Bob CollinsIt hailed this weekend and that, presumably, is good news for the seemingly hundreds of people who canvas my neighborhood all summer, trying to convince me that I’ve had hail damage and need to replace my roof and siding. They know that without actually getting up on the roof. The Paulsons, who I talked to in Rogers yesterday, relayed that one of their biggest frustrations in recovering from actual damage was the number of “storm chaser” roofing and siding operations.
“Oh, you have some hail damage right here!” one exclaimed to me a few years ago.
“No, that’s where I smashed my snowblower into the siding while clearing my walk last winter,” I replied.
“How about these dents over here?”
“Kid with a tennis ball and too much time on his hands,” I said.
Already within the last two weeks, another dozen or so signs went up on lawns near me proclaiming that there was hail damage and the roof/siding was to be replaced. Is anyone else concerned that America’s shingles can’t hold up to hail?
I’ve lived in my neighborhood for about 16 years and we haven’t had many hailstorms during that time; Saturday’s was probably the worst and all it did was take down a few leaves. My car was left out in it and suffered no damage. To the extent my roof may need replacing, it may be because it’s getting close to 25 years old.
Clearly there are situations around here where hail has damaged homes. And nobody — least of all the insurance companies — seem to be making a big deal out of the high number of people getting a new roof and siding.
Charlie Quimby, who authors Across the Great Divide, relays his experiences in a post today:
The key to this sale, of course, is the promise to take advantage of the insurance company. That’s why you buy insurance, right? Maybe, but I had something more in mind like replacing a tornado-flattened house, not fixing dimples in my 20-year-old shingles. My neighbors may have free new roofs, but I get to feel morally superior.
If you’re replacing aluminum siding, it also appears that the only colors these folks provide is beige. Generally speaking, it’s easy to feel morally superior over anything that’s beige.
