PVC membrane is a tough and long lasting single ply roofs but it can become fractured by hail if the hail stones are large enough. In many cases building owners are unaware that there commercial roof has sustained hail damage. The hail hits or fractures will eventually cause leaks at which point a roofing contractor is called. This is usually when building owner finds out that their PVC flat roof has hail damage and that they will need to file and insurance claim.
The way you handle your roofing insurance claim can make a big difference on the outcome. Here are 4 Tips to handling an insurance claim for hail damage on your flat Roof:
You can use a squeegee to push standing water towards a drain or gutter, this will also help to remove dirt and grim making hail hits easier to find. Once you have found a hail hit use a colored crayon to circle the fractured membrane.
Helpful Hint: Use your fingers to squeeze around the hail hit and watch closely for water or water bubbles to come out of cracks. This will tell you if it has penetrated all the way thought the membrane and is in fact leaking.
Once you have found all or the majority of the hail impacts on the PVC membrane be sure to document the damage. Take a picture of each fracture close enough so that an insurance adjuster or engineering firm can clearly see what has happened. Organize the photos in to a thumbnail pattern and place as them on a few pages that the document can be emailed or printed. Doing this work can greatly speed up the process and get your flat roof replaced or repaired much faster.
Taking video can also be a great way to document hail damage on a flat roof. You can easily use a smart phone to video hail damage and upload it to youtube. The video link and photos of damage can then be emailed to your insurance agent and/ or adjuster.
Helpful Hint: If you or your roofing contractor does a good job of documenting the hail damage and can put it into electronic form, the flat roof may be approved for replacement before the adjuster comes out. This means your roof will be repaired or replaced much faster and all the adjuster has to do is measure the building and reach and agreed scope of work with roofing contractor.
After you have Photographed or videoed the damaged pvc membrane roof, use caulking to temporarily seal up the fractures. The best thing to use is the elastomeric caulking from the roof manufacture but you may also use caulking from other PVC roofing membrane manufactures such as Duro-Last, Carlisle, Johns Manville, Versico, or Sarnifil. Never use a tar or tar based caulking on PVC membranes and keep in mind that silicone based caulking will usually not adhere well to the PVC.
Helpful Hint: Never permanently repair or attempt to replace the flat roof before that adjuster has has had a chance to inspect it.
Helpful Hint: Insurance Adjuster are just people trying to do their job, anything you can do to make that job easier is always appreciated. Try setting up a ladder for the adjuster to get meeting started off in a positive, helpful way.