So a Clovis Storm Just Tore Up Your Roof, Here's What to Do (and Not Do)

I'm writing this the morning after one of those nasty late-winter cells rolled through Clovis. My phone's been buzzing since 6am, a tree on a house off Shaw, a carport flipped near Old Town, three or four lifted-shingle calls in Harlan Ranch. Same story every spring. So instead of typing the same advice over text 30 times, I'm putting it here.

First: don't climb on your own roof

I know. It's tempting. You want to see how bad it is. Please don't. Wet shingles are slick as ice, and the part you can see from the ground usually isn't the part that's actually broken. Every year Clovis fire-rescue pulls somebody off a roof who was 'just going to look real quick.' That ER bill will dwarf any roof repair.

Walk the perimeter of the house. Look up. Take pictures with your phone. If you see daylight where there shouldn't be daylight, debris hanging off the eaves, or shingles in your yard, you've got damage and you need to move on to step two.

Tarp it before you do anything else

If there's an active leak, getting a proper tarp on the roof in the first 24 hours is more important than picking a contractor. Water that sits in an attic for two days turns a $1,800 repair into a $14,000 mold remediation. Any legitimate Clovis roofer will come out same-day to tarp, and most of us don't charge for it if you end up using us for the repair. If somebody quotes you $900 to throw a tarp on, that's your sign to call the next number.

Take pictures of the damage before AND after the tarp goes on. Date-stamped photos save you headaches with your insurance adjuster later.

About those door-knockers

Within roughly 48 hours of any real Clovis storm, out-of-state crews will start knocking. Pickup with a magnet sign, 'we noticed some damage from the road,' clipboard, fast talker. Some are legitimate. Most are not. Here's how to tell the difference in about 90 seconds:

Ask for their California contractor's license number and look it up on cslb.ca.gov on your phone while they stand there. A real contractor expects this. A storm chaser will get weirdly defensive. Also ask where their physical office is. If the answer involves 'we're working out of a hotel right now', that's your cue.

I'm not saying every out-of-area crew is bad. I'm saying the cleanup cycle after a big storm attracts predators, and Clovis homeowners get hit harder than most because we've got the mix of newer neighborhoods and people who haven't been through a claim before.

Calling your insurance, the order matters

Don't sign anything with a contractor before you talk to your insurance company. I repeat: don't sign anything. Some of those 'contracts' the door-knocker hands you are actually assignment-of-benefits forms that legally hand your insurance claim over to them. Once you've signed, you've lost a lot of control.

Call your insurer, open a claim, get a claim number. Then have an independent roofer (someone local, someone you can drive to) do an inspection and give you a written estimate. When the adjuster comes out, having your own contractor on the roof at the same time is incredibly helpful. They can point out damage the adjuster might miss, bruised shingles, hail-dinged vents, lifted ridge cap. That conversation often makes the difference between a partial repair check and a full roof replacement approval.

What insurance usually covers in the Valley

Wind damage and impact damage (branch, hail, debris) are almost always covered on a standard California homeowner's policy, minus your deductible. What's NOT usually covered: wear and tear, prior damage that wasn't repaired, or 'cosmetic' damage on some policies. Read your declarations page or ask your agent, every policy has weird carve-outs.

If your roof is more than 15 years old, ask specifically whether you have replacement cost value (RCV) or actual cash value (ACV). ACV depreciates the roof and you'll get a lot less. Worth knowing before you need it, not after.

Repair vs. replace, the honest version

Sometimes it's genuinely a repair. A few lifted shingles on an otherwise healthy roof? Fix it, move on, life's good. But if your roof is already 18 years old and the storm just exposed how brittle everything has gotten, patching it is throwing good money after bad. A reputable Clovis roofer will tell you the truth either way, even if the truth is 'we don't need to sell you a new roof today.'

That second opinion is everything. If your contractor refuses to give you a written scope of work, walks the roof in 5 minutes, or pressures you to sign before you've thought about it, close the door. There will be another roofer. There always is.

Stay safe, Clovis. We'll get you back to normal.