that line the adjuster puts it — and documentation is what decides.
That's why we photograph everything before we tarp, and again after. Date-stamped photos of the damage as the storm left it, the temporary protection we installed, and a written repair scope tied to those photos. When the adjuster comes, we meet them on the roof and walk the same set of pictures together. We've watched well-documented claims go through cleanly and near-identical damage get denied for lack of evidence.
We're roofers, not public adjusters or lawyers — your policy language controls, and none of this is coverage advice. But we know what adjusters need to see, and we build that file as part of the repair. The full walkthrough of the process is on our insurance claims page.
Storm Week: How We Triage, and Who to Watch Out For
After a real nor'easter, every roofing phone in North Jersey rings at once — ours included. So here's how the queue actually works. Active interior water gets the first trucks. Open decking and limb strikes go second. Missing shingles over intact underlayment go third; that's real damage, but it can hold a day. If we can't get to you same-day, we'll say so and give you an honest window. We'd rather tell you the truth than tell you whatever gets you off the phone.
The same week brings the storm chasers. Out-of-state plates, door-knockers working the block, the "free roof" pitch, and paperwork pushed across the porch railing — often an assignment-of-benefits agreement that signs control of your insurance claim over to a company you met four minutes ago. Don't sign anything under pressure. New Jersey requires home improvement contractors to register with the Division of Consumer Affairs, so ask for the NJ HIC number and look it up. Ours is #13VH12696700, and we'll wait while you check.
Quick checks before you hire anyone after a storm:
- Verify the NJ HIC registration number with the Division of Consumer Affairs
- Get the scope and the workmanship warranty in writing before work starts
- Be wary of anyone who needs you to sign an assignment-of-benefits on the spot
- Ask where the company is based — a local address means they're reachable next year
- Free estimate, no deposit pressure: a real contractor gives you room to decide
The Pre-Season Check That Makes Storms Boring
Most of the storm damage we repair started before the storm. Wind doesn't usually tear off a well-sealed shingle — it finds the tab whose seal strip already failed, the flashing that was already lifting, the ridge cap nail that already backed out. The storm finishes what time started, and then you're stuck arguing with an adjuster about which one did it.
A pre-season inspection closes those doors while the weather is calm. We walk the roof, reseal what's lifting, renail what's backing out, and photograph the roof in healthy condition — which, if a storm hits later, becomes your before-picture for the claim. Book a free roof inspection in spring or early fall, and after any named storm, run through our 7 roof checks after a nor'easter — all of them doable from the ground.
Storm Damage Roofing FAQs
Is storm damage covered by homeowners insurance in NJ?
Generally yes, when the damage is sudden and storm-caused rather than gradual. What trips homeowners up is the fine print: many NJ policies now carry a separate wind/hail deductible that's higher than the standard one, and some switch roofs past a certain age to actual-cash-value, paying depreciated value instead of replacement cost. Check those two clauses before you file — they shape what a claim is actually worth. That's general framing from a roofer, not coverage advice; your policy controls.
How fast can you get to my house after a storm?
Same-day dispatch — usually on-site within 1–3 hours — in our primary service counties: Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, Morris, and Union. The phone is answered 24/7, including the night of the storm. One thing that genuinely speeds up your slot: text us ground-level photos during the call. They let us scope the visit, load the right materials, and skip a second trip — which matters most on a storm night when every truck is spoken for.
Should I sign with the door-knocker who showed up after the storm?
No — take at least a day, however good the pitch sounds. And know your escape hatch: under New Jersey law, a home-improvement contract signed at your home generally comes with a three-business-day right to cancel in writing, so even a signature on the porch isn't the end of the story. Use that window to verify the NJ HIC number with the Division of Consumer Affairs and to read anything labeled assignment of benefits before it takes effect. Anyone who pressures you to waive the review period has answered your question for you.
What should I photograph before you arrive?
Damage and debris where they lie, from the ground only — and resist the urge to tidy up first, because debris hauled to the curb is evidence thrown away. Shoot wide to establish where each item sits relative to the house, then close-up. Two additions most homeowners skip: screenshot that day's local weather alert or news report, which ties your photos to a documented storm event, and shoot the rooms below the damage even if they look dry — a baseline photo proves later staining wasn't pre-existing.
Do you handle both the tarp and the permanent repair?
Yes — one crew, start to finish. The emergency visit stops the water: tarp on the roof, board-up if windows or walls were hit, photos before and after. Then the same company writes the permanent repair scope, supports the insurance claim, and does the work, with masons and roofers on one crew if the chimney took damage too. One contractor through the whole job means no gap between the tarp and the fix, no finger-pointing between an emergency outfit and a repair outfit, and a written workmanship warranty on the final repair.
Storm Damage Right Now?
One call covers it: emergency tarp or board-up today, date-stamped photo documentation for the claim, and the permanent repair from the same crew — masons and roofers together. NJ HIC #13VH12696700, free written estimates, written workmanship warranty.