Storm Damage Roof Checklist for Des Moines Homeowners
The storm crossed the metro at dinner time, the power flickered, and now there are shingles in the yard and the neighbor's silver maple is in the street. September is the tail of Iowa's severe season, not the end of it, and most of the roof calls we get in the next two days follow the same pattern. Here's the order to do things in.
First hour: safety and photos
- Stay off the roof. Wet shingles on a two-story after a storm put people in the hospital every year. Nothing up there needs you tonight.
- Look for power lines down in the yard or across the roof before you go outside at all. Treat every line as live.
- Photograph from the ground. Shingles in the yard, the slope they came from, dented gutters and downspouts, pockmarked siding, damaged window screens, hail on the deck or the car. Get the date and time into the photos.
- Photograph inside. Any drip, stain or wet insulation. Move furniture, put a bucket down, and if water is coming through a light fixture, turn off that breaker.
First day: stop the water
If there's a hole, a tree limb through the deck, or a bare patch of decking, it needs a tarp before the next rain. In central Iowa the next rain is usually within 48 hours. Emergency roof repair in Des Moines after a storm is triaged by water coming in, so tell us clearly whether it's dripping now or just looks bad from the yard.
Tarping costs $300–$700 depending on the roof and is almost always covered by the claim as emergency mitigation. Keep the receipt. A tarp is a two-week fix, not a season's.
What each kind of storm does
Hail. Bruises — dark spots the size of a dime to a golf ball, soft to the thumb, scattered at random, heaviest on the slope that faced the storm. Invisible from the ground. From the yard you'll see dented gutters, soft-metal vents with dimples, and shredded screens. Hail damage roof repair in Des Moines is usually a slope or a full replacement, not a patch.
Straight-line wind. Lifted and creased shingles, torn-off tabs, exposed underlayment. Creased shingles lie back down and look fine from the ground, and each one is a leak next spring. The August 2020 derecho did this to roofs across Polk County, and we still find its creases on inspections.
Tree strikes. Limbs through the deck, gutters torn off, broken trusses. Des Moines has a lot of 70-year-old silver maples and cottonwoods and a lot of standing dead ash. A limb on the roof is an emergency; a limb through the roof is a same-day tarp.
Wind-driven rain. Rain pushed uphill under the shingles for hours. The roof isn't damaged, but the house leaks at flashing that was marginal already. Not usually covered.
First two days: get it inspected properly
A ground look won't find hail bruising or creased shingles. Someone needs to walk the roof, mark a 10x10 test square on each slope, and count. That's what the adjuster will do, and it's what we do first so you know whether a claim makes sense before you call it in.
A claim makes sense when the damage is widespread — hail hits across a slope, a creased slope, a tree strike, water inside. It doesn't for six missing tabs and a $500 repair against a $3,000 deductible.
Calling your insurer
- Have your policy number, the date and time of the storm, and your photos.
- Ask for the claim number, the adjuster's name and the inspection date.
- Tell them if you've had to tarp. Mitigation is expected and covered.
- Ask whether your policy has a separate wind and hail deductible, and whether it pays replacement cost or actual cash value on the roof. Many Iowa policies written in the last few years have changed both.
- Have your roofer meet the adjuster. It keeps the count honest in both directions.
The Iowa Insurance Division publishes storm-claim guidance and takes complaints if a claim goes sideways.
The door-knockers
Within 48 hours of any hail storm, out-of-state crews work Ankeny, Waukee, Grimes and Altoona street by street. Some are fine. The rules that protect you:
- Iowa law bars any roofing contractor from offering to pay, waive or rebate your deductible. That "free roof" is your deductible added to a padded invoice.
- Iowa law also gives you the right to cancel a roofing contract if the insurer denies the claim.
- Don't sign an assignment of benefits, a contingency agreement or anything else on the porch. Take the card, check their Iowa contractor registration, and get a written scope.
The checklist, short form
- Photos from the ground and inside, with dates
- Tarp if water is coming in or decking is exposed
- Walked inspection with test squares before you file
- Claim number, adjuster name, deductible and ACV/RCV confirmed
- Roofer at the adjuster meeting
- Nothing signed on the doorstep
Our storm damage page covers how the claim runs from here, and if the roof turns out to be fine, the inspection will say so.
Need roof work in Des Moines?
Call for a free estimate. Mon–Sat 7am–7pm.