The first 48 hours after an Oregon storm decide whether your insurance claim gets paid in full, paid partially, or denied. Most homeowners wait for an adjuster to tell them what is wrong with their house. By then, the wind has died, the rain has slowed, and the evidence on your roof is already being argued over. Here is how to walk your property the morning after a storm so the documentation works for you, not against you.
Why timing matters this much
Insurance carriers underwrite the assumption that you have a financial reason to stretch the truth. Adjusters work from a default position of "what here is actually storm-related, and what is wear-and-tear the homeowner is hoping to bundle in?" Your job, the morning after, is to remove that ambiguity. Dated photos taken before any cleanup, taken from the same angles an adjuster would shoot, do that work.
Every storm we respond to, the homeowners who get full payouts are the ones who handed the adjuster a folder, not a story. We run our 24-hour storm callback line — that is real, not marketing — precisely so we can be on a roof within a day of the wind dying down and put together that folder while the damage is still fresh.
The five-pass damage walk
You do not need a drone, a ladder, or any special gear for the first pass. You need a phone, comfortable shoes, and about ninety minutes. Do this in the order below — each pass builds on the one before.
Pass 1: Ground perimeter
Walk the full perimeter of the house twice — once close to the wall looking up, once at the property line looking back. Photograph every elevation (front, back, both sides) from a consistent distance, ideally including a recognizable yard feature for scale. Look for: shingles missing from the roof field, shingles draped over gutters, lifted ridge caps, bent or detached gutters, dented downspouts, displaced siding, and broken vent caps. Note the time of every photo.
Pass 2: Yard sweep
Before you clean anything up, photograph the yard. Fallen branches near the house. Shingles on the lawn. Insulation that has worked free from soffit vents. Gutter sections on the ground. These are corroborating exhibits. Once they are in the trash, they no longer exist for your claim.
Pass 3: Attic check
With a bright flashlight, inspect the underside of the roof deck. You are looking for three things: daylight (any pinhole of visible sky is a breach), fresh water staining (darker than surrounding sheathing, sometimes still glossy), and damp insulation. Photograph any of these against a fixed reference like a rafter or stamp on the OSB. Note the location relative to a room below.
Pass 4: Interior ceiling and wall tops
Walk every room. Look at the ceiling and the top six inches of every wall. New water stains often show first as a faint brown ring or a slight bubble in the paint. Compare against the rest of the ceiling for color difference. Photograph with the room light on, and use a tape measure or hand for scale.
Pass 5: Written log
On the same day, write a single timestamped log. Date, time, storm name or date of the event, weather conditions you observed, every area photographed, and any damage you suspect. Save the photos and the log in one folder. Email a copy to yourself so it lives on a server with a date stamp. This folder is what you send your insurer first, and it is what your contractor uses to write a defensible inspection report.
Damage patterns that adjusters do and do not pay for
| Damage type | Usually covered | Usually denied |
|---|---|---|
| Wind-lifted shingles | Yes, when paired with sustained wind report | Granule loss without lift evidence |
| Tree or branch strike | Yes, when impact is visible and dated | Cumulative branch abrasion over years |
| Gutter detachment | Yes, when fasteners pulled from fascia in storm | Gutters sagging from years of debris weight |
| Interior ceiling stain | Yes, when traced to a documented breach | Stain with no identifiable roof entry point |
| Moss-related shingle damage | Rarely | Almost always — classified as maintenance |
"The homeowners who get full payouts are the ones who handed the adjuster a folder, not a story."
— Gabriel Horta Blancas, Owner
What to do in the first 24 hours
- Safety first. If a tree is down on the structure or you see active leaking, get out and call us. Do not climb on a wet roof.
- Tarp emergent breaches. If water is actively entering, a properly fastened tarp protects both the house and the claim. We can be there in under 24 hours.
- Do the five-pass walk. Phone, ninety minutes, the order above.
- Save and back up the folder. Photos and log, in one place, with a server-side timestamp.
- Book a written contractor inspection. Get a licensed CCB contractor on the roof for a documented assessment before you call the carrier.
- Then call your insurance. When you have facts, you control the conversation.
What we bring to a storm response
When we run a Storm Ready Inspection — free, normally a $199 value — we cover the roof, gutters, exterior envelope, and attic. You get a written report with photos, our professional opinion of whether damage is storm-related, and a repair scope you can hand directly to your adjuster. We are CCB #204939 (residential plus commercial), LBPR-certified for older homes, and the only roofers in our footprint who hold the CertainTeed SELECT ShingleMaster designation (top 1 percent of CT installers nationally).
The 24-hour callback after a storm is real. We answer the phone. Mon through Sat, 8 AM to 7 PM. Closed Sundays.