After a North Texas hailstorm: how we document your roof with your adjuster

North Texas gets hail. When a storm moves through Dallas–Fort Worth, the phone calls start the same afternoon, and so do the door knocks. Before you sign anything with anybody, it helps to understand what an honest roofing contractor actually does after a storm — and what Texas law does not allow any contractor to do.

Two things we cannot do, by law

We do not negotiate your insurance claim and we do not act as your adjuster. Texas law does not permit a contractor to negotiate a claim on your behalf or to act as a public adjuster on a property they are contracting to repair. Anyone who offers to "handle your claim for you" is describing something a roofer is not allowed to do.

We cannot waive, absorb or rebate your deductible. Texas law prohibits it. If a contractor offers to "eat the deductible," "work with you on it," or inflate an invoice so the deductible disappears, that is not a discount — it is insurance fraud, and it puts the homeowner on the hook too.

What we can do is inspect, document, meet your adjuster on site, and provide a detailed scope and estimate. That is genuinely useful, and it is where most of the value is.

Step one: the inspection

We get on the roof. From the ground, or from a photo someone took with a phone, you cannot tell hail bruising from blistering, or wind creasing from normal aging. On the roof we look for:

• Impact marks on shingles, and whether the mat is fractured under the granule loss
• Granule accumulation in gutters and at downspout outlets
• Damage to soft metals — vents, flashing, valley metal, gutters, gutter screens — which often shows impact more clearly than the shingles do
• Wind damage: lifted or creased shingles, missing tabs, ridge cap displacement
• Penetrations, pipe boots and chimney flashing, which is where leaks usually start
• Collateral evidence around the property: dented HVAC condenser fins, screens, fence caps, garage doors

We also check the attic where it is accessible, and interior ceilings and walls for staining. Water that is already inside the building changes the scope.

Step two: the documentation

This is the part that matters when the adjuster arrives. We produce:

• Dated photographs, with the location on the roof identified for each one
• A slope-by-slope diagram with measurements and the test squares we marked
• A written scope of repair: tear-off, decking replacement where needed, underlayment, ice and water shield at valleys and penetrations, new flashing, ridge venting, and the specific shingle and accessory products
• A line-item estimate with quantities, so every number can be traced back to something measurable
• Notes on code-required items in your city — for example, whether a re-roof requires a permit and inspection where the property sits, since that varies across DFW

If there is interior damage, we document that separately, because interior repairs and roof repairs are usually scoped differently.

Step three: the adjuster meeting

We ask to be on site when your adjuster inspects. Not to argue and not to negotiate — to walk the roof at the same time, show the test squares and the marked damage, and make sure nothing gets missed because it was hard to see from one slope.

Adjusters are generally reasonable people working from what they can observe. Most disagreements we have seen were not about honesty; they were about a slope that was not walked or a detail that was not photographed. Being present and having the documentation ready solves most of that.

After the inspection, your carrier issues a scope and a settlement. You compare it with our scope. If items we documented are missing from theirs, we point to the photographs and measurements and provide the supporting detail — you or your carrier's representative decide what happens next. The claim stays between you and your insurer.

Step four: the repair

Once you decide to proceed, we schedule the work, pull the permit where the city requires one, protect landscaping and drives, tear off, inspect and replace damaged decking, install the new system to the manufacturer's specification, and clean the site with a magnetic sweep. We provide the final invoice, the material documentation and our one-year workmanship guarantee, along with whatever the manufacturer warranty covers.

You pay your deductible. That is how the policy is written, and it is the part that does not move.

A few practical cautions

• Do not sign a contract that authorizes work "for the amount of insurance proceeds" before you have seen a scope and a price.
• Do not let anybody create damage, and do not let anybody photograph damage on a roof you never agreed to have inspected.
• Be careful with contractors who appear after a storm with out-of-state plates and no local address. Repairs outlive the storm chase.
• Keep your own copy of every photo, scope and estimate.

If you have storm damage

We inspect across Dallas–Fort Worth, usually within 24 to 48 hours of your call, and we will tell you plainly if we do not think you have a claim worth filing. If you do, we document the full scope, meet your adjuster on site, and give you an itemized estimate you can read.