(214) 807-0414Request an assessmentStorm documentation
A storm gets documented badly in a fairly predictable way: a handful of undated photos taken a week later, from the ground, of the one thing that was easiest to see. A record built properly is worth having whether a claim goes your way, goes against you, or never gets filed at all. It is also worth having in five years.
In short
A photograph without a date is an assertion. Photograph the interior and the accessible exterior as soon as it is safe, keep the original files with their timestamps intact, and note the date of the storm separately from the date you looked.
01
This is the part people ignore and it is the part that hurts them. Wet roofs, storm debris, damaged decking and downed lines are how post-storm injuries happen. Everything a homeowner needs to capture can be captured from the ground, from a window, or from inside the attic if it is safe to enter.
02
If you tarped, boarded, moved contents, ran fans or paid someone to stop water at two in the morning, keep the receipts, the invoices and photographs of the work in place. Emergency protection is part of the event record, and it is easy to lose track of within a week.
03
A dated condition file is useful long after the claim closes. It establishes what the property looked like before the next storm, it supports a sale disclosure, it settles arguments about whether a condition is new, and it gives any future contractor a starting point better than guesswork.
Questions
Not by themselves. Photographs establish condition and date. Cause is determined by examining pattern, material response and collateral indicators, and coverage is determined by your carrier. Good documentation supports that process rather than replacing it.
More than feels necessary, and wider than the damage. Include full elevations and full rooms for context, then close detail. A close-up with no surrounding frame is hard to place later, including by you.
No. Conditions change, water dries, debris gets cleared and temporary repairs cover things up. Document as soon as it is safe, then keep documenting as things progress.
No, but be honest about what the record is. Document the condition now and date it now, and record the storm date separately as what it is — a date you are referring back to, not a date you photographed. Earlier evidence sometimes exists elsewhere: listing photographs from a sale, a previous inspection report, work invoices, or images taken for some other reason entirely. A record that starts today is worth having. One that pretends to be older than it is is worth less than nothing.
Yes, and where water is entering you should. Stopping further damage is expected of a property owner rather than held against you. Photograph the condition before you change it, keep any material you remove where that is practical, and keep the receipts for whatever the emergency work cost. What causes trouble is not the temporary work. It is temporary work with no record of what it went over.
Assessment request
Short, routing-only questions. Nothing here asks you to diagnose the roof yourself.