Class 4 Shingle Replacement on an Existing Home

There are two common paths. In the first, a storm damaged your roof, your carrier approved a replacement with standard shingles, and you are deciding whether to pay the difference to go to Class 4. In the second, your roof is simply worn out and you want the next one rated for hail. Either way, the tear-off, deck repair and installation are the same as any re-roof. What changes is the shingle, the paperwork, and the questions you ask before the order goes in.

Some Texas carriers offer a premium credit for a Class 4 roof, and some do not. Some policies also limit what they pay for cosmetic hail damage, and that can apply to rated roofs. We are a roofing company, not your insurance agent, so here is the honest advice: call your carrier, give them the product name and class, and ask how it changes your premium and your coverage. Get the answer in writing. We will not promise you a discount, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

After the roof is on, the documentation does the work. Carriers usually want proof of the product, so we keep bundle labels showing the class, photograph the install, and give you a completion letter naming the product and the date. If your carrier has its own form, bring it and we will fill in our part. Around Greater Houston, where spring hail can hit one street and miss the next, that file is what tells an adjuster which roof you actually have.

On the Gulf Coast the weather writes most of the work orders. Hail in March and April, tropical storms later in the year, and a long hot summer that bakes a poorly vented attic. We check decking, ventilation and every penetration, because the roof surface is only one part of whether a roof is still doing its job.