Montclair, CA
Storm damage, and what to do first
Photograph everything before anybody touches the roof. A record made on the day is worth more than any description afterwards.
Describe the storm damage job
Three questions, then the address. Up to three Montclair contractors who do this work.
You are on the list.
No provider in Montclair 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
- A written scope of the work, line by line
- Photographs of the damage before any work happens
- What the emergency tarp costs, separate from the repair
- A local address you could actually drive to
Do not sign anything on the doorstep. Read any contract twice before you sign it; most home improvement contracts in California can be cancelled within three business days.
Keep every receipt, including the tarp and the emergency call-out. They are part of the record of what happened and what it cost.
A local contractor who inspects and documents properly is more use to you than a fast one who is already on the roof.
Locally
The second problem is ember intrusion through vents and open eaves. Most houses lost to wildfire are lost to embers arriving ahead of the fire, not to the fire itself.
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.
It is leaking right now. What do I do?
Contain the water, photograph everything, and get the request in marked as an emergency. A tarp is the right first job. The permanent repair is a separate conversation and a separate price.
Why does ventilation keep coming up?
Because a badly ventilated attic cooks the roof from underneath and takes years off it. Intake at the eaves and exhaust at the ridge, in balance. It is cheap during a re-roof and awkward afterwards.
Should I take the cheapest quote?
Not automatically. Put the quotes side by side on layers, not on totals — underlayment, ice-and-water, drip edge, valley treatment, ventilation, decking allowance, warranty. Cheap usually means less of those, not the same roof for less money.
Get the roof looked at
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.