Salt Lake City & surrounding counties
When the wind gets under your shingles
Gusts that run through Davis County loosen tabs and sometimes carry them off. We cover what is open first and then do the real repair, with photographs of all of it.
Why the wind hits harder here
Davis County is a narrow strip with the lake on one side and the mountains on the other, and moving air gets squeezed into that gap. North Salt Lake sits at the south end of it, where the strip begins. Houses up on the slopes and the ones facing open ground take gusts that a sheltered street a few blocks over may never feel.
Wind does its damage at the edges first: the eaves, the rakes, the ridge and any spot where the shingles had a weak seal to begin with. Our general wind damage roofing page explains how shingles are rated to hold. This page covers what we find on North Salt Lake roofs after a blow, and how we handle it.
Four things the wind leaves behind
Shingles fail in wind in a few predictable ways, and each one gets a different fix.
What a torn ridge line looks like
Gray three-tab torn up and pushed out of line along a ridge, with black felt showing where it used to lie, is what a row looks like once it has started to go. Once the wind gets one edge up, the next gust has a handle, and the damage runs along the row.
Felt is a backup layer. It will turn some rain for a little while, and it was never meant to sit in the sun and weather. When we see this much opened up, the first job is a cover over the bare area, fastened along its edges so the wind cannot lift that too.
Ridge cap fails the same way, and it matters more there. The cap covers the top of the deck and, on many roofs, the ridge vent slot. When a few pieces blow off, rain drops straight into the attic through the opening meant for air. We replace the cap with new pieces, nailed through the vent into the deck with fasteners long enough to hold.
From the first call to the finished repair
Your description
Tell us which side of the house took the wind and whether anything is lying in the yard. Pieces on the ground tell us where to look up top.
Dry-in
If the deck or felt is exposed, we cover it as soon as we can get there and hold it down against the next gust.
Walk the whole roof
Damage is rarely in one spot. We check every slope for lifted and creased tabs, including the ones you cannot see from the street.
Photographs
Every damaged area gets photographed before we touch it, close up and from far enough back to show where it sits on the roof.
Permanent repair
Once the weather settles, missing and creased pieces get replaced, loose tabs get resealed by hand and the ridge cap goes back on with new nails.
When an old roof will not take a patch
A few tabs missing from an otherwise intact gray field, with bare OSB showing in the gap, looks like an easy fix. On a newer roof it usually is. We break the seal on the course above, slide a new strip in, nail it where it belongs and seal the tabs back down.
Older three-tab is a different story. After enough summers the asphalt dries out and the shingles snap like crackers when you try to lift them, so pulling up the course above a missing piece breaks two more. A repair on a roof like that turns into a growing hole. We will tell you when we reach that point and show you the cracked pieces, and you decide whether to patch what we can or plan a replacement.
If it does come to a new roof, the nail line and the starter strips at the edges decide how well it holds the next time, which is what our architectural shingle roofing page for North Salt Lake walks through.
A tab that flapped all night can lie flat by morning with its seal already gone.
Photographs and the insurance question
Wind claims are handled differently from one policy to the next, and we cannot tell you ahead of time what yours will pay for. What we can do is document the roof well. You get photographs of each damaged area, wide and close, along with a plain description of what we found and what it takes to put it right.
Hail is its own matter. When hail has hit the roof, we work through the claim with your insurer to get it covered. If the same storm brought both, our Davis County hail damage page explains that side. Tabs lifted beside a wall or a chimney can loosen the step flashing tucked under them, which our flashing repair page for North Salt Lake covers.
For other work in town, the North Salt Lake service page has the list. Call (801) 382-8898 when the wind has done its work, or reach us through the contact page. The gallery shows repaired and replaced roofs.
Where North Salt Lake sits on our map
The hillside houses above the refinery flats catch the Davis County gusts before the sheltered streets below them do.
Wind damage questions
What homeowners ask after the gusts die down and they start looking up.
(801) 382-8898How can I tell if my roof has wind damage?
From the ground, look for shingle pieces in the yard, a ridge line that is not straight, or dark patches where a tab used to be. Lifted tabs that look flat are hard to spot without climbing up, which is why we walk every slope.
Can unsealed shingles be sealed again?
Often, yes. If the tab is whole and still flexible, we clean under it and set it down in roofing adhesive by hand. A creased or torn tab gets replaced, because the break across the mat will let water through no matter how well it is glued.
Will my insurance pay for wind damage?
That depends on your policy and your insurer, and we will not guess at it for you. We provide a clear record: photographs of every damaged area and a plain account of the repair, which gives your adjuster something real to look at.
Should I go up on the roof myself after a storm?
Please do not. Wind-damaged shingles slide underfoot, and a loose ridge cap can give way. Pictures from the yard or a window are plenty for us to start with, and we will handle the climbing.
Does wind damage mean I need a whole new roof?
Most of the time it means a repair. A full replacement makes sense when the damage is spread across several slopes or the shingles are too brittle to lift without breaking. Either way, you see the photographs first and make the call.
The rest of the North Salt Lake work
Talk to Hancock
Talk to Hancock after the wind
Send a few pictures from the yard and tell us which side took the gusts. We will take it from there.