How to Check Your Roof for Wind Damage After a Madison Storm

Start from the ground: the wind damage checklist

Stand back far enough to see a whole slope at once, usually from across the street or the far corner of the yard. Do one elevation at a time and photograph everything, including the parts that look fine. Dated "normal" photos are useful later too. Our guide to inspecting a roof safely from the ground covers how to read a slope without leaving the lawn.

Storms here usually move in from the west or southwest, so west- and southwest-facing slopes and the windward edges of the roof tend to take the worst of it. Exposure matters as much as direction: an open lot or a newer subdivision without mature trees catches gusts that a tree-sheltered street may not.

Missing shingles and tabs

Look for dark rectangles or lighter patches where a shingle used to be, often in a stair-step pattern up a slope or along a rake edge. Then check the lawn and the bushes. Shingle pieces in the yard mean something came off somewhere, even if you cannot spot the gap.

Lifted or flapping shingles

Shingles often break their seal without blowing away. Look along the bottom edges of the courses for shingles sitting slightly proud of their neighbors, casting a small shadow line, or moving in a breeze. An unsealed shingle catches the wind like a sail, and the next storm can take it.

Creased shingles (the one most people miss)

A crease is a straight line running across the face of a shingle where it folded backward in the gust. It breaks the fiberglass mat and the surface coating even if the shingle lies flat again. That shingle is compromised and generally needs replacing.

Creases hide at a glance, so zoom in. Use your phone camera at full zoom or binoculars and look for a consistent line across several shingles in the same course. A thin stripe of granule loss along that line is another tell.

Exposed underlayment or nail heads

If you can see black or gray felt or synthetic underlayment, or the shiny head of a nail sitting out in the open, a shingle above it has moved or gone. Exposed nail heads rust and let water in. That is active-leak territory.

Ridge cap, flashing, vents and drip edge

The ridge and the edges are where wind pressure peaks, so check them specifically:

• Ridge cap shingles lifted, curled, cracked or missing along the peak
• Step flashing or counterflashing pulled loose where the roof meets a chimney, dormer or wall
• Pipe boots torn, or plumbing and exhaust vents tilted, dented or missing caps
• Drip edge bent out along the eave or rake
• Ridge vent sections lifted at the seams

Gutters, siding and debris

Wind does not stop at the roof. Look for gutters pulled off the fascia or sagging, downspouts separated, siding panels unzipped or missing, loose trim and soffit, and missing screens. Note any limbs still sitting on the roof. A branch up there keeps working the shingles every time the wind moves it.

Then go inside

A couple of minutes in the attic tells you a lot. With a flashlight, look for daylight through the decking, dark wet streaks on the sheathing or rafters, and damp or matted insulation. Downstairs, scan ceilings and the tops of exterior walls for fresh stains or bubbled paint, especially near skylights and chimneys.

Stay off the roof entirely. A storm-hit roof can have loose shingles and debris that make it slippery and unpredictable, and walking on it can make the damage worse. If any power lines are down near your property, keep well clear and call the utility.

If anything on that list turned up, get trained eyes on it. A free on-site look at storm damage on a Madison home takes the guesswork out. Call (608) 909-9109.

What wind speed actually damages a roof?

The National Weather Service classes a thunderstorm as severe when it produces wind gusts of 58 mph or more, or hail one inch or larger. That 58 mph line is a reasonable trigger for "my roof may have taken damage," especially on a roof with some age on it.

Speed alone does not tell the story. How long the gusts lasted, the wind direction relative to your slopes, the condition of the seal strips, nail placement and how exposed the house sits all matter. Two similar roofs on the same block can come out of one storm very differently.

What shingle wind ratings mean

Asphalt shingles get their wind ratings from two lab tests:

• ASTM D3161, rating shingles Class A at 60 mph, Class D at 90 mph and Class F at 110 mph
• ASTM D7158, rating shingles Class D at 90 mph, Class G at 120 mph and Class H at 150 mph

Both assume the shingles were installed correctly and have sealed down. Real roofs don't always meet those conditions. Shingles bond with warmth, so a roof installed late in a cool season may take time to seal. Over years of freeze-thaw cycles and sun, seal strips can weaken. And nails driven too high or overdriven leave the course above less firmly held.

So an older or poorly installed roof can lift below its printed rating. Don't talk yourself out of a look because the gusts were "only" in the 50s.

What to do in the first 48 hours

Document, protect, then call.

1. Photograph every elevation, wide shots and close-ups, with the date on the files. Photograph the yard debris too.
2. Write down the storm date and rough time. This one detail does more work in a claim than people expect.
3. Cover any opening letting water in. Most policies expect reasonable steps to prevent further damage, so check yours, but do not climb onto a wet roof yourself. That is what emergency tarping in Madison is for, and our 24-hour storm line takes those calls.
4. Keep every receipt for tarps, board-ups, fans and dehumidifier rental.
5. Get an inspection before you decide anything about insurance.

Water is the clock you are racing. A small opening can wet the decking, the decking can swell and delaminate, insulation mats down, and now the repair includes sheathing and drywall instead of just shingles. Our Madison roof repair page covers what repairs involve.

When wind damage becomes an insurance claim

Wind is generally a covered peril on a standard homeowners policy, but every policy differs, so read yours or call your agent. The real question is usually not whether it is covered. It is whether filing makes sense.

Compare the repair to your deductible first

Many policies carry a separate wind and hail deductible, and some are written as a percentage of dwelling coverage instead of a flat amount. That can be a much bigger number than the one in your head. Our explainer on percentage wind and hail deductibles walks through the math.

A few missing shingles on a newer roof is often a straightforward repair. Widespread creasing or unsealing across a slope, missing ridge cap, flashing pulled loose or exposed decking is the kind of damage that leads to a larger claim.

Report promptly

Policies require prompt notice of a loss, so don't sit on it. Getting an inspection within a few days doesn't conflict with that; it means you report with better information. Check your policy's wording or ask your agent if you're unsure.

ACV, RCV and the depreciation holdback

ACV (actual cash value) is what the roof is worth today after depreciation. RCV (replacement cost value) is what it costs to replace new. On an RCV policy you usually get paid in two parts: a first check for the depreciated value minus your deductible, then the withheld depreciation after the work is finished and the final invoice goes in.

Some policies settle older roofs differently, through an ACV-only roof endorsement or a payment schedule based on roof age. Check your declarations page for anything referring to roof surfaces and ask your agent to explain it plainly.

Storm damage versus age and wear

This is where claims get decided. An adjuster is weighing whether the damage came from a specific storm or from years of weather. Curled, brittle, worn shingles with no directional pattern read as wear. Creases in a consistent line, missing tabs on windward slopes, fresh breaks with clean edges and damage that lines up with the storm direction read as wind.

An older roof can still have a valid wind claim. What matters is whether the damage is storm-consistent, and how your policy settles an older roof surface, because heavy depreciation can make your real out-of-pocket far more than the deductible. If hail came through with the wind, the two are evaluated differently; we explain how insurers tell wind damage from hail damage.

Be at the adjuster appointment

Be there, and have your contractor there. Stick to facts: the storm date, what you saw, when you discovered it, and what emergency work was done. Hand over your photos. Don't guess at the roof's age or past repairs, don't speculate about other storms, and ask for the scope and report in writing.

If the claim is underpaid or denied, ask for the adjuster's report in writing, request a re-inspection with your roofer present, and have them document anything missed, since creasing, step flashing, drip edge and decking are easy to miss. Many policies include an appraisal clause for disputes over the amount of the loss, and Wisconsin's insurance regulator accepts consumer complaints about insurers.

Be careful who knocks on your door after a storm

Big windstorms can bring out-of-town crews into neighborhoods within days. Some are legitimate; some are gone by the time a leak shows up.

• Be wary of "we'll cover your deductible." Your deductible is your obligation under the policy, and an offer to absorb it can amount to insurance fraud.
• Don't sign on the doorstep. That includes an assignment of benefits, which hands your claim rights to the contractor, and open-ended agreements signed before anyone has inspected the roof.
• Verify credentials. Ask any contractor for the state's Dwelling Contractor credentials, a certificate of liability insurance, and a local address you can drive to.
• Beware pressure to sign before the adjuster arrives. A real inspection and a written scope come first.

Get the inspection before you call your insurer

Know what you actually have, then make the claim decision with real information. A free on-site inspection can tell you whether you are looking at a small repair, something under your deductible, or a legitimate claim. If it is a claim, we meet your insurance adjuster on site to document the wind and hail damage, so creased shingles, unsealed courses and bent flashing get recorded, not just the obvious missing pieces.

Buckshot Exteriors has been family-owned since 1979, with offices in Madison and Centerville, Iowa, covering roofing, siding, gutters, windows and doors, plus a 24-hour emergency storm line. Read what local homeowners say in our customer reviews, and see more about our wind damage repair work, our hail and storm restoration services, and everything we do for homeowners across the Madison area.

If a storm just came through your neighborhood, don't wait for the ceiling stain. Call (608) 909-9109 for a free, no-pressure roof inspection.