Pink Money

EPS 27 — The Truth About Roofs and Insurance Claims Storm-Proof Your Roof: Insurance, Hail, and How to Hire the Right Pro (with Alex from Alexis Roofing)

• Jerry Williams • Season 3 • Episode 27

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Austin storms can shred shingles—and your claim—if you don’t know the rules. Jerry talks with Alex of Alexis Roofing (roofer + 20+ year adjuster) about navigating roof damage and insurance without getting shortchanged. You’ll learn:

  • Claims playbook: Document damage, request a re-inspection, and why desk adjusters often miss code-required items.
  • Policy must-knows: Replacement Cost vs. ACV, code-upgrade endorsements, and the sneaky renewal emails that quietly change coverage.
  • After a storm: File the claim first (24/7), then bring in a reputable roofer—skip risky DIY that can void coverage.
  • Hail reality check: Even small hail can de-granulate shingles; adjusters look for ~8–10 hits per 10×10 area per slope.
  • Materials & upgrades: 3-tab vs. architectural shingles, modern synthetic underlayment, and when metal roofs need an appearance endorsement.
  • Hiring the right pro: Verify liability insurance, manufacturer certifications (e.g., GAF), code-compliant methods, and photo evidence/line-item scopes.

Guest: Alex — AlexisRoofing.com

Optional Chapter Markers (add if you like)

  • 00:00 Intro & why roofing is confusing
  • 02:10 Alex’s background (roofer + adjuster)
  • 06:30 Why carriers “short” estimates
  • 08:45 ACV vs. Replacement Cost (don’t miss this)
  • 13:40 How hail damage is actually measured
  • 20:30 Partial vs. full roof replacement
  • 26:10 Shingle types & underlayment
  • 34:20 Metal roofs & endorsements
  • 47:10 Reading estimates, Xactimate & costs
  • 58:40 How to vet a roofer

Tags/Keywords

roof claims, hail damage, ACV vs replacement cost, Austin storms, homeowners insurance, roofing contractor, code upgrade, architectural shingles, Alexis Roofing

💬 Have a question or comment? Contact Jerry here


SPEAKER_01:

The best things in life are free Your love

SPEAKER_00:

Hey everyone, this is Jerry and welcome to the Pink Money Podcast where we talk about all things related to money from a gay perspective. And today, I have Alex here and he's with a roofing company and he recently did my roof and he did a fantastic job. And you know, while this was happening, it just came to mind how little I really know about roofing and how complex it can be. There's so many moving parts and... There's so many people that you can hire or talk to, and you'll get a million different answers. And I think one of the best things about me running into Alex is that he did such a fantastic job explaining things to me and getting it done in such a timely fashion that I said, you know what? I think a lot of people would benefit by hearing this kind of information. So, Alex, I really appreciate you coming in today and spending the time to talk about roofing. Oh yeah, for sure. Thank you for the invite. You know, I'm sure that you get this a lot, you know, where the homeowner has zero idea really how to get this project moving forward. Because to me, I mean... Anybody can just call up somebody and say, hey, I need a new roof. But are you really doing it for the right reasons? And who's actually paying for it? You, the insurance company? Who knows, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Navigating through the insurance process can be difficult for some people. It's specifically on the first time. After the first time you go through it, it gets a little bit easier. And you live long enough here in Austin, Texas, you're going to go through it again because we get hailstorms or windstorms.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, and I thought that, you know, one thing that When you told me about your background, that really put me at ease and gave me peace of mind because I thought this guy really knows what he's talking about. So, I mean, that being said, just tell everybody a little bit about your background.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. I've been roofing since I was about 13 years old, growing up in the business with my brother-in-law. Also, I've been an adjuster now. My daughter's 27. So 27 years, I actually got my license right before she was born. So I've been doing the restoration for my company for 23 years now. I opened my company up in 2000.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So you work wherever you want, right? I mean, how far out do you go? Pretty far? I work

SPEAKER_04:

the Williamson-Travis County. I'm not a storm chaser. I stay in this area. I also do new construction work, but I do help a lot of homeowners navigate this restoration process because A lot of your claims will be shorted by 20%, 30%, if not completely denied.

SPEAKER_00:

That's such a strange thing because, I mean, I know insurance companies are in the business to make money, right? I mean, I know that. But what I think makes it difficult is you don't know enough to go up against the insurance companies, and you don't know what you don't know. You can put the wrong foot forward. You can just go with what they say, which is probably what a lot of people, if they say no, they say no, and you don't think anything about it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, that's actually what's happening. And there's been some legislation where, like, your contractor can't interpret policy verbiage. And the insurance companies did this on purpose. See, the contract is between you and the carrier, not you, the roofer, and the carrier. So the carrier is always responsible to you. However, when you don't know what questions to ask, yeah, they're going to pull the wool over your eyes. A lot of people go, oh, this guy is, how can he say that they're going to pull the wool over your eyes? Look at your own claims. A lot of you guys out there that have already had some claims, How many of you come up... As a matter of fact, if you can write in to Jerry and let him know, hey, they didn't pay me properly here or they shorted me or I was having an issue with getting paid properly. You guys are going to be surprised. It's going to be about 90% of the people. That's what's going to happen. Maybe even higher.

SPEAKER_00:

That's so crazy because I guess you... you think that they're going to be in your corner and be on your side and that they aren't going to, I don't want to say rip you off, but they're not as helpful as you would say. It

SPEAKER_04:

is ripping you off because the bottom line is, if you ever notice that around storm season, you're in good hands, we're there for you. Every single one of the insurance carriers will start advertising on TV right before storm season because they want you to feel that they are on your side. But then when it comes down to brass knuckles and you put in a claim, no, they'll tell you not enough damage or they missed it. You want to go over what happened with your situation? Yeah. Your roof is pretty old. You had some wind damage. And they try to tell you that it was only a small repair. But you've actually also had old hail. That adjuster that came out here to inspect your roof, not only was he supposed to come and look for the wind damage, he should have looked for, is there any additional damage here that incurred? The homeowner doesn't know. Well, guess what? Yeah, he's got hail damage. It took us, what, a month, two months, a couple of months?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, the damage happened in April. Right. And it got fixed in July. Right. There you go. Part of that was because I went out of town, but we had it all in the works. Yeah, but that was like a couple weeks. But I'm saying from the initial damage where I reported it to the insurance company until you came along and fixed it, that was months. Right. Well, they were

SPEAKER_04:

telling you that your damage was less than your deductible. Yeah. And then we inspected, took pictures, submitted it to the carrier. And voila, all of a sudden, you got a whole roof that needs to be replaced, which they should have done so at the beginning of the claim. But if we wouldn't have met, you'd be in the position to where, like, what a lot of, and I know I'm skipping up a little bit here, is a lot of carriers, once they see a claim that comes in, then there's a ticker that takes place. I'm not going to tell you, but, you know, your roofs start getting 15, 20, and 25 years old. They're sending out letters advising people, You either fix it or we're taking the coverage off the roof itself. Wow. And if you have a situation like yours where you had to pay for your own repair because it was less than a deductible. Right. But they see that it's about a 15, 20-year-old roof. Next year or in a year or so, they send you a letter. You got to pay for it out of pocket. It's$18,000 out of your pocket or you don't have the coverage.

SPEAKER_00:

That's crazy. And, you know, somebody... I think it was maybe Bruce who told me that, or maybe you told me, that they're starting to change the coverage without really telling you what that means. Like, there's a replacement value, and then there's the... The actual cash value. Yeah, thank you. That's what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_04:

You've got one carrier. It's specifically the ones that do... You've got to be careful when you're dealing with all your... Information coming in electronically. Like Amica, they send out a letter stating, hey, we're going to change your policy to an actual cash value policy, not a replacement cost policy, which means anything that we depreciate, it's gone. It's over. It's not a recoverable depreciation. And if you don't respond to this letter, that means that you're okay with it.

SPEAKER_00:

So let's say, are you saying like your roof is valued at, let's just say$30,000, and it's depreciated to$20,000? No,

SPEAKER_04:

it's heavier because you're going to be hitting over 50% depending on the age. Okay, so let's call it a$30,000 roof, and they depreciate it down to$15,000. That's$15,000. It's going to come out of your pocket. And let's say on that$15,000, you still got a$5,000 deductible. Your$20,000 in the insurance is going to pay$10,000. Because you didn't understand what your email actually meant, that they were going to change it to an actual cash value, an ACV policy, which is the depreciation is gone. It's not recoverable. And a lot of people don't speak insurance, in other words, like I do. Well, do you have any recourse if that happens to you? No, because the email will actually state, this is what we're doing. If you don't want this, call us. You don't understand what it is. It doesn't make sense to you. You don't respond. But the email will actually say, if you don't mind about this, do not respond. And your premium is going to change to this, which it means it's going to go down because now you're taking a bigger risk than they do. Well, heck, my price is going down per month. I'm good to go. You don't respond to the email. And that's what's happened to some homeowners because they didn't know. However, one in particular, so happened he had the resources to make up that difference, and we got him fixed up. But he turned around and changed his policy right after that claim. Oh, wow. So you

SPEAKER_00:

can go back to... Replacement value.

SPEAKER_04:

Yes, you can get it changed over, but that claim, once that claim is in, that claim he had to pay is deductible, which was huge, and all of the depreciation. So he paid, I want to say, about 85% of the claim instead of the other way.

SPEAKER_00:

I guess some money is better than no money, but it's all out of your pocket, really.

SPEAKER_04:

Right, I mean, he was hot, and he's a techie, but he just didn't respond. It went over his head. So bottom line there is read

SPEAKER_00:

your mail.

SPEAKER_04:

Read your mail, and if you don't understand it, call your agent. You don't have an agent? Call the carrier. Hey, what's going on? What's this happening? As a matter of fact, everybody should have a replacement cost policy on their home, even if it's paid off. Because, guys, if you change it, if it burns down, all that investment is gone by however amount of money the carrier decides to they're going to depreciate it by.

SPEAKER_00:

So let me throw this at you. So let's say you buy an existing home, and it has the inspection, and they pass inspection. You get financed, and you move in. And let's say there's a storm, and there's some damage. You have the roofer guy come out, takes a look, and says, hey, you need a new roof. Will their insurance company pay for the new roof even though there was really damage that happened before that? Well,

SPEAKER_04:

that's the thing,

SPEAKER_00:

though. Every time

SPEAKER_04:

you buy a new house and you put a policy on it, the carrier is going to send out either one of their adjusters or somebody's going to go out there and inspect it to make sure that there's no pre-existing damage. Now, if the carrier decides to forego that inspection and then a storm comes through and damages it, it's all theirs.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. That's on that.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. They were the ones that were supposed to have sent somebody to look at it and see that everything's good to go.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So I guess because somebody told me that that's what happened with a friend of theirs. She bought a house. That's exactly the situation. But they said, you know, I don't know if the story's 100% true, but they replaced the whole roof. So I was thinking, well, if that damage was done before she moved in, you know, maybe they would have rejected the claim had they known that, I suppose. Right. If

SPEAKER_04:

they would have gone and inspected, they would have advised, okay, we're going to put a policy on the house. However, the roof is going to be excluded until you replace it because technically it should be replaced as damage on there. And if she hasn't bought it, that should have been caught when she paid the, I think it's like$600 for an inspection. Right. That inspector should have inspected that roof and it would have gone on the prior order Owner's policy. Ah. Because it's during their policy term. They could have made a claim on it, whatever deal they needed to work out, but that deductible would have to be paid, and they could have gotten another roof done, a roof replaced, but under that policy from the prior owner. So always get your inspections done.

SPEAKER_00:

I thought one of the interesting things that you guys did, which I had, you know, all this was new to me, but you guys had gone up on the roof and drew the circles and you poured the water up there. And I just thought that was really enlightening because, you know, looking at the roof, my roof was basically black. I mean, I couldn't see anything. Right. It's a little difficult on the

SPEAKER_04:

darker roofs. So when we pour water on an older roof, because basically what happens is when hell, excuse me, when hell hits your shingle, It hits the shingle, and the little granules, the colored granules, get embedded into the asphalt. Or they get loosened up and knocked off, and then the felt, the actual base sheet of the shingle, gets torn. Well, let's say they don't get knocked off, but they get embedded. Well, with the rain, it knocks those off, and then what happens is that black is a real dark black. Or say what they can't see here. It's a real dark, pretty shiny black, let's just say, right? Well, within a week to two weeks, that black actually turns like a grayish black, like what the street looks like. It's got that little grayish look to it. So when you pour water on a black roof, that grayish part turns super black. And then you'll be able to see all of the hail hits better. It's just one of the tricks that an old adjuster

SPEAKER_00:

taught me years ago. Well, when it hails, I mean, can any hail damage your roof or just big hail?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, it's an industry standard that they know. This is through Hague Engineering, which they write the Bible, basically, on hail damage, right?

UNKNOWN:

Right.

SPEAKER_04:

P-sized hail within 60 seconds will cause a million dollars worth of damage throughout an area. Because what it does, it degranulates the roof. It's like taking sandpaper and try to sand something that's harder. It's like you use it on metal, and the metal's super hard. Your granules come off, and next thing you know, all you have is paper. So it degranulizes. It does that same thing. Now... You get a 15-year-old roof or a 20-year-old roof, but you got hail that's about the size of a quarter. Right. That's what we have here. It'll damage it because it's old and brittle. It doesn't have any flex to it. But you have a roof that's, say, a year old or less because it's more pliable, that quarter size hail may not damage it. Though you'll see some hits, but you won't see the hits that the carrier wants. You know, they want 8 to 10 hits per slope in a 10 by 10 area to determine, you know, what's being damaged.

SPEAKER_00:

And why is it that it's 10 by 10?

SPEAKER_04:

You know what? In order for it, I ought to look it up and just read it for you. I'll get back to you on that. And just that's their way of determining, okay, because a square is a... It's a hundred square feet. So it's a 10 by 10 area. So what they're basically doing is an average, a whole roof. So they do eight to 10 hits on a tip. So that means there is one hit for every 10 square feet. So that's how they determine. And

SPEAKER_00:

so if you have that in that particular area, then they're saying, well, this, even though this is a sample, this is representative of what's happened on the entire roof.

SPEAKER_04:

That's what's represented because they're going to go Northeast, South and West. So that's for the, let's just say you do that on the West side slope. That's right on a 10 by 10 area. You got 10 plus hits. That's for that whole West side. Then they'll go to the East side. Okay. On that East side, you got nine hits. So that's going to be representative of that. So you're, you've already told that's enough to total those two sides. And then you look at the other two.

SPEAKER_00:

So what you're saying then is each side of your roof could have different, amounts of damage, but it has to meet this certain standard in order to replace that entire side. Correct. And so you could end up with half a roof new and half a roof old?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, you can because some of the carriers specifically now, they're doing a lot of that. I'm seeing it. It's gotten worse because what they're doing is they're trying to slope out. I had one with Allstate. Well, they tried to slope a roof, but this roof is probably, it was about 18 years old. And I couldn't do a repair because the pliability of that shingle was, the shingle was so stiff. Every time you lifted up a shingle, it broke. So you caused more damage. It wasn't repairable. But it also had additional hail that the adjuster, for some reason, missed. We took pictures, sent it into the carrier, and they actually ended up replacing that roof also. Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

But only because you were able to demonstrate that these are the reasons why it needs to be done. Right,

SPEAKER_04:

because they want to see that the water shedding capability of the roof has been diminished to where it needs to be replaced. And they want to mitigate their damages that they're going to be paying out.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it seems to me, I mean, that if let's say they did that half and half, yeah, you just, even though you, from the insurance company's perspective, you save money, but on the other hand... That other side is probably going to go sooner or later,

SPEAKER_02:

right?

SPEAKER_00:

Because it's older, and like you said, it's brittle. And, you know, maybe they're like, well, you know, it saves us money this year. But you're probably going to replace that again at some point.

SPEAKER_04:

Oh, yeah, because in Texas, it's not like in Minnesota where you have a– that you've got to match it so that it looks pleasing to the eye. They don't have that in the policy system. They only owe you for the slopes that are actually damaged. But when you get a hailstorm, the rate of the hailstorms that we get, it's a rarity that only part of the roof will get hit and not the other half. And a lot of that is just training and the way adjusters are being trained by the carriers, by the supervisors. and how they go out there. They're going to tell you day in and day out that that's not what they do. They're there to find the damage and call it what it is. The bottom line is, I don't understand when they go out and look at a roof sort of like yours, and if there's any ambiguity, they're supposed to side with the insured, not say, oh, it's not damaged. Okay, if it's not damaged, where did you get the engineering degree that allows you to say that it's not damaged? Then what is it? Can't see that it's not damaged. Okay,

SPEAKER_00:

what is it? So the original inspectors who came out to, I guess, the adjuster who came out originally, does that guy typically work for the insurance company or no?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, it depends on the carrier and depends on if it's a large storm because you have a lot of captive adjusters that work for the carrier and then they hire a third party, like USAA. They don't have their own adjusters. They use Allcat. It's an adjusting firm that they use to do all their claims for.

SPEAKER_00:

So they're working for the insurance company, not for the homeowner.

SPEAKER_04:

No, they work for the insurance company.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so they're not really in the homeowner's corner. They're in the insurance company's corner.

SPEAKER_04:

Pretty much, yeah. You can say that because, you know, when you have a captive adjuster that comes to your house and they look at it, that captive adjuster will tell you, yeah, I see there's... He's got plenty of damage. We're going to replace it. And he'll tell you because he's a captive adjuster for that carrier he works for. So whatever he tells you, it's gold. You've got these third-party guys. They're going to tell you, well, you know, I've made my inspection. I'm going to send it in to the carrier, and they'll let you know. Can you ask for someone who works

SPEAKER_00:

for the

SPEAKER_04:

insurance company to come out and inspect it? Yeah, you can. Now, the thing is, do they have them or don't? In a lot of the smaller carriers, they won't have them. They'll have a private adjusting firm come out.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. So I guess what I was thinking is, you know, the one who's from the insurance company may be more thorough, but maybe not. I don't know.

SPEAKER_04:

Not always. I mean, that all comes down to a training issue. Okay. It just depends on how they're being trained. I mean, that money is technically yours. Your claim should be adjusted per code and up to construction standards. And a lot of these claims, like 90%, are not being adjusted that way. Because there's times that carriers will tell you they want you to remove and reset a vent. When all of your vent companies, like Lamanco, GAF, they have technical white sheets that tell you, do not reuse our vents. Once you start turning them off with these pitchforks, those flat bottoms are no longer flat anymore, and they can cause leaks. And that's why they don't want you reusing them because it's going to cause a leak. Okay, who's going to be responsible for it? The roofer,

SPEAKER_00:

the roofing company, or the carrier? Well, that kind of reminds me of when, like if you were to go up there and, like in the case with my claim, it was a small area. It, according to them, could have been repaired. If I would have gone up there and repaired it myself, or so I thought I did, which I probably would have done a crappy job because I don't know what I'm doing, then that could leave me exposed to future claims being denied because they're saying, well, why did you do it?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, exactly. And if you're not used to it, if you notice how Bruce was walking on your roof, and your roof is really not, well, to us it's not

SPEAKER_00:

steep. To me it is. Anybody else that's not

SPEAKER_04:

used to it, it's going to be, and then it was older, and those granules are just sliding, they're breaking off. underneath your feet bottom line is if you're not used to it don't get up there don't try to do the repair it's going to cost you more money if you slide off have to go to the doctor or if you don't do the repair properly and we get a storm and it blows it gets it worse now you're going to have damage inside

SPEAKER_00:

so i don't know if you because yeah i don't think you were you didn't get up there on the roof yourself and do the tearing off and putting on but i was going to ask you The repair job that was done, not by me, but somebody else, do you have an idea of what degree it was done well or not well? No idea. Yeah, I was just curious. Because, like, in that case, someone did the repair job, but, you know, I don't know how well they did it. You know, could it have been a good job, bad job? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04:

As a matter of fact, I mean, it shouldn't have been done. It should have just been covered up with the tarp, if anything. But I do understand there was rain coming in, but... it is what it is at this point.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's looks great now. And you know, that was another thing that threw me for a loop was, and you know, when I started getting estimates originally, they have people, the rovers came in and said, well, you have a three tab roof and they don't make that anymore. You know, it's being phased out. You really, this is what you need in an architectural roof. All those terms are, flew right by me because I didn't know what anybody was talking about. I had never even heard that term before.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, the shingle that you had on there was a three-tab, 20-year shingle that's no longer made, but they do make a three-tab and a 25-year shingle. However, these winds that we get through here, you'll end up having more wind damage. This roof that you have now that's an architectural or dimensional shingle has a higher wind rating. It's made by GAF. It's an HDZ. And it has, I believe, for the first five years, an unlimited wind coverage on it.

SPEAKER_00:

Meaning it shouldn't blow off is what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04:

They say they have an unlimited wind mile per hour coverage on it direct from the manufacturer. Oh, and this isn't being sponsored by the manufacturer. No. I just pulled it off right there. That's one of the manufacturers I like to

SPEAKER_00:

use. So you would think that the insurance company then would want you to have that kind of roof because the potential of having those kind of claims would be diminished. Yeah, but they're not going to pay for that upgrade. That's your deal. But if they don't make... 3Tab anymore, or is 3Tab not up to code anymore? Well, let's

SPEAKER_04:

put it this way. If 3Tab gets phased out completely and then there's a claim, all your policies, the majority of your policies, especially on the replacement cost policies, there's a code upgrade. All homeowners should be checking into that with their agents to make sure they got code upgrade. And that usually is about$20,000 in coverage for any code upgrades that need to take place during any kind of an insurance claim type issue. So like on the roof, let's say they don't make three. The manufacturers decide to phase it out. There's no more three tabs. Well, they got to move you up to the dimensional shingle the carrier does because it's part of that code upgrade

SPEAKER_00:

that goes on the policy. I mean, are you still doing any three tabs or you just say, no, we don't do that anymore?

SPEAKER_04:

I've done, oh gosh, it's like a handful. Okay. Like the last five years. I help people upgrade to a better shingle. I haven't done. I haven't done. Gosh. I think the last three. The last three tab was about a month ago. Oh,

SPEAKER_00:

okay.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. This year. That's only one. And we're in September. Did they want it? Or they, you just. They didn't want to. They didn't want to pay the difference for the upgrade and. They didn't want to deal with that. It's a good possibility. They want to get rid of the house. I don't

SPEAKER_00:

know. Okay. Okay. So when you have the difference between the two, obviously the dimensional roof is better. Yeah. Is it because the material's better? The material's better. It's a different

SPEAKER_04:

cut. It's a thicker shingle. It's got a better warranty on it. It's got better curb appeal also. It takes your house from sitting way back, and it pulls it up to the curb as you see on your house. Now, when you drive by it and you see it, it's all roof.

SPEAKER_00:

What about the... I mean, in most neighborhoods, all the roofs look alike for the most part. That's probably due to their HOA, but what if you... Wanted a metal roof. In fact, I read something somewhere. I think this somebody had moved down by the coast. I'm not sure if it was Texas or somewhere else, but they were told, I think by their insurance company, they had to go to a metal roof, a metal roof.

SPEAKER_04:

That's a possibility because your winds are coming in faster on the coast, so there's nothing stopping that wind as it's coming up. So you can get a better wind rating on a metal roof depending on how it's installed. But a metal roof is much more expensive than an asphalt

SPEAKER_00:

roof.

SPEAKER_04:

And I would think a lot noisier. I don't know. Yeah, it is. I mean, a lot of the guys that have probably lived out on a farm, I can remember at night when it starts raining, just... You get used to it. But, yeah, it's a little louder. Okay. You got to get a better... You got to change your insurance, though, when you go from an asphalt to a metal roof. Because on a metal roof, if you get held on it and you don't have an endorsement for appearance, and it looks like they... Somebody shot it with the shotgun. It looks like the cars when they get hail damage. They don't have to replace it. Really? Right. Because they're going to say that where it clips on, that that area had to have been crushed to where water can infiltrate the envelope. and they just won't replace it. So it's always, it costs a little bit more money, but if you get a metal roof, get the endorsement, an appearance endorsement, so that they can replace it for you.

SPEAKER_00:

So when you're talking about your insurance for your roof, do they all have wind and hail, you know, acts of God kind of damage, or do they exclude certain, you know, types of damage caused by certain types of weather?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, no, see, your... Your agents, your area agent, so we're talking to Texas only, right? So your agent here in Texas knows we get hail and we get high winds, so they're going to make sure you have that on there.

SPEAKER_00:

Your

SPEAKER_04:

policy. On your policy. And I know we're talking about just roofs, but the bottom line is when it's raining outside and it's storming and the winds are blowing, If you got water coming in, it is the number one important thing that, oh, my gosh, why didn't I take care of this sooner? It becomes a big issue in a very quick way when the storms are coming in. So, yeah, the number one thing that's protecting everything inside of your house, guys, it's your roof. Nobody thinks about it until a storm comes by or shingles are blown off or you

SPEAKER_00:

got a leak. Well, because... You found, what is it, you call it the underline? Underlayment. The what? The

SPEAKER_04:

underlayment.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, is that the wood part?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, your decking. Yeah, that is part of your underlayment also. Well, it's actually your deck.

SPEAKER_00:

And if, because it's the, I'm probably going in the reverse order, but it's the shingle on top, and then you have plastic. A synthetic underlayment that lays on top of the deck. Okay. Okay. And the deck is the wood. The wood. And underneath the wood is nothing.

SPEAKER_04:

Underneath the wood, you have your rafters or your trusses. And under that, then you have your insulation. But if that water makes it through because it wasn't done right, all that underneath is going to get wet.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And that underlayment, is that... I mean, when I've seen it, it kind of looks like plywood, but I don't know. Probably not plywood. I don't know what it is. You're talking about like the deck? Yeah, the deck. Pardon me. Yes. The

SPEAKER_04:

deck

SPEAKER_00:

is plywood. Oh, it is plywood.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. It depends on who the builder was. They either use literal plywood that are plies. A lot of your builders are going to an OSB, which is all the shavings that have been compressed and glued together to make your deck, your decking, which is like your plywood. And then on top of that, you put your underlayment. Back in the day before World War II, they didn't even use underlayment. You just put the wood shingles on top of lathing, which were 1x3s that were spaced out. And every time it rained, that wood would swell up and keep the water from coming in. It would drip a little bit, but then it would stop immediately as it would swell up. World War II, when the guys were coming back home, and you got all these houses that were being built, They'd have a deck on, and then they would come in and put all the drywall inside. And next thing you know, they'd have a rain, and it's like all this drywall just went bad. It's wet. Yeah. So that's when they came out with black paper that saturated in asphalt. Oh, okay. And it was designed to basically dry in the house. Dry in the house, and if any of your shingles flew off, if that felt paper was still there, it would keep you dry until it would blow off. Mm-hmm. Now, because of the chemicals that they put in the woods, that's what keeps the shingle touching that chemical and being damaged. But now we're not even using a lot of... 99% of your roofers are not even using asphalt paper to put as an underlayment on the deck underneath your shingles. We're all using synthetic underlayment, which is better for the homeowner because if part of your shingles come off, you've got a synthetic underlayment that'll still hold... and not blow off or get torn off because your paper, you'll just, it's paper, saturated in asphalt, it'll tear real easy.

SPEAKER_00:

Interesting. Well, again, I keep going back to, you know, your insurance company. I would think they would be very happy with you that you've upgraded to new technology and new construction techniques, which are up to new code. So the likelihood of things going south are, again, reduced substantially. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Right, and it does happen, but they're not going to pay for that upgrade for you. You've got to come out of pocket. So the next time there's a storm like on this one, they're going to have to pay you for a dimensional shingle and all of the extra stuff that I put on there, like the ice and water show and the valleys and around your pipe penetrations. I over-engineer these roofs so that I can sleep like a baby when the storms come through. I don't even worry about it. I sleep sound. Me too. Yeah, because the bottom line is, you know, you've got guys that– Don't do this kind of stuff. And they're like, oh, shit, there's a storm coming in. And they're worried. They're up all night because they know what kind of work they did.

SPEAKER_00:

But even though a new roof is put on, that doesn't mean, however, that you cannot sustain damage that requires you to have a roof replaced again.

SPEAKER_04:

That is correct. Like in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, they get storms up there because that's just the area they're in. I mean, they get storms every year. I mean, there's some people out there that get their roofs done once a year. The carrier cannot cancel your policy because you're making these claims because, by lack of a better way of putting it, it's an act of God, and they're not going to cancel you. They're going to pay every single time. So if you get held every year and it's baseball size and it damages it, guess what? You've got a$2,000,$3,000 deductible. You're going to pay that every year, and they're going to replace your roof every year.

SPEAKER_00:

This is what it is.

SPEAKER_04:

It is what it is. Interesting. A lot of people, because I get on a lot of houses where people go, well, it was just small hill.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. It's a real small hill. Then I get up there because they call me about a lake. And I'm like, you got hell throughout this whole thing. Because you got to look at it on top. It's sort of like on a dirty carpet, right? Yeah. You clean it and you put soap down, but you don't take all the soap off. And it'll get like a little grease mark, right? But when you're far away from that grease mark, you can't see it until you're right up on top and you're looking straight down at it. It's the same thing with hell. And then if that's not what you're used to looking at, your roof can look fine. I mean, from the bottom. Because when I looked at even your roof, from the ground I look at it, I'm like, looks good. Not until you can get up and it's like you're looking at it from... I couldn't get up at the time. You had a broken foot, so I was looking at it from the ladder, but I was above it. I go, okay, here's the hail. I mean, right here over your garage, I was just pointing it out. I could see it. And a lot of homeowners, the small quarter-sized hail comes two to three times in a period of three to four years or maybe five years. They get too old, your insurance company will tell you, sorry, it's wear and tear. Have a nice day. You get to pay for it. Every time there's a storm that comes through, it is advised to call your carrier regardless. So you made your claim. They deny it. You pop a leak. Now, wait a minute. How did this thing leak? If it wasn't leaking prior, what caused the leak? Is it from old hail damage that you guys denied that said that wasn't enough? Well, the proximate cause was a denial. So you want to tie it back into the carrier. So

SPEAKER_00:

if they go up and they say, hey, it's leaking because there was hail damage, but you never took care of it, so that's your fault? Yeah, because you never made a

SPEAKER_04:

claim. But if you got documentation that you made your claim, but they denied you, guess what? They're the ones that are on the hook because you made your claim, you're denied. Case in point, my sister in Lubbock, that's what happened to her. And I'm a roofer. She never mentioned anything to me.

SPEAKER_03:

So

SPEAKER_04:

I went there and I could feel the mold. Called the carriers like, hey, got some issues here. They said, well, they finally agreed to pay for the roof. And then they said they weren't going to pay for all the interior damage. I said, no, no, no, hold them up. You're going to get a supervisor and start pulling all these claims. My sister had it documented well. They paid for over$30,000 worth of interior damage. Oh, wow. Because they were denying her claim. So the proximate cause was a denial that they said wasn't hail damage, but they still said it was hail damage from back then. So it was all tied in, and they paid for it.

SPEAKER_00:

It's so crazy, like I said, because I guess you feel like you're doing the right thing, but sometimes you're like, well, you know, it doesn't... I guess you don't think that it's probably doing that much damage, so you don't think too much about it. You know, it's not leaking, so you don't think that probably it has really sustained a lot of damage, where... What do you know?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, check this out. Let me cut you off on that one. Let's do this. You're saying, it wasn't that much. I'm not going to call the insurance right now. Okay. Miss that monthly payment. Ah. What happens? Yeah, they cancel you. Right. And you're screwed. Now you've got a lapse in coverage. Now you've got to go look for another carrier, but you've got a lapse in coverage. Now your premium goes up even higher because you had a lapse in coverage.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, you don't want to have a lapse in coverage. So, yeah, trying to be the nice guy to the carrier. And I might be a little jaded because I see homeowners not being treated like they should be because you see all the– All of the commercials, we're here for you. You got my homes. You got all these guys that are endorsing them. And the policy, in essence, says this is what we're going to do for you. If you pay me this amount every month, if there's an issue, there's a claim, we're here. They got their two hands put together and they're cupping and you're right in the middle of that, baby. We're going to take care of you. But then the claim happens. They say, no, only a part of it. Or, no, there wasn't enough damage. But then you got two, three, four roofers to come and say, hey, buddy, what's wrong here? This is terrible. How could they miss something like this? That's what happens. really angers me carriers when they send your their paperwork to you about a claim one of those pages it talks about they tell you if anybody here committing fraud you're gonna go to jail this is what's gonna happen to you well when it isn't it really kind of like reverse fraud when they're telling you yeah not enough damage or they exclude things that need to be replaced because that common construction practices and they leave out stuff that's

SPEAKER_00:

actually code. And that's what happened to you. Yeah. That you submitted your estimate to them and they wrote or scratched off half of it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, they scratched out half of the stuff on your policy. I mean, on your claim. And it was a desk adjuster that did that. It's an adjuster that whether it's a female or a male, doesn't matter what color they are, None of that. They've never been on the roof and actually done the work that are determining these acts of taking off items that you've got to do it.

SPEAKER_00:

How can they realistically get away with that? You think that that would be illegal, honestly. I mean, true. Maybe people do add stuff that doesn't need to be there, but they should know the difference. I would think they would know the difference between this is required. This is common everyday stuff. You know, we see it all the time, so it's not unusual. This stuff is excessive. This is adding on where it doesn't need to be. You would think that they would know that, right? Like when you submitted your stuff, how were they able to say, nah, he doesn't need any of this stuff. They

SPEAKER_04:

can say that, but I have to prove, okay, here's construction best practices, and here's code, and this is what we do. Anything I said to the insurance company gets done. Now, there are guys that, people that break the law. There's people that speed all the time. You know, there's people that don't buy insurance, and you got to have at least liability, but it There's always that group of people that screw it up for the rest of them. Yeah. So there are roofers that don't do certain things. Well, guess what? Carrier, then it's your job to actually get it inspected then. Or if you want pictures as it's getting done, I don't have an issue. We take pictures. We show that it's getting done to prove that it's done. Yeah. Because we're not going to charge more than it needs to be. in order to get the job right. But I'll tell you one thing. If they're missing items, we're going to request it, and we don't move forward until they get done, that they pay for it. Because you shouldn't have to pay for it. The only thing you should pay for is your deductible. That's it.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, one of the things that they told me, which I also found curious, because, you know, even though they said that they replaced the roof 10 years ago, for whatever reason, I don't remember any of that. I don't know where I was, what I was doing. Who knows? But, you know, they did that. But this time... You know, when it happened, they said, I said, well, I'll go get three estimates for you. I guess that's old stuff because they were like, no, just go with whomever you want. But I had estimates anywhere from, you know, 30,000 and up, you know, into the 40s. And that surprised me that there was such a huge range. And it all seemed like they were telling me the same thing, but what do I know? You know, they show you the books and they show you the videos and, you know, they're always telling you that they're the best. And who do you know? I mean, you don't know. You don't know if they're the best or not.

SPEAKER_04:

True. And, you know, with today's technology and the amount of stuff that we have on Google, some of it, you know, it could just make you dangerous, right? Yeah. Enough but not enough. Yeah. But once you get through that first stage or the first claim, then you start to know, okay, these guys are blowing smoke. But the bottom line is, like me, I use a program called Xactimate. It's used by your big carriers. And Xactimate is priced at the middle of the line. Now, for an insurance adjuster to tell you, hey, go get your three claims. Well, when you get those three claims, I mean those three estimates, I apologize. Yeah, they're going to pick the cheapest one. What did the cheapest guy decide they were going to do?

SPEAKER_00:

And how long they've been doing roofs?

SPEAKER_04:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. They'll tell you anything.

SPEAKER_04:

You know what? You could be doing roofs for two years, but if you're doing it right, you're doing it right. If you're keeping up to code and you're doing all that good stuff, that's great, right? You could be a contractor that's been doing it for the last 30 years, but you're still doing stuff from 1970. You're not even using today's new technology when it comes to putting a roof together anymore. So, you know, you got that wide range there. But as long as you got somebody that you can kind of get in the middle, you don't need to get your three instruments. Tell the carrier to come out, do their job, adjust your roof, and then you can find somebody that you trust or ask one of your friends, hey, who did you use that you do good with you? Any of them license adjusters? Have you dealt with restoration? I don't want just the salesman. Right. I need somebody that has done the work. Those are the door knockers. A lot of them are. They're just salesmen like me, Bruce. We've done the work. I mean, literally done the actual work. And then when I actually hire a salesman, I get them to work. Literally. Literally. You need to know what you're selling. It's like, you're getting on here. You're going to work today and work with the guys. You're going to learn how to tear off. You're going to learn how to do the whole job so that you're not blowing smoke up people's butt. You're going to know exactly what you're doing. I run the things like I'm still in the Marine Corps. So I want guys that know how to actually put a roof together. So, yeah, you can have a wide range, but the bottom line, Xactimate will pull you right back to where you need to be. When you're having$40,000,$10,000,$15,000, then you got to determine, okay, well, what am I getting here? Right. Find somebody that's in the construction that knows a little bit about this. So, yeah, I can understand on a homeowner. It's like,

SPEAKER_00:

which way do I go? And if you're paying for this solely out of your own pocket for whatever reasons, I mean, I would think you're going to be a lot more conscientious about what you're paying for because it's coming out of your own pocket. When it's an insurance company paying for it, you're like, well, you know. You guys should know better.

SPEAKER_04:

Actually, some of those guys don't even know what's going on. I mean, I've had a few retail jobs where I come in and I'm advising. It's like, why are they doing that? No, you don't need this. I'm different. You know, I don't think about making today's buck. And I look at, yeah, making today's buck, but I want my homeowner to call me back 15, like, This storm that I'm working right now here in Austin, I'm doing houses that I did over 15 years ago. Oh, wow. People are calling me back to come and

SPEAKER_00:

do a new roof for them. Well, and, you know, I've referred you to other people because of the excellent work you did and how much effort you put into it as if it was your own claim, your own home that you were taking care of. That's how I felt.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, that's how I do talk to the carrier because they don't care. They really don't. You're not in all that good hands. You're only part kind of hanging off of that. I need to make sure that you're getting a quality job because you got a lot of stuff in here. We don't want that to get wet. Then it comes on my insurance, my reputation. So I need to make sure that it's done properly per industry standards and per code. And any insurance wants to come and take a look at it, come take a look at it. You'll see that it's all done properly.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you don't have the right insurance, you better have enough savings.

SPEAKER_04:

Big time. Because roofs now, I mean, these roofs, this roof 20 years ago was probably about$4,000. No kidding. Yeah. These are, what,$15,000,$16,000 roofs. Roofs have gotten extremely expensive. The material and labor has gotten really

SPEAKER_00:

expensive. Yeah. I guess, you know, like everything, inflation, but still, you know, it was eye-opening. The prices I get it, we're getting were eye-opening. Yeah,

SPEAKER_04:

but you guys make your claim when there's a storm that comes through. Call your carrier. But understand that your estimate you're getting, it's going to be shorted. That's all there is to it. They will short your claim on material that should be done, replaced, and replaced. I got files upon files upon files that have, I have the proof in the pudding that shows that they short stuff when they shouldn't have to, they shouldn't do it, and it constantly gets done, and I have to constantly call the insurance and tell them, no, you need to do this stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you were going to hire a roofer yourself, you weren't doing roofing anymore, of course, you know, it's different because you know all the ins and outs, but if that were the case, what would you look for in someone who you were going to hire to do your roof? somebody that carries

SPEAKER_04:

insurance because you don't want the homeowner you know somebody falls off and they don't have insurance you know general liability that's coming off of the homeowner's policy okay somebody that has insurance somebody that's using up-to-date techniques and prove it to me in writing okay some kind of a certification fund to manufacture like Say GAF. That's who I use. No, it's not being sponsored. But that's the number one shingle in this area. That's who I use.

SPEAKER_00:

And I actually have. And they certify roofers?

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, they certify roofers.

SPEAKER_00:

That you know how to use their product. Right. To install it specifically the

SPEAKER_04:

way they want it installed. Got it. And I have a book from GAF that says this is the way we want it done. And that's how we do it. Why? Because they have had roofs installed since 17, 18... I forget when the company was established. I mean, they've taken all this information over millions of roofs that have been installed, and this is how the best practice, this is the best way to

SPEAKER_00:

install them. Is code code across... I guess I was going to say across the country. I guess it's not. Code is code across the... the country

SPEAKER_04:

oh it is across the country okay so it just depends on the municipality which code did they uh adopt so let's say williamson county or leander let's just say let's call leander they adopted 2018 code so that's the code book that we'll use now A lot of carriers will tell you, oh, we want to see that it's being enforced. That's just for new construction. No, that's for any kind of construction. That's the minimum. And they sometimes want to say, like, for a starter, for the shingle. Well, we want to see that it's enforced, that you need to have it. No, the municipalities will never go below code. Any endorsements or any... Anything they attach, it's going to be above code. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. So it's always going to be a little bit better because code always, the IRC, International Residential Code for Single Home Dwelling, it even tells you, we'll refer you back to manufacturers because they can't encompass everything in the book, right? Right? So they can always refer you back to manufacturer instructions and whatnot. They're going to give you a guide, but then they send you back to the manufacturer. Sort of like, well, on a lot of your claims, the guys want to use reuse vents. Right. That's one of my biggest ones that they want to do. One, you refer back to the manufacturer, like Manco and GAF. They say don't reuse them because they can leak. Number two, rusted metal flashings are not to be reused per code. That's in the code. Well, you can't reuse them. They have to be replaced. A lot of carriers want you to reuse them. I ask them, hey, you want me to reuse it? Send us a letter that the homeowner will not be responsible for another claim or another deductible. Any damage that occurs, you'll pay for it. And guess what? Me, the contractor, I don't get to pay. There is no lawsuit against me. You make no claims. You don't hold me responsible. You will pay for all the damage. Never in 23 years have I had a carrier say, all right, I'll send you a letter. It doesn't happen. Yeah, probably. They don't want to be on the hook. No, because they would be on the hook. And then if I do something that's against code or industry best practices... And the homeowner takes me to court. Well, guess what the judge says? Who's the professional here? Aren't you the one that's doing it? Well, why didn't you tell them? Well, I did. They just didn't want to do it. Well, have a nice day. You get to fix this. And a lot of roofers out there will do that kind of stupid stuff where they'll take whatever the carrier, like especially your guys that wear the carrier. That's a good one. I haven't even thought about that one. It's where they're in the network for USAA or farms and whatnot. Well, guess what? You're not going to bite the hand that feeds you. Right. Carrier. So those guys, whatever the carrier says, they'll do.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

They're

SPEAKER_00:

not

SPEAKER_04:

doing

SPEAKER_00:

what's best for you. They're doing what's best for the carrier. A little bit of a sidebar, but are the gutters considered part of the roof or no?

UNKNOWN:

No.

SPEAKER_04:

It's part of the house. Some carriers are doing like AAA. They have changed some verbiage on the policy that states like metal flashings around the pipes and gutters are part of a metal roof component and they're not covered. Oh, okay. But that's just a play on verbiage that they've come out with. Because then you got to get an endorsement to get those paid.

SPEAKER_00:

So when you're looking at your insurance policy and you're looking specifically at your roof, you want to see that gutters are included, right?

SPEAKER_04:

Right. And that you got a replacement cost. It's just like when you buy your mortgage, you know, you want to make sure you got a 30 year level, not a balloon. Right. So it's a little bit of investigating that you have to do when you buy your policy and every time it renews, like even on my policy. And I'm a roofing contractor. My baby renews in June. I get my policy. I call my agent. Dude, we still got replacement costs on this because I know every time I call him, that call's being recorded. Yes, pull the policy because I don't have it with me. I'm usually driving. And he tells me, yep, you still got replacement costs. This is what we have. Okay, good. Poof. And I pay the renewal. Always ask. Replacement costs. There hasn't been any changes. Always check for that. How can the carriers drop you? Okay, let's say the ones that they can do is like, let's say you go out of town for five days. That washer, hose, it's under pressure. You got that baby on the whole time. When's the last time anybody's replaced those? It could be 10, 15, almost 20 years sometimes. They tell you if you pop that hose, they'll come and pay for it. Pay your claim. Hey, change these. Get the ones that have the steel over the, I forget what they're called. I apologize. It's a water hose, but it's got a steel mesh around it to hold it so it won't blow out. They last longer. And they tell you every time you go out of town, turn them off. Get a second claim. If this happens, we're going to cancel you on the next one because they've advised you this is what you have to do. Like when I go out of town even for the weekend, we turn off all the toilets and the hose to the washer. So I don't have to deal with that kind of an insured inside water claim. It's those little things that they know happen a lot. Once you're told, they can cancel you. It's not like auto insurance. Because an auto, you either drive or you don't drive.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And if you drive, everybody's at fault, 50%. Carrier just has to determine who's that one more percent, and that's who is at fault on a claim.

SPEAKER_00:

A homeowner's just totally different. You know, it's complex, but it's enlightening. And just having even, you know, enough to make you dangerous is helpful. Yeah. Because you don't know... How often do you deal with this stuff? I mean, you know, the... The average person, the lay person, we don't deal with it hardly ever. You deal with it every day. That, to me, is worth its weight in gold, having you, the expert, come out here, advise you, tell you what you should be doing, how this should be done. You can't put a price tag on that.

SPEAKER_04:

You had mentioned, how would I pick a roofer? Well, this is one of the best ways to do it. Listen to a podcast. Go on YouTube. Watch guys that are being interviewed. And you're going to see who's doing it wrong and who's doing it right. And on YouTube, they will throw you under the bus in a heartbeat and advise. This is the wrong guy to stay away from this roofer. This guy is a joke. Yeah. And they're going to interview the guys that are doing it proper. They're doing it right. And that's a way to kind of find out. And let's say that roofer is not in your area, doesn't service it. Call them. He'll advise you, oh, yeah, I got a buddy, or I know somebody that's doing this, and they'll advise you where to go, and that's one way to do it.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, speaking of that, how can people get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, they can call me on the cell phone at 512-577-9098.

SPEAKER_00:

That's awesome. That's awesome. That was so helpful, and I really appreciate you coming in. I know we took a lot of your time. You're busy. You know, we just had a crazy– Windstorm, rainstorm yesterday. It was

SPEAKER_04:

right over here. It was nuts. It was downbursts.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Right on the other side right here of Baghdad.

SPEAKER_00:

That was nuts. And to me, unexpected. I don't know if you expected it, but it sounded like hail to me. It did sound like hail, but I don't know. So just one last thing. So if you do see some hail, like you said, call your... Call your

SPEAKER_04:

insurance agent or the carrier. You can call the carrier. Carriers are open 24-7. You can make a claim 24-7. There's somebody there to take your claim. A lot of times they'll tell you, oh, call a roofer. No, come and do your job. That's why I pay my premium. It's for you to come out here. Not only to call a roofer, things are not done for free. That's why I pay you to come out here and do it. Oh, and by the way, guys, another way to get a hold of me is at AlexisRoofing.com. Perfect. Sorry about that. I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, good deal. Again, I really appreciate you coming out here. You did an amazing job. And, again, keep doing the good work and fighting the good fight because we all appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04:

Copy that.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks, Alex.

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Jerry Williams, MS-PFP

Host