Storm Damage Repair
Fast Response. Insurance Expertise. Full Restoration.

When the Storm Leaves, the Work Starts

An atmospheric river parks itself over the Bay Area for three days, the Diablo winds come through at 65 mph the following week, and by the time the sky clears you've got granules in the gutters, a ridge cap hanging by one nail, and a suspicious brown stain spreading across the guest-room ceiling. Welcome to East Bay winter. We've been handling the aftermath since 1988, which puts us at somewhere north of a thousand insurance claims across every major carrier operating in California.

Storm damage work isn't the same as emergency work. The water isn't coming in anymore — or it is, but it's the slow drip from trapped moisture rather than the fire-hose of an active event. What you need now is someone who can find every square foot of damage (including the parts the adjuster won't see from the ground), estimate the repair in the format the carrier actually uses, advocate for a fair settlement, and then execute the restoration to pre-loss condition with material that'll match your existing roof. That's the scope of this page.

What We Handle

East Bay storm damage falls into a few recurring categories, and the fix is different for each.

Wind-lifted shingles and ridge cap failures. Diablo wind events through the Lamorinda corridor, the Oakland/Berkeley hills, and the Danville/Alamo hillsides regularly peel ridge caps off homes that've been fine for fifteen years. The tabs don't always blow away — sometimes they lift, break the seal strip underneath, and reseat looking identical from the driveway. We inspect every ridge line, hip, and field for lifted tabs and broken seals.

Atmospheric river underlayment failure. This is the one homeowners don't see coming. When rain runs for 48-72 hours, water saturates underlayment, finds every nail hole, and tracks under shingles in places the roof has shed rain perfectly for years. The leak shows up weeks after the storm, because that's how long it takes the trapped moisture to stain the ceiling. We trace back from the interior stain through the attic to find the actual entry point.

Valley debris damming. Winter storms drop pine needles, oak leaves, and eucalyptus strips into valleys. Debris builds up, water backs up, and the next storm pushes water under the valley metal or the shingle overlap. The repair is cleaning, inspecting the valley material for wear, and sometimes replacing the valley metal entirely.

Gutter overflow damage. When gutters clog and overflow during a heavy rain, water runs behind the fascia, saturates the sheathing edge, and rots the eave from the inside. The gutter still looks fine from the ground. We open the eave, dry it out, replace any rotted decking or fascia, and reinstall gutters with proper outlets.

Tree branch impact. Mature Monterey pine, eucalyptus, and coast live oak drop limbs during wind and saturated-soil events. A branch that looks minor from the ground often punched a deck and cracked a rafter below. We coordinate with tree removal partners and inspect framing before pricing the repair.

Hail damage (rare but not unknown). Bay Area hail is uncommon but does happen. Impact signature on asphalt shingles shows as round dents, granule loss rings, and bruising that's visible on close inspection but invisible from the ground. Hail damage is a legitimate claim under most HO-3 policies and accelerates shingle aging significantly.

Skylight seal damage. Wind-driven rain and flexing from pressure changes during a major storm can break the seal between a skylight and its flashing kit. We see this most often on VELUX and Fakro units that are more than 15 years old.

When You Need This

Call us after any major East Bay weather event — a named atmospheric river, a Diablo wind warning, a weeklong rain streak, or any storm where the NWS issued a high wind advisory for your zip code. You don't need visible damage to justify the inspection. We find storm damage on 40-50% of the roofs we inspect after major events, and on probably 20% of those, the homeowner didn't know anything was wrong.

Anecdote: last March I did a post-storm inspection on a Lafayette home where the homeowner was convinced nothing was wrong. The roof looked clean from the driveway. On the back slope I found a 12-foot section of ridge cap that had been lifted, reseated crooked, and was leaking into a dormer cavity that hadn't shown any interior evidence yet. The homeowner's insurance covered the repair — if he'd waited until the ceiling stained, the claim would've been three times larger and involved drywall and insulation replacement.

Our Process

1. Free post-event inspection. We walk every plane of the roof, document with photos, check every flashing, valley, ridge, and penetration, and write a damage summary within 24 hours. No obligation, no charge, and no upsell.

2. Claim consultation. We explain what we found, what's likely storm-related versus pre-existing, and whether the damage clears your deductible. If it doesn't, we tell you and you don't file. If it does, we help you file.

3. Documentation package. Photos, measurements, weather-event correlation (dates of local wind/rain events), and a Xactimate-format estimate with line items that match the way your carrier calculates claims.

4. Adjuster meeting. We meet your adjuster on the roof. Having a contractor present during the inspection dramatically changes how thoroughly the scope is documented — adjusters move faster and miss more items when they're alone on a wet roof.

5. Supplement filing. About 60% of the time, the initial estimate misses something. We file supplements with additional documentation and photos, and push until the approved scope matches the actual repair scope.

6. Repair execution. Once the claim is approved, we schedule the work. Materials color-matched to your existing roof. Structural repair where needed (sister rafters, new decking, proper blocking). Everything installed to manufacturer spec with full workmanship warranty.

7. Final documentation. Completed-repair photos, warranty paperwork, final invoice matching the approved claim amount, and a closed-file summary for your records.

Products We Use for Storm Repair

For shingle replacement and matching, we stock GAF Timberline HDZ, GAF Timberline AS II Class 4 impact shingles (an upgrade option on claims where the carrier allows impact-rated materials), CertainTeed Landmark and Landmark Storm, and Owens Corning Duration Storm. Underlayment replacement uses GAF StormGuard ice and water shield at valleys and penetrations, GAF FeltBuster or Tiger Paw synthetic for the field. Flashing metal is 26-gauge galvanized or copper depending on the existing assembly. Pipe boots are Oatey Master Flash or Perma-Boot depending on pipe diameter and exposure.

For tile repair, we source Boral, Eagle, and US Tile matching stock. For metal roof dent repair on hail claims, we work directly with Decra and Metal Sales manufacturer reps when replacement panels are needed.

Code Requirements

Storm damage repair falls under CRC R908 (re-roofing) when the repair extends beyond a single roofing square. For WUI-zone homes (large portions of Oakland, Berkeley, Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Danville, Alamo, and San Ramon hills), any new material must comply with California Building Code Chapter 7A — Class A fire-rated assembly, ember-resistant vents, noncombustible gutters. Permit requirements vary by jurisdiction; Contra Costa County runs permits through the ePermits Center in Martinez, Alameda County through the city building departments. We pull the permits for you.

Insurance claim documentation has its own code-compliance requirement — carriers won't pay for repairs that bring the roof out of code, and they also won't pay extra for code upgrades unless your policy includes "code upgrade coverage" as an endorsement. Check your declarations page. Most HO-3 policies in California include code upgrade coverage at $5,000-$10,000.

Pricing and Timeline

Minor wind damage (shingle replacement, ridge cap, flashing touch-up): $1,500-$4,000. Moderate damage (valley repair, multi-plane, gutter damage, partial re-roof): $4,000-$8,000. Major damage (tree impact, structural repair, extensive material replacement): $8,000-$15,000+.

Timeline from first call to completion, for an insurance-covered repair, typically runs 3-6 weeks: inspection in 24-48 hours, adjuster meeting within 1-2 weeks, claim approval in 1-2 weeks after that, scheduling and execution within another 1-2 weeks. For direct-pay repairs without insurance involvement, we can compress that to 5-10 business days.

East Bay Cities We Serve

Storm damage response covers all 38 East Bay cities in our service area: Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Moraga, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Alamo, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Piedmont, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, San Leandro, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, Newark, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Clayton, Bay Point, and the San Rafael/Marin corridor. Full list on our locations page.

Protect the Roof Before the Next Storm

Best time to stop storm damage is before it happens. Schedule a September or October pre-season inspection. We identify and repair vulnerable areas — cracked flashing, lifted shingles, deteriorated pipe boots, clogged gutters — for a fraction of what the claim would cost. Over 60% of the storm damage we fix each winter is damage that a $350 fall maintenance visit would've prevented.

Call for a Free Storm Damage Inspection

No charge, no obligation, no high-pressure pitch. Call (925) 722-4916 or request an inspection online. We're C-39 licensed (CA #987654), GAF Master Elite, CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster, BBB accredited, and 4.9 stars across 527 reviews. Based at 2310 Bates Ave #AA in Concord since 1988 — same ownership, same crew leads, same warranty.