The benefits of metal roofs and the look of a metal roof on a home are well worth the investment a home owner can make. However, the cost is substantial due to the price of material and time it takes to install a metal roof properly. Often, home owners are short changed on the install technique and attention to detail when installing a metal roof. A metal roof installer can cut a lot of costs during an install in a number of ways that the home owner may not see for five to ten years. Here is a short list of items to consider, and a video showing a metal roof that was replaced because of a bad install.

1. Lifetime Screws on Exposed Fastener Roofs
2. Seam Tape Between the Panels
3. Removal of the Old Roof
4. Complete Dry in with Quality Underlayment
5. Ice and Water Shield Protection in Vulnerable Areas

If you have and further questions or would like more information about metal roofing click the link below.

Anytime you have construction going on at your home, the mess is always the biggest concern.

For a clean job site and increased efficiency we have invested in our customers.

The Equipter is a self propelled small dump trailer specially made for the roofing industry. In the short video we illustrate how it helps our customers and crews with every job.

There are all types of shingles and manufacturers with all types of warranties from 25 to 50 year warranties, but some can help you avoid future deductibles.

Here is some insight into what to do, and how to help you cut through all the noise and claims that roofing companies pitch to you when a storm strikes your community.

Your deductible is based on a percentage of your premiums and the value of your home.  Most are 1-3% of the value of your home.  So if your house is worth 300,000.00, your deductible would be in the range of 3000.00 to 9000.00 depending on what you choose when visiting with your agent.  Most homeowners would rather pay more on their monthly premiums in order to be on the lower end of the spectrum should an out of pocket expense arise and you have to contact your carrier for damage.  

Let’s say you have damage from a hail storm, and you have a 30 yr architectural builder grade shingle, which most homeowners have on their home.  You contact your carrier or a roofing company to come out for a roof inspection. You have damage and the carrier sends out an adjuster to handle your claim, and he adjusts for a full roof replacement!  Great news and a relief to you as a homeowner, but wait you’re not out of the woods yet.  You have to find a reputable contractor that will install the right shingle on your roof in order to protect the your family’s largest investment, your home.  So you do what most people would do and you decide to get multiple bids, and the natural progression is to look at them lowest to highest.  You have many things to take into consideration; reviews, years in business, your gut feeling, what types of shingles they install, and referrals from friends and famly.

In Texas, there  is usually one contractor who will also offer to assist in helping with your deductible.  Let’s give him a name for the purpose of this article; let’s call him “Chuck”.  You think ,“Wow! what a great guy Chuck”, he is trying to help offset my out of pocket expense, which I agreed to pay when I signed on with my carrier.  Chuck must not be as greedy as those other contractors.  What to do now?  First off, when this happens, you and the contractor are both breaking the law and committing insurance fraud.  What Chuck is doing is putting you and your family at risk, you ask how?

Besides the obvious legal ramifications, let’s talk about the install.  Ninety-Nine Percent of homeowners don’t know much about shingles, proper install, what affects warranties, or the warranties themselves.  Let’s start with shingles, which can have a “no impact rating” up to a “class 4 impact rating”. A class 1, 2, 3, and 4 impact rated shingle is resistant to impact damage from hail, and they are classified through Underwriters Laboratory.   We have all heard the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.  Why do homeowners continue to put the same old types of shingles on in hail prone zones and are surprised the following hail season when their roof gets damaged again?  They call “Chuck”,  he comes out and we go through the whole process again dealing with the hassle of insurance and another roof install.  Solution, go with an impact rated shingle like a “Malarky Vista” shingle class 3 impact rated that actually lowers your insurance premiums 12-15% per year.  A roof that actually pays you back and prevents you from paying out future deductibles. So, “Chuck” offsets his expenses by installing cheaper builder grade shingles or surplus shingle he gets at a rock bottom price. 

Also, Chuck tells you we never take off the old felt paper because it helps protect your home, but it will add another layer of felt for added protection.  Three things just happened. First, he pays less on labor for tear off.  Each layer of felt is more cost per square for tear off, do to more cleanup, nails, and weight at the dump. Second, he didn’t have to inspect your decking to make sure there wasn’t any rot to your plywood. Third, he has now saved the expense of the labor and materials to fix the decking.  Chuck, is winning and you’re losing, but he is your buddy now, you thought.  Chuck wouldn’t do that to me. It gets better from here. Five to eight years down the road, you start noticing shingle granules on your concrete driveway.  You think that’s odd so you call “Chuck” and his number is disconnected because he is no longer in business, because “Chuck” didn’t understand that a business has to make a profit in order to stay viable and be there after the sale when warranty issues arise. You, as the home owner, call another reputable contractor that you researched last time. The contractor does his inspection, and sees that there are multiply layers of felt underneath your shingles. The contractor informs you that multiple layers of felt cause shingles to retain heat longer, and that causes the issue of premature granular loss that you are seeing on your driveway after heavy rains.  You tell him “Chuck” said, that it was better to leave the felt  when you replaced your roof last time around.  What Chuck failed to tell you is that by leaving all the layers of felt there is no Manufacturer Warranty from the day that roof was replaced.  The fine print for any manufacturer states that multiply layers of felt voids the warranty and the whole warranty process!  Now you have no storm damage to file a claim on your home and you are stuck with a roof that is not going to last even close to the 30 years that “ Chuck “ told you it would. This in turn will cost you thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses.  In closing, it is illegal not to pay your deductible, and any reputable contractor will not even offer that as an option. Thank of it in this regards, if a contractor if willing to commit insurance fraud how trustworthy are they?

It comes down to pay for a proper install upfront, or pay somebody more to do it right later.  With the price of roofing products skyrocketing, I would highly suggest using a reputable local contractor that will install an impact rated shingle in order to save on premiums and future deductibles.

Why did we decided to lock arms with Malarkey as our choice when replacing a shingle roof?

Here is great video on why we prefer the Malarkey brand of shingles when replacing roofs in the Brazos Valley.

Do you have trouble reading the paperwork that comes with a property claim?

This post and video will help home owners with storm damaged homes that are attempting to understand the paperwork that insurance companies send.

When insurance companies approve the repair or replacement of items on a home following storm damage they send a lot of paperwork. The paperwork can be a bit over whelming at first, but we hope to help with this video. Here are a few terms that may help as well. Please keep in mind these are our lay person definitions of these terms.

• Replacement Cost Value (RCV) – The cost to replace an item following storm damage. This is often set by a industry standard that takes in consideration the date , location, and current types of materials on the property.
• Depreciation – This is the loss of value over time. For example, if a 30 year roof is 15 years old then it is depreciated by 50%, or it has lost 50% of it’s value.
• Actual Cash Value (ACV) – this is the current value of an item which is replacement value minus depreciation.
• Deductible – The amount of any property claim that the property owner is responsible to pay. This amount can have a wide range and is set when the policy is purchased. Deductibles can be set amounts like $1,000, or a percentage of the total value of the property as set by the policy, typically 1% – 10%. For example, if the property is valued at $200,000 on the insurance policy, and the owner has a 1% deductible, the amount the owner is responsible for is $2,000. It is important for all property owners to know their deductible.
• Net Claim – This is amount an insurance company will send before the work is complete. This is typically RCV – Depreciation – Deductible = Net Claim. The insurance company provides this amount, and will not cover the property damaged until it is repaired or replaced. Another important factor is to know that the insurance company may include the mortgage company on the check. This will require the owner to send the check to the mortgage company for endorsement.
• Recoverable Depreciation – The amount of depreciation the insurance company will send once the work is complete. If a policy is a replacement cost value policy, the insurance company will provide the total amount needed to replace or repair the property that is damaged. However, they will not provide the total amount until the work is complete, and an invoice has been submitted. Once the work is complete and all their requirements have been met the insurance company will send the recoverable depreciation .