Roofers benefit from bad weather
Posted on Wednesday, March 19, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/220206/
Much of the state was under a tornado watch Tuesday, with a line of severe thunderstorms on the move. The roofers had seen it all before. They knew the drill: Stop working till it passes over. Destructive storms this winter have turned what’s typically an off-season into a boom for Arkansas roofers.
“We’ve definitely seen some increased business,” said Jimmy Hall, superintendent of Foster Roofing in Springdale. “Typically January and February are the slowest months of the year.” Insurance agencies are seeing a dramatic increase in claims, said Allen Kerr of Allen Kerr Insurance Agency Inc. in Little Rock. “The roofing business and the sign business are probably the only two industries in Arkansas that are doing well right now,” he said in jest.
“There has just been an exponential increase in roof claims,” said Kerr. During a Jan. 29 storm, winds in excess of 60 mph downed power lines and left 70, 000 households without power in Arkansas, mostly in the Little Rock, Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Batesville, Beebe and Cabot areas. Roofers said that was the most destructive turbulence in terms of roof damage. Of course, the Feb. 5 tornadoes wreaked much damage across the state, but problems have persisted, including hail and wind last weekend.
While the tornadoes were a tragedy, the storms also created a lot of business during a building drought, said Max Freeman, owner of residential contractor American Builders in Mountain Home, only a few miles from where an EF 4 tornado passed. “Of course, any time you have a tornado, one of the major components is the roofing,” Freeman said. “It’s been very busy with the roofers.”
Marchant Building Center, also in Mountain Home, has seen about a 25 percent increase in sales of roofing materials this year, said assistant manager Troy Hodnett.
Craig Cougill, owner of C. Cougill Roofing Co. Inc. in Little Rock said that, compared with February last year, “we’ve probably looked at twice the number of roofs.”
Some roofs can be repaired, but many have to be replaced, Kerr said, ranging from $ 2, 000 to $ 10, 000.
Kerr said insurance premiums most likely will go up. “It usually takes about 12 months before the rates catch up with the storm activity,” he said.
Bray Sheet Metal Co. of Little Rock has received more calls for this time of year than they have in the past four or five years, said Vice President Woody Simmons.
“This is the first time in a long time that we’ve had this much damage just from winds in different storms,” Simmons said.
In selecting a roofer, homeowners need to be careful, Kerr cautions.
Make sure that roofers are licensed, bonded and insured, Kerr said. Roofers should use the right kind of high-quality shingles and nails rather than staples. The companies should offer a guarantee, and they should be established, enough so that they’ll be there in three years if the roof starts leaking, he added.
“This is the time of year that a lot of companies just spring up,” Cougill said. Don’t hire someone out of a classified ad — instead make sure that they’re reputable and established, he said.
“Whenever there’s a lot of widespread damage, suddenly everybody’s a roofer,” Cougill said.