Lomita, CA
Storm damage, and what to do first
The first hour after a storm is about stopping water, not about getting the best price. Those are two separate jobs and they happen in that order.
Describe the storm damage job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Lomita contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Lomita is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Before you let anybody on the roof
The things worth pinning down on a storm damage job. A contractor who has not raised them has not looked properly.
- A local address you could actually drive to
- A written scope of the work, line by line
- Whether the contractor is licensed and insured in this state
- What the emergency tarp costs, separate from the repair
- Photographs of the damage before any work happens
Do not sign anything on the doorstep. Read any contract twice before you sign it; most home improvement contracts in California can be cancelled within three business days.
Damage that matters is often invisible from the ground. Bruised shingles, lifted seals and hairline mat fractures fail years later, long after the storm is forgotten.
Keep every receipt, including the tarp and the emergency call-out. They are part of the record of what happened and what it cost.
Locally
Then, less dramatically: dry offshore wind that arrives all at once in autumn. Dry offshore wind lifts material that damp coastal air had been holding down. Most wind losses here happen on a handful of nights a year.
About storm damage here
How many contractors will contact me?
No more than three. We picked that number because two quotes is not enough to spot an outlier and five is an ordeal.
What warranty should I expect?
Ask for both in writing: the material warranty from the manufacturer and the workmanship warranty from the contractor. The second one is the one that matters in year three, and it is only as good as the company behind it.
Is moss on the roof a problem?
Yes, eventually. Moss holds water against the shingle and lifts the edges as it thickens. Zinc or copper strip at the ridge suppresses it. Pressure washing an asphalt roof strips the granules and does more harm than the moss did.
I have solar panels. What happens to them?
Panels have to be detached and reset. Budget for it separately and coordinate the two trades. Never put a new solar array on a roof with under ten years left.
Get it priced
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.