La Palma, 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 La Palma contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in La Palma 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.
- Whether the contractor is licensed and insured in this state
- What the emergency tarp costs, separate from the repair
- A written scope of the work, line by line
- A local address you could actually drive to
- Photographs of the damage before any work happens
If two contractors describe the damage differently, ask each to show you on the roof or in their photographs. It changes the conversation.
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.
Photograph the outside, the inside, and the date. Then get a tarp on it. Photographs of the original damage are a record nobody can argue with; a description of what it looked like before the repair is not.
Locally
The second problem is the marine layer keeping the north slope damp. It is why two identical houses on the same street can be ten years apart on the same roof, depending on which way they face.
About storm damage here
Are gutters included in a re-roof?
Normally a separate line. It is the one add-on that genuinely costs less when done at the same time.
Can I stay in the house while it is done?
Most people do. Expect noise from early morning, dust in the attic, and a day where the driveway belongs to the crew.
What if the decking is rotten underneath?
Expect a few sheets on most older roofs. Get the per-sheet rate in the contract. Open-ended decking charges are where a fixed price stops being fixed.
Are you a roofing company?
No. Beacon Roof Systems — La Palma is a free matching service. We do not hold a roofing licence, we do not employ crews, and we never come to your house. We pass your request to independent local contractors who do the work and who you hire directly.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.