Should I call my insurance company or a roofer first?

A roofer first, if you can manage it within a day or two. A written inspection report with photographs makes the insurance call faster and more accurate — you are reporting documented, specific damage instead of a general impression. If there is an active leak, get emergency tarping arranged immediately regardless of which call happens first.

How fast can you get someone out after a storm in Goose Creek?

Active leaks get same-day or next-business-day priority, weather and daylight permitting. Standard inspections without an active leak are usually scheduled within the same week outside of a wide-area event. After a storm that hits the whole county at once, book early — the schedule compresses fast when hundreds of roofs need the same attention.

Do I have to use the contractor my insurance company recommends?

No. South Carolina homeowners choose their own roofer on every claim. Carriers sometimes suggest a preferred-contractor network, but you are never required to use it. The carrier pays the claim; you pick who does the work.

How do I avoid storm-chasing contractors after a bad storm?

Verify the license through SC LLR, confirm proof of general liability and workers' comp, and check for a permanent local address and phone number. Be cautious of anyone pressuring same-day signatures or door-to-door solicitation right after a storm — legitimate contractors will let an estimate stand for several days without pressure.

What if the storm damage turns out to be minor — was the inspection a waste?

No. A clean inspection report is useful documentation on its own, especially if a related issue surfaces months later and you need to show the roof's condition immediately after the storm. We do not charge for inspections regardless of outcome, and a no-damage finding costs you nothing but a little time.

Storm-Damaged Roof in Goose Creek: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Published July 13, 2026·8 min read

A storm-damaged roof in Goose Creek turns into a good outcome or a bad one almost entirely based on the order you do things in, not just what you do. We walk homeowners through this sequence dozens of times a year — after spring squall lines, after named storms, after the isolated hailstorm that only hits three streets. The steps themselves are not complicated. What trips people up is skipping ahead: calling a contractor before documenting anything, filing a claim before an inspection, or signing with whoever knocked on the door first. Here is the order that actually works, start to finish.

Step one: the first 24 hours, before you call anyone

Once the weather has genuinely cleared — not just a lull between bands — do a ground-level walk-around of the house. You are looking for the obvious stuff: shingles or shingle pieces in the yard, gutters pulled loose, dented vents or flashing, visible sagging, and any tree limb contact with the roofline. Photograph all of it from multiple angles before anything gets moved or cleaned up.

Check the attic if it is safely accessible. A flashlight sweep for daylight coming through the decking, damp insulation, or active dripping tells you whether this is an emergency or something that can wait for a scheduled inspection. If you find an active leak, note where it is relative to the roofline — that detail helps a roofer find the entry point faster from outside.

Do not get on the roof yourself. This is the single most common way homeowners turn a roof problem into a roof-and-a-hospital-bill problem, and it is also unnecessary — the photographs you can safely get from the ground and the attic are enough to start the process.

Step two: call for a professional inspection, not a quote

The next call is to a roofer for a free roof inspection, and the distinction matters: you want an inspection, not a sales pitch. A real inspection includes a climb-up, slope-by-slope photography, an attic check, and a written report — whether or not you end up hiring that company for the repair.

Do this before you call your insurance carrier if you can manage it within a day or two. A written inspection report in hand makes the conversation with the carrier faster and more precise — you are reporting specific, documented damage instead of a general impression from the yard.

In Goose Creek and the surrounding Berkeley County towns, a same-week inspection is normal outside of a wide-area event. After a regional storm that hits hundreds of roofs at once, expect the schedule to compress — book early rather than waiting to see how bad it looks after a few days.

Step three: stabilize the damage if there is an active leak

If water is actively getting into the house, emergency tarping comes before the insurance conversation, not after. A tarp is a temporary, professionally installed cover over the damaged section that stops water intrusion while the claim and repair timeline plays out. It is standard practice and carriers expect it — most policies actually require the homeowner to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage.

We treat storm damage calls with an active leak as same-day or next-business-day priority, weather and daylight permitting. Keep the receipt or invoice for any emergency tarping — it is a legitimate, reimbursable claim expense in most policies, and the carrier will want documentation of it.

If there is no active leak, there is no rush to tarp. A roof with cosmetic or minor structural damage and no water intrusion can safely wait for the normal inspection-to-repair sequence.

Step four: file the insurance claim in the right order

With photographs and a written inspection report in hand, call your carrier and open the claim. Get a claim number on that first call and ask directly what your policy's notice-of-loss deadline is — most South Carolina policies require notification within 30 to 60 days of the damage date, and named-storm damage often carries a separate deductible calculated as a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. We cover that math in detail in our named storm deductible guide if you are not sure which applies to your policy.

When the adjuster is scheduled, ask that your roofer be present for the roof portion of the inspection. This is allowed under most policies and it is the single highest-leverage thing a homeowner can do — a roofer walking the slopes alongside the adjuster catches damage a generalist inspector may not flag on a hot afternoon.

The SC Department of Insurance Post-Disaster Claims Guide is worth reading before that adjuster meeting if this is your first storm claim — it lays out what carriers owe you in terms of communication and timeline, in plain language.

Step five: decide repair versus replacement with the numbers in front of you

Once the scope is documented — either through the claim or through a cash quote if the damage is under your deductible — the repair-or-replace decision comes down to how much of the roof is affected. A targeted repair makes sense when the damage is contained to a section: a few courses of lifted shingles, a damaged ridge cap run, an isolated puncture. A full replacement is the better call when damage is spread across multiple slopes or the roof was already near the end of its service life before the storm hit.

We tell homeowners honestly which category their roof falls into, with the photographic evidence to back it up. A roof that can be repaired for a fraction of a replacement cost should be repaired — pushing every storm claim toward a full tear-off is how homeowners end up distrusting roofers in general, and it is not how we operate.

Step six: choosing who does the work

Storm season in Berkeley County reliably brings out-of-state crews that follow the weather, work a neighborhood hard for a few weeks, and are gone before warranty questions come up. Before you sign anything, verify the contractor's South Carolina license through SC LLR, confirm they carry general liability and workers' comp, and ask for a local address and phone number that will still be answered next year.

Get the scope of work in writing before any deposit changes hands, and be wary of any contractor pushing you to sign the same day they knock on your door. A legitimate storm-damage estimate holds for at least a few days — there is no reason to rush a roofing decision under pressure, regardless of how urgent the weather made it feel.

Quick questions, quick answers

Walk the exterior from the ground, photograph anything unusual — debris, dented vents, loose gutters, visible sagging — and check the attic for daylight or moisture if it is safely accessible. Do not climb onto the roof yourself. Once you have photos and a general sense of the damage, call for a professional inspection.

It comes down to how much of the roof is affected and what condition it was in before the storm. Damage contained to one section of one slope is usually a repair. Damage spread across multiple slopes, or a roof that was already near the end of its service life, usually points to replacement. A written inspection with photographs should make the answer clear either way — ask for that documentation before deciding.