Your roof has three wind zones. One of them fails first.
Blown-off, lifted, and creased shingles · HAAG-trained inspection · free estimates.
Wind doesn't hit a roof evenly, so neither should an inspection. We read the windward slopes, the edges, the corners, and the ridge — where uplift actually concentrates — find the creases that prove wind, and tell you straight whether it's a few tabs or a compromised roof. Two Michigan offices, family-owned since 1984.
Get your free estimate
Tell us what the wind did and which side of the house it came from. A local expert calls you back.
Field, edge, corner, ridge — and the seal that holds them.
The field
The open middle of each slope. Lowest pressure, last to fail. Damage here usually means the wind was extreme or the roof was already unsealed.
The edges: eaves and rakes
Wind separates and accelerates as it crosses an edge. Starter courses and rake tabs see several times the field load. Most blow-offs begin here.
The corners
Two edges meet and the pressure multiplies. A missing corner tab on the windward side is the classic first sign of a wind event.
The ridge and hips
Cap shingles sit in the fastest air on the house. Lifted or missing caps let water straight into the ridge vent and the deck.
The seal strip
The adhesive line that bonds each shingle to the one below is the whole system. Wind that breaks the bond leaves a crease — the evidence an adjuster reads.
How much wind does it take?
Damage bands for asphalt roofs, with the gusts our counties have actually recorded pinned on the scale.
Older or poorly sealed roofs begin to lift. Unsealed tabs flutter and crease.
The National Weather Service severe-thunderstorm threshold. Edge and corner tabs on average roofs start to go.
Sealed shingles in fair condition tear at edges and ridges. Debris punctures begin.
Multiple losses per slope, caps gone, underlayment exposed. Most of our August 2024 calls.
Sections of roof, decking, and structure. Tornado and downburst territory.
The three wind verdicts — and the one that isn't.
A HAAG-trained eye finds the crease, not just the lift. This is the standard adjusters are trained on, and the reason our reports hold up.
Loose, but not creased.
A tab that lifts by hand but has no crease, fold, or tear is not proof of wind damage by itself. Shingles also unseal from cold-weather installation, age, and thermal cycling — often in diagonal “racked” patterns that have nothing to do with the wind direction.
Document, don't claimThe signature of wind.
A horizontal crease line across the tab means the wind bent it back past the seal and the mat broke inside. Test-simulator work shows every shingle that unbonds in wind leaves at least a crease. A creased shingle is functionally finished, however it looks from the ground.
Wind damageThe part everyone can see.
Tabs in the yard and dark rectangles on the slope. Clean black asphalt at the tear means it happened recently; faded gray means it's been open for a while. The pattern — windward slopes, edges, corners, ridge — is what ties it to the storm date.
Wind damageSix things to check from the ground, in raking light.
Early morning or late afternoon, when the sun is low across the roof, lifted tabs throw shadows. Fill this out the day of the storm.
- Shingles or shingle pieces in the yard, the gutters, or the neighbor's yard — your storm date, in evidence
- Dark rectangles on the slope where a tab is gone
- Tabs that flutter or look wavy when the wind picks up
- Horizontal crease lines across shingles, visible in low light
- Ridge or hip caps lifted, cracked, or missing
- Fence panels, trampoline, patio furniture moved — a measure of the gust at your house
Wind damage clusters on the slopes that faced the storm and on their edges. Knowing which side the wind came from tells us where to look first and tells the adjuster why the pattern makes sense.
Repair or replace: the math, not the pitch.
If it's a four-hundred-dollar repair, you get a four-hundred-dollar estimate. Here's how we decide which conversation to have.
Four things to know before you call your carrier.
Many Michigan policies now carry a separate wind-and-hail deductible — often one percent of dwelling coverage. On a $300,000 home that's $3,000 before the claim pays a dollar.
Check your declarations pageReplacement-cost policies pay to replace, often holding back depreciation until the work is done. Actual-cash-value pays the depreciated roof. Roofs past 15 years are increasingly endorsed to ACV for wind and hail.
Roof-age endorsementsWear and tear is the most-cited basis nationally. The counter is evidence: dated debris photos, the NWS gust for your date, creases on the windward pattern, and a contractor on the roof with the adjuster.
Documentation winsMichigan law requires insurers to allow at least one year from the date of loss to bring a claim, and the clock pauses while your claim is open. Deductible waiving by a contractor is insurance fraud.
MCL 500.2833 · DIFS 877-999-6442What the letter on the bundle actually promises.
A wind rating only counts when the shingle is nailed and sealed the way the manufacturer specifies. That's what our factory certifications are for.
The cold-weather truth: shingle sealant activates with sun heat. Below about 40°F it may not bond until spring, so a roof installed in November rides out January gales on its nails alone — unless the rakes and eaves are hand-sealed. We hand-seal.
The events adjusters can look up.
A wind claim is anchored to a date and a gust. These are the ones our counties remember, from National Weather Service records.
EF-0 tornado through Marysville (St. Clair County); 60 mph in St. Clair Shores; roughly 300,000 without power across the region.
Line of storms crushes a St. Clair Shores home; tornado watches for Oakland, Macomb, and St. Clair.
Derecho: Roseville 75, White Lake 67, Oakland County International 66, Troy Airport 58; trees down in Hadley; about 380,000 outages.
Michigan's third-highest tornado count on record, including a St. Clair County tornado.
November gale front through the Thumb: 73 mph at Bad Axe, an 85 mph downburst, EF-0 in Yale, EF-1 in Applegate.
Derecho with 80 mph gusts in Bloomfield Hills and Walled Lake, 70 in Chesterfield, 64 in Troy, 60 in Almont; Oakland, Macomb, Lapeer, and St. Clair counties hit hardest — the storm many of our longest customers still date their roof by.
The Thumb's gales and Metro Detroit's derechos.
Lake Huron gale season
Open water is nearly frictionless, so shoreline wind runs faster than inland. From October through January, gale warnings on the lake put 39-to-54-mph sustained winds on Fort Gratiot, Lexington, Port Sanilac, and Harbor Beach roofs — on top of the summer thunderstorms everyone gets.
Call Port Huron (810) 984-3420The derecho corridor
Oakland and Macomb sit in the path of the straight-line wind events — the 2008 derecho, August 2024, the July 2026 squall line — that take corner tabs and ridge caps off thousands of roofs in one evening. Most wind damage here is straight-line, not tornado.
Call Troy (248) 800-3269If the storm brought more than wind.
Answered in miles per hour.
Wind damage repair from the lakeshore to Troy.
Port Huron covers St. Clair, Sanilac, and Lapeer counties and the Thumb. Troy covers Oakland and Macomb. Call the office nearest you. Storm and hail claims in Kalamazoo County and Southwest Michigan are handled by the same crews.
Get the creases found while the storm date still matters.
A HAAG-trained inspection, a straight repair-or-replace answer, and the evidence your claim runs on. Estimates are free.
Family-owned since 1984 · Michigan Builders License #262000657 · Licensed & insured · Office lines are voice only — please call.