One Hailstorm, Two Roofs, Sixty Seven Squares
The April storm that crossed northwest Huntsville didn’t stop at the house. This Country Road property has a detached shop building set back from the main structure, and both took the same hail on the same afternoon. Both ended up in the same claim.
That’s worth knowing if you own outbuildings. Detached garages, shops and barns usually fall under a separate coverage line on a homeowners policy, and they get overlooked constantly, either because the adjuster only measured the house or because the homeowner never thought to mention the shop. A roof is a roof. If hail bruised the shingles on one, it bruised them on the other.
What the measurements looked like
The main roof came in at 5,459 square feet, 54.59 squares, with 466 feet of perimeter and 127 feet of ridge. The shop added another 12.39 squares. Call it 67 squares of tear off across the property, plus a 30 yard dumpster for the house and a 12 yard for the shop.
Pitch is the number that shaped the schedule. Just over 40 squares of the main roof sit at 10/12 to 12/12. The shop has nearly six squares steeper than 12/12, which is unusual on an outbuilding and means the crew staged it the same way they staged the house rather than treating it as the easy part of the day.
Synthetic underlayment and a proper ice and water line
Both structures went back down over synthetic underlayment rather than felt. Synthetic holds up better during the install window, doesn’t wrinkle when it gets rained on before the shingles go down, and weighs a fraction of what felt does when somebody is carrying rolls up a 12/12.
270 square feet of ice and water barrier went in at the vulnerable areas. North Alabama doesn’t get the ice damming that drives that product in colder markets, but wind-driven rain up the eaves does the same damage on a slower timeline, and it’s cheap insurance on a roof this steep. That reasoning carries across most of our Huntsville roof replacements.
Scope across both structures:
- House: tear off composition shingles (54.59 SQ), new laminated shingles (59 SQ)
- House: synthetic underlayment (54.59 SQ), ice and water barrier (270 SF)
- House: universal starter course and drip edge (465.91 LF each)
- House: hip and ridge cap (146 LF), continuous ridge vent (120 LF)
- House: step flashing (105 LF), galvanized L flashing (19 LF)
- House: chimney flashing, 32″ x 36″ (1 EA), pipe jack flashing (1 EA)
- House: sheathing replacement on steep slope (5.74 SF)
- Shop: tear off composition shingles (12.39 SQ), new laminated shingles (14 SQ)
- Shop: synthetic underlayment (12.39 SQ)
- Shop: starter course and drip edge (141 LF each)
- Shop: hip and ridge cap (33 LF), continuous ridge vent (33 LF)
- Aluminum gutter and downspout (86 LF)
- Gutter guard and screen detached and reset (86 LF)
- Window screens (3 EA)
- Dumpsters, 30 yard and 12 yard
Recoverable depreciation is the part people leave on the table
This roof had 67.5 percent depreciation applied to it, which is normal for an older asphalt roof and looks alarming on the first settlement letter. The carrier pays actual cash value up front, holds back the depreciation, and releases it once the work is finished and documented.
That release doesn’t happen automatically. It happens when a certificate of completion goes in with photo documentation attached showing the work that was actually performed. Homeowners who self-manage a claim sometimes never send it, and the held-back money stays with the carrier. Getting that paperwork submitted correctly is a standing part of how we run insurance claims, and it’s the difference between a roof that costs a deductible and one that costs considerably more.
Two days in August
Work started on a Tuesday and finished Wednesday. Sixty seven squares across two structures on a property with plenty of room to stage material, which helps more than people realize. Tight lots are what slow a roof down, not square count.
Storms across Madison County tend to arrive with enough force to matter and not enough visible damage to alarm anybody, which is how roofs quietly lose years of life. If April went over your property, a roof inspection settles the question, and we cover Huntsville and the surrounding communities year round.