Legal disclaimer

General information only

Everything on this site is general information about roofing in the United States. It is not legal advice, not insurance advice, not engineering advice, and not a professional assessment of your roof.

We have not seen your roof. We do not know its slope, its age, the condition of its decking, what is in your policy, or what your jurisdiction has adopted. Any of those can change the correct answer completely.

Structural work

Anything structural — trusses, rafters, framing, load, span, a sagging or spongy deck — should be designed or evaluated by a licensed professional engineer or a qualified structural contractor. Nothing here substitutes for that.

Insurance

We explain how roof insurance claims work, what adjusters generally evaluate, and what the terms in your policy mean.

We never predict whether a claim will be approved or denied. Nobody responsibly can. Coverage turns on your specific policy language, your state’s regulation, the adjuster’s findings, and facts we do not have.

We also do not encourage or discourage filing a claim. We set out how the process works and what the tradeoffs are — including that some carriers non-renew after claims — and the decision is yours.

For a specific dispute, your state department of insurance is the correct first contact. A licensed public adjuster or an attorney can represent you; we cannot.

Codes and licensing

Building code, wind and impact requirements, permit rules, contractor licensing and insurance regulation are set by state and frequently by county, and adoption of new code editions lags unevenly. Where we cite a code section we give the edition and the date we read it. Confirm what your jurisdiction has actually adopted with your local building department before relying on it.

Where we have not verified a state’s rules, we say so on the page and publish the department’s contact route rather than guessing.

Safety

Roof work is a leading cause of fatal falls in home improvement. Our safety verdict system is a genuine attempt to be honest about that, but it is a judgement made from a question, not from your roof. You are responsible for assessing your own situation, and if there is any doubt the answer is to hire someone.

Costs

Cost figures are estimates drawn from named third-party sources and labelled as estimates. They are not quotes, and they are not a promise that anyone will do the work for that price. Get local bids.

No warranty

The site is provided as-is. See the terms of service.