[La lamy]

Originally Posted by Skip

About a year ago I found two shingles on my lawn. I went up on the garage section and found where they came from. With roofing nails and roofing cement I did the best I could to put the shingles back. No water damage inside the garage. While up there I found that my weight on that section actually made the other shingles slip away. So I did the best I could to repair it. I inspected the rest of the roof. The ridge vents were not in good shape. House is 21 years old.

This year I noticed new roofs going on in the neighborhood. I asked a neighbor on another street who they had replace his roof. His house is one year younger than mine. He gave me the contractor's name in Orlando, Restor-Surance Services. Next day a polite estimator arrived and inspected the roof. I just wanted the patch job I did, re-done professionally. He marked the affected areas in chalk. Came down and told me I needed a whole new roof. "More than 3 slopes are damaged and my homeowner's WILL PAY for the new roof." He did not want to give me a dollar estimate. Odd! Just said I should call, make a claim, when the adjuster gives me an appointment, he would come at the same time and be MY REPRESENTATIVE. He would convince the insurance company to pay for a whole new roof and Restor-Surance would agree to the insurance company's estimate whatever it was. (They all use the same software and material/labor costs.) He wanted me to sign a two page contract. I told him I don't sign legal contracts unless my lawyer explains them to me.

Short version: My insurance adjuster came ALONE (my decision) looked at the markings and agreed that I am entitled to a new roof less my deductible. DO NOT SAY THAT THE DAMAGE OCCURRED IN JULY-NOVEMBER TIME FRAME. Hurricane damaged roof are subject to a higher deductible. I told him I found the shingles on my lawn in MAY. He wrote a report with a price, wrote a check for the start of the work and said I can choose any roofing contractor I wanted. Balance is paid after a housing inspector inspects the work. If during the process they find underlying damage, (rotted plywood sheeting etc.), the amount will be adjusted.

I called two local roofers. McHale's came in UNDER the insurance company's estimate by almost $1,000. That estimate HAS TO be sent to the insurance company and the insurance would adjust the payment to agree with McHale's. (I did not try to play the game of fraudulent figures - you charge me one figure and we charge the insurance company a higher figure to cover my deductible. THAT'S FRAUD. ) All reputable roofers won't do that either. They can lose their license if caught.

I picked the same quality architectural shingle as original in a different color. Light colors are better for heat transfer and longevity. They don't curl as much. The job was done the next week in one day. I was satisfied and my insurance was satisfied. One bad plywood sheet had to be added to the bill. My out of pocket expense was my deductible, $1,000.
The only problem I had was that McHale did not sweep the lawn for roofing nails. I found at least 7 on my property, 2 were in my driveway. None caused damage. There are probably some still in my gutters right now.

If you have your roof replaced, insist they do a magnetic sweep of your property and even come back after the first rain to check the gutters. They also had to clean a spot of black cement that was noticeable on one shingle. They did that willingly and apologized.

The Restor-Surance contract stated that If I DO NOT HIRE THEM to do the work, I still had to pay them 20% of the value of the job (remember no figure was quoted) as a fee for inspecting the roof, doing paperwork, etc. Glad I never signed with them and that rep was upset that I did not sign the contract or have him come out when the adjuster arrived.

Use locals like McHale and Batterbee. Ask your neighbors how they liked their contractor. Get 3 FREE estimates in writing (no contract with bad clauses), not so much for the price but for what (and when) they do. Some will include new drip edges, some won't. The price is irrelevant unless much higher than the insurance company's estimate. A standard Florida contract IS REQUIRED to be signed before work states. It's standard procedure. I added a WORK COMPLETED BY: DATE and they had not problem with that.

If your home has enough shingle damage, you will not be able to sell it to the next owner if they get the home inspected. You will end up replacing the roof before it transfers. That could take a while.

Hope this helps, Skip...

Thanks for taking the time to explain your situation to us. Very helpful.