Roofing Your Home After A Wind Storm or Hail Damage in Coastal Southeast Texas

Roof With Apparent Hail Damage

If you have lived in the coastal areas southeast Texas metro area for any length of time, you have  most likely either experienced Hail Damage or have at least witnessed what type of damage an intense Wind Storm can cause by watching the local news.

For homeowners, an experience of these types of weather can end up being quite a costly event if you end up having your Siding, Roofing Shingles or Windows damaged or destroyed by one of these aggressive storms.

The Houston Chronicle Newspaper, on their online website states, “Texas has more Wind Hail Storms claims than any other state”.  That’s quite a statement, State Farm names Texas Hail Storms as being the most reported for Hail Losses with claims totalling over a whopping 47,000 per year!

With all of the Gulf moisture and wind we have here in Texas, coupled with the dryer air in the northwestern part of the state, often makes for the perfect storm environment. Keep in mind that much of this article has information related to re-roofing your home is specific to the coastal wind storm requirements. However, even if your home is located in the inland areas of southeast Texas, the methods shared here in this article can be utilized to make for a much improved overall roofing installation.

Calling Your Insurance Company After A Hail or Wind Storm

Don’t delay, make this call to your homeowners insurance company right away. They will send insurance adjusters to come out to your home to assess your situation and inspect for Wind Storm and Hail Damage. The insurance adjuster will take a comprehensive look at the damage done to your roof and home in order to come up with figures for the cost of replacement.

If you are not satisfied with the total cost of replacement the adjuster comes up with, you can request that a second adjuster come out and re-inspect to provide you with a second set of figures for your home and/or roof replacement. Note, the cost might be the same if the findings are the same. Each insurance company has their own adjusters they use for Hail Damage and Windstorm claims.

Your New Roof After A Storm

This article is packed with information as the Texas Department of Insurance-TDI Roofing Storm is here to help guide you in preparation of your new roofing installation. TDI, has specific guidelines for your new roof to be installed up to their wind storm specifications as can be found outlined on their website in order to obtain your WPI-8 certificate. This will also protect you as a Texas coastal homeowner from having a roof installed that may risk not meeting Texas Windstorm Insurance (TDI) Requirements.

Hand Nailing is a Requirement for Your New Coastal Roof

Hand-nailing is only necessary for the Texas Coastal areas where there is increased wind coming from your home being located in closer proximity of the coast and extreme wind areas. When a pneumatic roofing gun is used to drive in roofing nails, it can over-drive the nails into the roofing shingles that you have selected to be installed which will be cause for a failed inspection.

When using hand-nailing method for installing roofing shingles, the head of the hammer is much bigger than the nail and thus acts as a stop for the nail from being over-driven into the shingles. This in turn holds the shingles to the decking better making them less resistant to being blow off. TDI Winstorm will inspect the roof during the progress of the job to ensure proper installation of the roof for windstorm. This is an absolute requirement as your insurance company will require a WPI-8 Certificate of Compliance for continued insurance coverage of your home. Note that hand-nailing is not needed nor required outside of the windzone areas.

Six Nails Per Shingle

The six nails per shingle goes along with the above, hand-nailing, which requires the addition of more nails per shingle. These additional nails will provide additional security to the shingles making the roofing shingles harder for the wind to pull off and/or tear during a Texas windstorm situation. The installation of six nails per shingle is another one of the requirement for WPI-8 Certificate of Compliance.

Storm-Safe Starter Strip Shingle – Adhesive At The Edge

White arrows shows roofing shingle- storm-safe starter strip that will STOP the first row of shingles from lifting up that often causes the domino effect of shingle removal from wind (click to enlarge)

When the wind is blowing and and your family is safe inside, that last thing you want is for the roofing shingles on your home to be blown off from your roof allowing water to enter the inside of your home.

When your roof was installed, there is a pretty good chance that the roofer or roofing company did not install a starter strip with an adhesive along the edge of the shingle very close to the drip edge.

This adhesive strip prevents your roofing shingles from being torn off by starting at the very edge and continuing up your roof like a domino ripping effect. Once the wind gets under the first shingle, it acts kind of like a parachute that adds a pulling force which cascades up your roof from one shingle to the next as more and more shingles begin to tear off along with them.

The Storm-Safe or Pro Start by GAF roofing starter shingle is designed to stop the very first row of roofing shingles located around the outer perimeter of your roof from lifting during high wind storms. This type of application ensures up to 130 MPH wind rating for your new roof.

Ice and Water Membrane

Ice and water shield installation

Another advanced roofing technique that is a WPI-8 Certificate requirement is the use of an Ice and Water Membrane made from a flexible rubber- like substance that is self adhering. One such product is, Grace Ice & Water Shield  is one we at Texas Home Exteriors often installs with great success.

This advanced sticky membrane product is applied directly to your roof deck, (plywood). The membrane (shield) acts like a second line of defence to catches any water that might make it’s way under flashing, valleys, protrusions and/or the perimeter of your roof surface area. Even if you were to poke a nail through this protective membrane, like Grace Ice & Water Shield, it would seal in right around it providing major protection!

The locations on your roof where we apply this Shield, which are recommended by TDI, is around the entire perimeter of your home, in all of the valleys, along the sidewalls, chimneys and around all of the roof protrusions. These are areas that historically have been prone to leaks and seepage. Installing an added layer of protection, of Ice & Water Shield, will help ensure that wind-driven rain will NOT make its way into your home. Now this provides peace-of-mind for you for your Texas coastal home many years to come!

What Is A WPI-8 TDI Windstorm Certificate of Compliance?

Click To Enlarge – WPI-8 TDI Windstorm Certificate (required)

What exactly is a WPI-8 Windstorm Certificate? This is a question that many Texas coastal homeowners ask when it is roof replacement time. A WPI-8 Windstorm Certificate is a required document certifying that a new roofing installation in the coastal wind areas has been inspected by and is up to code with the Texas Department of Insurance coastal wind requirements.

This certificate verifies to your insurance company that your new roof was installed to the Texas Department of Insurance coastal wind code requirements. Regardless of what insurance company that you are using, you will need this certification when you replace your roof. If you do not get the Texas State required WPI-8 Certificate, your insurance company will NOT renew your insurance policy when renewal time comes around.

A roof installed to these specifications is to your best interest as well so it is important to be sure to obtain this certificate as it confirms that your new roof was installed to the Texas Department of Insurance coastal wind code and will not blow off as easily in a wind storm situation. Ensuring the roofing contractor does what is needed for this the first time around will cost much less than learning about it from your insurance company long after the job has been completed!

Final Thoughts

We hope that you have found this roofing Wind Storm and Hail Damage information page helpful as you consider your roof replacement. Regardless of whether your home is in the coastal wind zone or not, building your new roof to these recommendations will ensure that you have a better roofing installation. If an insurance adjuster is out to visit your home and you find out they are not going to pay for your roof replacement, we have 100% Texas EZ Pay Financing with only a 1% Monthly Payment to make owning your new roof more affordable. To learn more about roofing cost, check out this link for more insight as to what your new roofing job cost will be.