AAR Experts celebrates its continued commitment to helping home and building owners make confident roofing decisions. 

The Coffee Shops™, the award-winning digital platforms where industries come together for technology, insight and everyday business, announces 2026 AskARoofer Experts.    

Each month, AskARoofer™ Experts share their insights on timely topics such as warranties, wildfire protection, ventilation and roof performance, commercial roof inspections, preparing for spring weather and more. Information is shared through interviews, videos and articles on AskARoofer.com. Representing all facets of the roofing, exteriors, metal and coatings industries, these Experts are also recognized in a dedicated section of the site. 

“At AskARoofer, we are committed to connecting owners with the trusted expertise they need when questions arise about their roofs,” shared Heidi J. Ellsworth, President and CEO of The Coffee Shops. “By bringing together not only our AskARoofer Experts but also more than 140 roofing companies across the country, we’re creating a powerful network that communicates directly with home and building owners — answering their questions, providing local expertise and helping them make smarter decisions that protect what matters most in their roofs and exteriors while building lasting confidence in the roofing process and the industry itself.” 

We are proud to announce the following 2026 Experts: 

• John Kenney – Cotney Consulting Group 
• Jerry Iselin – Metal Roof Specialties, Inc. 
• Mindy Dahlquist – TRA Snow and Sun
• Wendy Marvin – Matrix Roofing and Home Solutions
• Henry Staggs – The Arizona Roofer
• Brittany Wimbish – Fields Roof Service
• Rachel Garcia – Malarkey Roofing Products 
• Bridget Wilson – Cardinal Roofing 
• Emily and Paul Marshall – Mr. And Mrs. Post Frame 
• Will Lorenz – General Coatings 

Find more information on the 2026 AskARoofer Experts!

About The Coffee Shops 

Award-winning websites and online communities make up The Coffee Shops. Starting with RoofersCoffeeShop, which launched in 2002, the growth of the sites has been explosive for the construction trades of roofing, metal, coatings and their customers. Currently featuring four Coffee Shops, RoofersCoffeeShop, MetalCoffeeShop®, CoatingsCoffeeShop®, OutdoorCoffeeShop™ and their sister site AskARoofer™, all the sites are committed to advocating for the construction trades by supplying consistent information, education and communication avenues for all contractors, while promoting positive growth, education and success of construction industries overall. The Coffee Shops also feature strong microsites with RoofersCoffeeShop.ca, RoofersCoffeeShop.uk and En Español. Visitors to the site continue to find excellent opportunities for sharing information while participating in important ongoing conversations concerning new technologies, safety and overall construction information and education. The Coffee Shops are “Where the Industries Meet!” For more information, visit www.thecoffeeshops.online. 

AAR Expert Bridget Wilson says it's key to make sure the people climbing onto your roof know exactly what they're doing.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation with Bridget Wilson of Cardinal Roofing. 

Bridget Wilson: Hey everybody, this month's topic what precautions should home and building owners consider when having other trades on their roof? Make sure you talk to those trades and make sure that they do before and after pictures so that way you have documentation of everything. And make sure that they are aware that you are concerned about your roof and any problems that that may come about. Ask them how is their equipment going to be put onto the roof? Hopefully not bear onto the shingles, tile, metal, or flat roofing material. Hopefully they have some type of a pad or something to protect the roof material.

And as a commercial building owner, if you have a flat roof, you should definitely have walk pads around anything that needs to be serviced on that roof. The walk pad is just a thicker version with that way they don't slip and fall as well. But that thicker version of a pad will protect the roof a little bit better. When HVAC is being serviced, they're opening and closing those units and they're taking screws in and out and it creates little tiny

Tiny pieces of metal that are super hot and can actually fall onto the roof and burn tiny little pinholes through the roof. Yeah, I know, big problem. So you want to make sure that there is a walking pad there or that the HVAC person is putting a something there, a pad of some sort or some type of a protection for your roof. and again, those before and after pictures will be great. If a plumber is up there, if they need to auger something, something's wiggling, that can also create leak problems.

Having your roof inspected after another trade's been there is always a good idea, especially if it's a regular maintenance thing. If you have a commercial building and it's every year the AC guys out there, it's not a bad idea to then the year after, or excuse me, the week after have the roofer go check it out. If you own a building that needs to have a degreaser, a vent cleaned out with a degreaser, protect the roof at all costs because that degreaser can really ruin any material that you have on your roof. You don't want that degreaser to sit on that roof at all or even touch the roofing material. All your warranties will be void because it's an asphalt product typically. if it's not an asphalt product, it it doesn't need that degreaser which can destroy that material.

So again, make sure you're hiring professionals to do all of the maintenance on your buildings. Don't hire some yahoo that's gonna spray some degreaser they got at the restaurant depot. Make sure it's somebody who knows exactly what they're doing. And you can also ask your roofers who do they suggest and see if your roofer can do stuff like that. That's always a good choice because then the roofer is protecting your roof.

By Emma Peterson.

AskARoofer Minisodes are a great way to learn more about the roof above your head!  

Here at AskARoofer (AAR), we know that life gets busy, and time is a hot commodity. This is why we developed the AAR Minisode podcast series! Each episode of this series is 10-minutes or less, making it easy to get concise and informative advice about common issues and concerns related to maintaining your roof. The best part? You are learning directly from industry experts and our trusted RoofersCoffeeShop® R-club members!  

Whether you are looking for specific solutions or to increase your knowledge of the roofing world in general, make sure to check out the series on AskARoofer, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and any other streaming service you use for podcasts. Keep reading to get a sneak preview of a few of our most recent episodes!

Storm safety

The aftermath of a weather event, whether it’s hail, snow, high winds or some other form of storm, is a crucial time to be aware of your roof’s condition. In one of our recent episodes, we reached out to Mike Vaughn of  DaVinci Roofscapes and Mark McMillan of Horn Brothers Roofing to learn what homeowners should do if their roof is damaged by a storm. The duo pointed out that the first step in checking is to have a qualified, licensed contractor or insurance adjuster to get up on the roof. That way, you’re getting an honest and accurate opinion on the severity of the damage.

In another episode, listeners had the chance to learn about general care that should be done year-round in order to set your roof up for success in the case of a storm. In this conversation, expert Bridget Wilson from Cardinal Roofing shared her insights on both the immediate, short-term actions to take after a storm and the more long-term care that keeps your roof performing well over the years. One of her big points was to make sure that not only your roof be maintained, but your entire roof system. An example of this is making sure your gutters are unclogged so that water drains properly off the roof, avoiding structural damage and other issues.  

Understanding underlayment

In addition to episodes covering roof maintenance in preparation for when a storm hits, Dominic Favazza from GCP joined us for an episode all about underlayment. Roofing underlayment is a protective layer placed between the roof sheathing and shingles and is key to your roof’s ability to keep you safe and dry no matter what Mother Nature throws your way. One of the interesting things that came up in this episode was the revelation there are different kinds of underlayments that perform better in certain climates. Dominic explained, “In climates like New Mexico for example, we typically encourage homeowners to look for an underlayment with an in-service temperature rating of 180°or more, because that thermal heat that radiates through those shingles can reach pretty high temperatures.”

Building barndominiums

We also got the chance to sit down with Stacee Lynn, founder of The Barndominium Company, for an episode exploring more about the rise of this metal building trend. This episode has all of the information you could ever want about these structures, from engineering tips to architectural trends! Stacee even shared a little history on how this trend started, “Barndominiums have been around for a long time, a lot of people think they came out of Texas, but it actually came out of Connecticut. There was a gentleman back in the 1990s who was doing a development in the suburbs of Connecticut, and he coined the term so that people could house their horses in the same subdivision as their residential space!”  

Keep an eye out for next AskARoofer Minisode to learn more about the world of roofing!

By Emma Peterson. 

As we look towards 2025, let’s take a quick look back at what was top of mind for home and building owners in 2024! 

Here at AskARoofer, our goal is to find the answers to any roofing-related questions you have! In the last year, we are proud to have built a community and space for everyone, whether you need advice on how to choose a specific product/material or you need general information to level up your roofing knowledge. Before we hit the ground running in 2025, let’s take a moment to look back at the top content of 2024. 

Top articles  

How to maximize curb appeal with a color visualizer by DaVinci Roofscapes 

When it comes to putting a new roof on a structure, you want something that performs well and looks good doing it. The top article from 2024 shares a tool from DaVinci Roofscapes that helps you make your decision. Their free, online Color Visualizer. Not only does it show you all the possibilities for your home’s appearance, it does so with products from trusted companies (like DaVinci, Westlake Royal Building Products and Sherwin-Williams), so you know that you will get high-performance materials for your roof. 

Q&A - Keeping out unwanted houseguests sent in by Sylvia from Florida 

In addition to our more traditional articles, we want to make sure that you and your concerns are at the core of the AskARoofer conversation. To do this, we work with roofing experts and industry leaders to find answers to all the questions you submit! In 2024 we had dozens of questions come in and conversations between you and our experts started, but our top-viewed one came from Sylvia, who asked for advice about keeping pests out of their roof’s gooseneck vent. Not one, but two of our experts (Erica Reed from Elite Construction Solutions and Bridgit Wilson of Cardinal Roofing) shared some advice with them. Check out the answer to Sylvia’s question and other common problems on our Questions and Answers page! 

Top podcasts  

Getting Concierge Color Service from a Roofing Company 

In addition to our articles, we have an incredible multimedia team that is producing high-quality podcasts to help you better understand your roof and home. Our top podcast for the year was hosted by The Coffee Shops’ Lauren White and Megan Ellsworth. In it, the duo spoke to Kate Smith of Sensational Color and Kelly Kloeppel of DaVinci Roofscapes about the art and science behind selecting the right color for your roof.  

Keeping Your Roof Moss-free 

We also run a minisode series that is intended to give listeners bite-sized, yet comprehensive insights into the world of roofing. From sustainability to maintenance and beyond, each episode offers practical advice in under 10 minutes. The top minisode of 2024 was focused on the common issue of moss accumulation on residential roofs. In the episode, Lori and Matt Swanson, owners of Guardian Roofing and Gutters in Auburn, Washington spoke to Megan Ellsworth about how to maintain the longevity and aesthetic of your roof. 

Top videos 

Attic Ventilation 101 with The Arizona Roofer! 

If reading an article or listening to a podcast isn’t your favorite way to learn, don’t worry! At AskARoofer we know everyone learns differently, which is why we make sure to have a robust suite of video content available as well. In our top YouTube video of the year, Henry Staggs from the Arizona Roofer stopped by to share about how attic ventilation plays a key role in your home and for your roof. 

Understanding Roof Restoration with Western Colloid 

For our building owners or property managers out there, our top YouTube playlist of the year will be of special interest! The playlist showcases webinars done in collaboration between AskARoofer and Greg Hlavaty, Hal Leland and their team at Western Colloid. In the different episodes, these guests apply their 50+ years of industry knowledge to answering a wide range of questions about commercial roofing systems. 

Top social media posts 

Barndominiums with Stacee Lynn Instagram post 

The AskARoofer community is also not limited to our site! We love to chat with you all over on our social media platforms! This year, our top Instagram post featured Stacee Lynn, founder of @the_barndominium_company. In it, Stacee shared with our community where the idea of a barndominium (also known as a barndo, this is when someone takes a barn with sheet metal siding and converted it into a family living space) comes from! 

Steep slope basics with Henry Staggs on TikTok 

Over on TikTok, Henry Staggs is back in our top content lists with a clip explaining the difference between steep- and low-slope roofing! In the short but informative video, Henry outlines the technical definition (a roof with a 3:12 slope) and what that information looks like when applied to the work done on and the products chosen for your roof. 

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Bridget Wilson from Cardinal Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Hello everyone. My name's Megan Ellsworth.

Lauren White: And I'm Lauren White.

Megan Ellsworth: And you are listening to the AskARoofer podcast. Welcome back. Today we are talking about post-tropical storm roof care with the one and only Bridget Wilson from Cardinal Roofing. We're so excited. Hello, how are you?

Bridget Wilson: I'm doing well. Thanks so much for having me and asking for my opinion. I appreciate it.

Megan Ellsworth: Of course. We love to hear about your opinion, so can you just tell us a little bit about you and introduce yourself?

Bridget Wilson: Sure. My name is Bridget. I am a third generation roofing contractor in Florida. My grandfather, my dad, me, I've grown up in the south. I've always done subtropical roofing in the central Florida area, so that's more of my expertise. Anything snow, ice and water shield, I am completely clueless. But as far as storms, tropical storms, been there, done that, hopefully I've seen everything. I'd rather not have any surprises.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: But this season's been interesting. So yeah, there's definitely a lot to talk about.

Lauren White: Yeah, definitely. So with all these tropical storms, what are some of the common types of roof damage that you see?

Bridget Wilson: The biggest we have obviously is wind. When you're driving down the street, I always tell people you can always see wind damage on a building. It's sporadic, but it's not. You can kind of see a pattern to it. Shingles getting blown off, tree limbs hitting the roof, here we have shingle tile metal, we also have flat roofing, but the things that you can see driving around would be the shingle metal and broken tiles, all of that. The wind-borne debris hitting the roof, that can create some major problems on the roof and chimney damage, things like that.

Roof's being completely blown off if they're not up to current codes, that does happen unfortunately. So those are the things that you see directly after the storm. Trees literally on houses, that's a really unfortunate thing as well here because we are subtropical where trees literally can be uprooted because of the water, the ground being so dry, then it gets saturated, then it's dry. So trees can literally just fall over with their entire root system intact and fall over onto a house. So that's always heartbreaking. The house is destroyed, this beautiful tree is not even broken, but it's completely uprooted and has crushed a house. So yeah, that's typical of around here and around my area as well.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, wow. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that.

Bridget Wilson: Right? And we are glad we don't have to deal with ice. So it's a win-win.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I would totally rather deal with ice.

Bridget Wilson: [inaudible 00:02:55] slip and fall to our deaths, so it's fine. It's totally equal.

Megan Ellsworth: So why is it crucial to inspect and care for your roof immediately after a tropical storm?

Bridget Wilson: So the biggest thing is just to make sure that you're not going to have further damage in your house. So as soon as the storm is over and you get the all clear. So around here, typically they ask you to stay indoors until your neighborhood has gotten the all clear because power lines can be down, trees can be down, you may not realize there's a danger, there can be flooding, so obviously you get on your neighborhood pages if your internet and power are working or you just chit-chat and yell across the yards to everybody. But as soon as you get the all clear, just going around and checking the perimeter of your house and standing back as far as you can and just doing an eyeball inspection.

"Do I have limbs on the roof? Is there anything... Is there a lawn chair on my roof," because some people don't put their lawn equipment up.

I've seen something that interesting, which was hilarious. Luckily it didn't cause me damage because it was so light, it flew through the air and landed on someone's flat roof. They were like, "Hey, finders keepers." So that worked out well.

But just eyeball-

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah, cheers. Eyeballing it, if you see missing shingles, realize that if you don't have water coming in your house right away, it may not be the shingles, the protective part. It may not have loosened any nails. Storms are super weird. And at times a roof can look awful and it's still watertight, and at times a roof can look perfectly fine and it's leaking like a sieve from a storm. So just eyeballing it, taking pictures to document it from all four sides from outside, so that way you have documentation for your insurance agent is always a great idea.

And then coming up with a game plan, are you handy? Do you know how to get up on a roof? Do you have the ladders? Things like that, or do you need to just go ahead and get somebody hired to come on out?

Lauren White: Yeah, definitely that taking those pictures and having that documentation is so important because that just goes right to insurance, right? What's kind of that next step once they take those pictures and do that perimeter check? What comes next?

Bridget Wilson: Great question. So the best thing when we talk to our insurance agent that we're partners with, they always say call your actual agent. For here, we have Melissa Snively, State Farm. Call Melissa. Call your Michelle Mosier with South Shore Insurance. Call Michelle, call your agent, call Katerina, call Joe Smith, whatever and speak to your local agent. Leave a message, they're going to be super busy. And speak to them about your policy because calling the 800 number and immediately saying you have a claim, you may not. And now you have that ding against your insurance because you have storm coverage, you have hurricane coverage, you have flood coverage, there's different coverages in the state of Florida. And depending on what has affected your home, depends on the coverage that you have. And it also depends on what your deductible will be.

So you've got a hurricane deductible in the state of Florida and you have a storm deductible in the state of Florida. Two very different things, because a hurricane deductible is usually depends on your policy. It's usually a percentage of the value of your home. Whereas if you get damaged by just a regular unnamed storm, it's your $5,000 deductible, your $2,000 deductible, something along those lines. So getting all that paperwork, you can have it in advance or calling your insurance agent and asking them what all is covered is always a good choice.

And then just sit tight and get some quotes. Don't panic. If somebody's driving down the road in a truck and you have no idea who they are, don't just pay somebody to fix something immediately without doing your research, making sure they're legit and they're local and they're not pretending they're somebody they're not.

A lot of times what we see here in our area, Valrico, Brandon, Tampa, Riverview, we can go out and fix things for $2,000, $1,200, our minimum charge of $4.75 for a shingle roof. We can fix something that is not even worth them calling their insurance agency for.

Now, a portion of the roof's been blown off. They have a lot of water damage inside. They have no power, so they're going to be getting mold. That's a little different. But if they just have a couple of shingles blown off, they have a leak, I tell people all the time, "If you have a leak and you see water coming in on your ceiling, we have drywall ceilings here mostly unless you're like a 1920s house. But if you have a drywall ceiling, take a Phillips head, screwdriver, poke a hole through it, let the..." I know it sounds scary, but it's a lot easier to fix that tiny little hole, actually it's even smaller, than it is for if that drywall gets completely saturated, the entire sheet will fall down. You've got a huge mess. Your carpet's ruined, your walls are ruined, it's a huge disaster if that drywall comes down when you could have just poked a hole, stick a kitchen garbage can underneath it, let the water flow, just chill out and wait until everything's cleared, wait until everybody's calm and just getting it fixed is usually our advice to everybody.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Bridget Wilson: But again, yeah, people get so worried about mold and especially in Florida, it's everywhere. It is. We have 98% humidity 90% of the time, so we live with it. It's fine. But people get so worried about, "Oh, my house is going to be taken over by mold, whatever."

Well, our air conditioning's here that never turn off, they're a dehumidifier as well, so they're taking the water out of the air naturally, just go with business as usual. If there's water in your carpet, try to get it up. Don't just leave it, obviously, but mitigating it, just getting the water out of the dry wall from your ceiling so it doesn't cave in and turn on fans, keep your air running so it dehumidifies and keeps pulling the water out of your home.

And then, yeah and just kind of being calm. I always tell people every single thing that goes wrong during a storm can be fixed with stuff from Lowe's, Home Depot, any of our roofing supply companies, building supply companies, it's all fixable. The humans are not. So stop, don't panic, don't get your blood pressure all out of whack. It will be fine and everything is fixable. So just kind of chill out, wait until the storm passes, for sure. Poke a hole, let the water flow, keep mopping it up and just take a deep breath and realize that it's all fixable.

And yes, it might be expensive, but again, it's money. It's one of the most renewable resources we have. You [inaudible 00:09:38] make more, sell some stuff on Facebook, you'll be fine.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's so true. Honestly, that is really great advice.

Bridget Wilson: Thank you.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. And for all the homeowners out there in the subtropical area, I'm sure they're taking notes and it's also kind of validating like, "Oh! Yeah, okay, you're right. It's not the end of the world." It will be okay.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah, we have tiki hut. Like go to the beach. There's plenty of places here that literally have walls that are roller walls that go up to allow the weather to go through it. It's fine. It's not something you want to happen. It's not something you wish to happen, but it's going to. Just like you guys with snowstorms, it is what it is. You deal with it and just remain calm and know that there are plenty of local licensed professionals that are going to take care of you, we take care of our neighbors. And your neighbors will take care of you as well.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, absolutely. So what can homeowners expect during a professional post-storm roof inspection? So

Bridget Wilson: It depends on what you ask for. A lot of people will call in a big panic, "I want my roof checked."

"Do you have any leaks?"

"No."

"Do you have any missing shingles?"

"No."

Is there anything on your roof that makes you think you need an inspection?"

"No, but we were hit."

"Okay. That's fine. And we will come out in December when it's no longer raining. No problem. We have plenty of time in December."

So when somebody calls for a roof inspection, typically if they have damage and a lot of roofers, we do it. And we do tell our customers, we put it in level of importance as well. Like, "Hey, my baby's room had the roof blown off." Okay, you're above the guy whose tiki porch has some leaks coming in. Your porch is fine. We're going to put [inaudible 00:11:29]. The assisted living facility gets above a regular homeowner that's able-bodied. So you do get kind of put into that group, the levels. But at the same time, we get to everybody usually within two to three days because everybody... I grab a truck, I grab a ladder, I'm out there as well. I usually grab one of my teenagers to... That way, I'm not by myself and we get out there just so we can at least assess everything and make everybody feel seen and heard. And that way, they know what to expect.

But with a roof inspection, the person should come in, typically a labeled truck with proper logoed material. Keep in mind though that those salespeople, those roofers are also living in your area and they also have storm damage to their house, so they may not have electricity. So they show up. If they show up and they're looking a little disheveled themselves, they may not have power and hot water. It is what it is.

But they'll come, give you their card. Definitely Google them. Google all of us. You can go to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation website and you can check out everybody's licensure there like, "Hey, what's your license number?" It should be on all of their materials, but if it's not, definitely check them out. But they can come in your home if you invite them. If not, they don't have to. They can do everything either from roof level, which most roofers do. Sometimes they'll ask to see the attic, but usually the attic can be a little deceptive at times, especially in Florida because water travels and it's also 3,000 degrees in that attic. So there's that. So a lot of times, everything is just done from roof level, they're going to set up a ladder, they're going to walk the whole roof, take some pictures, let you know what they found.

They'll go and try to lift shingles to see if the seal is still there. If the shingles are still tight, you're fine. A lot of times the wind will loosen all of those shingles. "Okay, well this field got hit really hard. We need to seal down all these shingles. You're fine for now, but we'll come back and seal it all." And then they should be able to give you a written or typed report. It usually costs to get an actual report. If you just want an estimate, that's usually free. An inspection is not. Those are two different things. An estimate would lead to work and inspection is work. So that's where some people get a little confused. So yeah, estimate leads to work inspection is work. So you'll get that emailed to you or handwritten to you if the Internet is down in your area and nobody should pressure you like, "I'm giving you this price and you have to make this decision right now."

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: Say, "Thank you. No thank you." There's nobody that needs that.
If a roofer says, "Hey, we're in your area this week if you want it done this week, but if not, you're going to go... We do different areas and we just kind of move around," that's fine if you want to get it in quicker, but you shouldn't feel pressured and you shouldn't feel the need to say yes immediately without having to think about it at least 24 hours. And actually we just had in Florida legislation. Legislation just passed a new order. There're supposed to be on everyone's proposals now. Anytime there is a named storm that has hit anywhere in the state of Florida, you have the right to cancel any roofing work that you decide you changed your mind on within 24 to 48 hours. So definitely do your research on that because the consumers are protected with that.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's great. Wow, this is great stuff.

Lauren White: And so after the inspection, if someone does have some repairs that need to be made, what does a typical repair process look like for homeowners? What can they kind of expect?

Bridget Wilson: Sure. So typically if once you and your roofer have agreed like, "Yes, I agree on the price. Yes, I agree on the timeline," a lot of roofers don't ask for money upfront during storms. Sometimes they will ask for a deposit just because there's so many people going door to door, and a lot of roofers just want to make sure that you're agreeing to their schedule and it's kind of like a buy-in for both of you. But once you have that, then depending on the weather, within probably three to four days, you'll be given a call, "You're on the schedule for this date," and it depends on how the roofing company is set up.

Some people are four weeks out, some people are six weeks out. We're a really small company, so we're usually like four or five days out, but we also tell people like, "Hey, here's where you're scheduled, but if we get rained out in this area, we might call you and say, 'Hey, we're 20 minutes away because we got rained out over here and we're now moving over to Wesley Chapel, to a new area that's dry and Floridians understand that.

Folks that have recently moved here might be like, "Why are you doing that?" You just have to dodge the rain. It's just the way that it is in areas like Florida. And nobody ever seems to complain when you show up unexpectedly faster, which works out really well.

So just keeping an open mind as the homeowner, like, "Hey, as long as the roofers have access to my house, I'm expecting them. I let my neighbors know I put my dogs up. If I have horses or I live in a farm and I have some...," We actually have customers that have alpacas and miniature donkeys. Make sure your animals are where they need to be so we don't disturb them, but we'll get to you just as soon as we can. But yeah, typically it should be within one to two weeks, weather permitting. If we have, like this week alone, we've had record-breaking rain, so it's been crazy.

Just the other day, we broke a record from 1904 with the fastest amount of rain within one hour since 1904. We had five inches of rain, which is insane. Yeah, five inches in one hour recorded at Tampa International Airport. So that weight on a lot of people's roofs, a lot of repairs got washed out a lot. It's not expected. It's not normal. So it's one of those things that as long as you're patient with your roofer, you just talk to them and realize that 99.9% of roofers are doing the best they can with what God gave them. Sometimes we get five inches of rain in one hour, so we just have to deal with what we've got.

Megan Ellsworth: That is wild.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah. The weather here has been crazy.

Megan Ellsworth: That's crazy. That's insane. Also, taking a note, make sure alpaca is not on your roof...

Bridget Wilson: 1,200%. I'm sure people have seen the memes of seeing cows on roofs and goats... If you're a farming people, and we are in a farming area as well, we're very diverse in Florida, but yeah, you'd be surprised the stuff you find in on roofs.

Megan Ellsworth: I love it. So let's say you've had five inches of rain in one hour, and your roof is soaked to the bone and you have multiple leaks and you've talked to the roofer and now you're going through the process of getting that all fixed. What tips do you have for navigating the insurance claim process after something like that has happened?

Bridget Wilson: Insurance claims, so there's two trains of thought in Florida. We have what we call the storm chasing roofers, which they literally chase storms. Most healthy local roofers will not chase storms because they come to us. There's really no reason to go anywhere. So you definitely want to do your research and see, where is the license holder living? Where is that... We have to have a Florida State license for Florida, very specific, but is that a PO box? Is that somebody that now lives in Boston and they have no skin in the game? They just have three or four satellite offices and you can't even reach the owner. There are some big corporate roofing companies that are fantastic, absolutely. Read the reviews. There are one star reviews out there that aren't legit, so definitely read them. Just because somebody has two or three, not great reviews read them and read the responses for sure. And see how these roofing companies respond to their customers, see if they're responsive.

So once you get the damage, like I said, to definitely contact your local rep and document everything, take pictures and then email those pictures to yourself with the date and describe it because you're going to forget. And if your cell phone gets destroyed, you now can just go into your Gmail, your work email and you can pull that later. Or you think your house is fine, it's not leaking. Two weeks later, all of a sudden you're like, "What," like you didn't realize that it was leaking in an area because you were so disheveled or your power was out, you didn't see this area, it was in a closet. You have all of that documented and you can pull it from your email. And the nice thing too with that, you have it documented for the next storm.

So if they say, "Oh, no! Your house was damaged from Hurricane Ian."

Be like, "Nay, nay. I have all these pictures after Ian. This is from Tropical Storm Debbie that then turned into a hurricane for North Florida," so that way you can keep that keeping track, get a folder, electronic and paper, calling your agent, keeping track of everything and then getting a reputable local roofer involved, but never to take over the claim. There's a thing called an AOB, which is an assignment of benefit. They used to get signed all the time by my less favorite roofers where they would then take over someone's insurance and then they take it over, which is... I don't like it. It's not my favorite.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: But now you can't do that anymore. Legislation passed to where you cannot-

Megan Ellsworth: That's good.

Bridget Wilson: ... you were not allowed to have somebody sign an AOB, which I'm thrilled about because there are a lot of people being taken advantage of. Some weren't. There's some great roofers out there that had the AOB signed, they did everything, but there's always somebody that ruins it for everybody else. But never signing-

Lauren White: Always.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah, always. Never sign away your own rights to your own insurance, but just keep track of everything. And the insurance companies use software. It's very simple. It is very black and white. They don't care if you're upset. They don't care if you're happy. Their storm teams come out and they are literally like, "Okay, here's your insurance. A, Check the box. B, check the box. It's a formula.

So they'll get what's called an Xactimate is typically the software that they use. And it'll say, "Your roof is 35 squares. There's this much waste. You get this much eaves drip. You get this, this, this, this, this and getting like for like," and they'll say, "Your roof is going to cost $15,000 to replace your roof."

Have your roofer look at that before you sign anything or accept any checks.

Megan Ellsworth: Smart.

Bridget Wilson: Right, because do like for like. But 15 pound felt that they say you have is no longer the code. You need peel and stick. You need a secondary water barrier depending on where you live in Florida. Miami-Dade has different than Hillsborough County has different than West Palm Beach. I just kind of misspoke there, but there's different codes everywhere. So making sure that it is going to be done to what you need. And in your insurance, sometimes insurance companies will say, "We will only do like for, unless you have upgrade to current code," and then they pay for the additional.

Again, it depends. It all depends on the insurance company and what you've chosen to purchase before all of this. But definitely have a licensed, trusted local roofer check that Xactimate. Go line by line. And the homeowner can do that too.

Like, "Hey, well, where's my satellite on here?"

"Oh, we didn't notice there was a satellite."

Okay, well that is $75 to take off, $75 to put back on that the insurance company should pay for because your cable company is going to charge you or your satellite company. So all of those things and making sure that you have everything on those line items that you're aware of.

And also, do you have a pool cage? That's not part of the roofer. But is that considered part of your roof? Because the pool cages here many times are attached to the back of the houses or attached to the roof.

Lauren White: Okay.

Bridget Wilson: How does your insurance use that? Some people have different pool cage policies. You can have it as an add-on, I know it's a whole thing. Some people, it's part of their home entity. It just depends on what you signed up for. So okay, the pool cage isn't covered, but the pool cage being attached to the roof is part of the roofing claim so that part of the money needs to be on there because that pool cage is now in the lake over there. So you need that money added on for when the pool cage goes to get put back on. And the roofer is going to want to do that to... Please have your roofer put the pool cage to the house instead of the pool cage people. Love my cool pool cage people, but anytime it involves the roof, have your roofer do it.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, this is fascinating. Honestly.

Lauren White: So many things I had no idea about. Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: We are. There's a reason Florida man is so popular. He comes by it naturally. Or she.

Lauren White: Oh my goodness.

Megan Ellsworth: So true.

Lauren White: Wow. So for homeowners preparing for storm season, what are some things that they can do to minimize future storm damage?

Bridget Wilson: So a couple things they can do, well, follow your local municipalities. If you're new to the Florida area, Google how to prepare. Yes, we do have hurricane parties. Yes, we don't take them my seriously as northerners because we are used to them. But things such as getting all of your patio furniture, your plants, all your yard art, all the things, the lacrosse goals, your soccer things, all your kids' fabulous things that make your house look like Samson, definitely bring all that stuff in. Make sure it's in before the winds kick up because that can damage your house. Making sure all your tree limbs are cut within three feet away from your house, A, that's better for all the critters to not get up on your roof. They like to chew the lead pipe boots and it kills them, but whatever. Apparently in the Renaissance age, lead was a very good addition to your food, so it tastes good, I guess.

Don't eat it.

But anyways, cutting all of your plants all the way around your house three feet away, you don't want that brushing on there. You don't want it ripping off a shingle when it gets a little too aggressive with the wind. Always eyeballing your roof when you home, when you're out laying in the sun, if you're swimming in your pool, whatever, always look up. If something looks different or it doesn't look uniform, that's when you need to have somebody come check it out. Because if you start getting what's called pop shingles, where a nail will naturally back itself out, you start seeing the shingle kind of lifting up, that's another place for wind to get under and it can create a bigger problem when... That's a minimum charge for a roofer to come out, pull the nail, seal the hole, place another nail and avoid that in the future so just definitely keeping up with your roof maintenance.

If you do, keeping your roof clean is always good. Not pressure wash clean, but taking a blower and blowing down, not up, down with the shingles, just like the rain goes, making sure your gutters are completely clear. We get that rain so fast and those gutters can back up with just water, and those shingles aren't shedding the water. Then the water's getting up underneath the shingles, now the perimeter is being compromised. So making sure your gutters are completely clear, and your downspouts get really clogged up in Florida. If your gutters...

Here's a little fun fact for my northern girls. Your gutters get backed up and it collects water, frogs will actually lay eggs in there and there'll be tadpoles in there, yeah. When we go to houses that aren't, I'm always like, "You've got a collection of tadpoles, would you like to save them before we clean these out?" So my kids actually had an entire aquarium of tadpoles that we got out of the roof gutters. It was the most fun.

Megan Ellsworth: What even is Florida?

Bridget Wilson: A jungle. We're the jungle. Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: That's crazy.

Bridget Wilson: If you don't like crawly things or slithery things or... It's better to visit. Maybe in the winter when they're a little less aggressive.

Megan Ellsworth: I will say, I had on our garage so much dirt buildup in our gutters that a tree started growing.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah, that's bad.

Megan Ellsworth: That's bad.

Bridget Wilson: You work in roofing.

Megan Ellsworth: I know. Well, I rent, so I don't look at the gutters.

Bridget Wilson: [inaudible 00:28:49].

Megan Ellsworth: But I was looking because I was like, "Is that a tree? A little baby tree?" And then I cleaned them and it was like three inches of mud in our gutters. Crazy.

Bridget Wilson: Insane. I had a gymnastics facility here that we used to do work on, and I would always tell him, "You've got to keep your gutters cleaned."

Because he'd be like, "We have a leak."

I'm like, "Your gutters were clogged." And I finally got to where when I would go up there, I started planting the plants that I found up there and so I bring terracotta pots and I would pick it up and plop it down. I'd be like, "Well, here is your problem."

And he's like, "Well, are you going to fix the roof?"

I'm like, "There's nothing to fix. It's back up water. Here's your fabulous garden that you've started. Perhaps maybe starting these in pots down below would be better and talking to your [inaudible 00:29:38] to get those cleaned out."

But yeah, making sure your house is prepared just by keeping everything away from it. Let the roof do its job. Let the water flow off of it. If your kids are athletes or ultimate Frisbee kids and there's 10 frisbees up there, not a good choice. If they are into lacrosse, tennis, anything with those lovely balls that then clog the gutters, that's the most fun is when those get stuck. I might know that from experience with lacrosse balls, but it is what it is. Definitely get those out because those can create big problems, for sure.

Megan Ellsworth: For sure.

Lauren White: Definitely. And for homeowners who maybe don't want to get on their roof, can roofers do those inspections and clean the gutters and blow off their roof and that type of thing?

Bridget Wilson: Absolutely. You can always get a maintenance schedule going on with your local roofer. In Florida, as you can imagine, well anywhere, our insurance is super high. So we typically, if someone just want gutters cleaned out, we typically tell them, "Call a licensed handy person. Find somebody that does that that is a little less expensive."

Some people don't care that we're more expensive. They love us, they trust us, they pay us to clean out gutters. Great, no problem. But making sure that those are done. And actually, if you're afraid to get up on your roof, there's so many people on YouTube and TikTok that want to show you how to do things their way, but you can literally take a blower and put at the bottom of a downspout to go up and watch it clean out going up instead of going from the gutter area. And there's a lot of tools you can get to that you can add to your hoses that are big like arms that if you keep them cleared, it's not a problem.

Now once you get the stuff in there and you've got a tree growing, that's when you need somebody that's got a little muscle and maybe someone holding the ladder for them, but if you're regular with it, you do it quarterly, then you should be able to use those easy things to keep them cleared. And at the bottom as well, actually where the downspout is, make sure that the water can completely leave because if it gets backed up at the bottom, it's going to back up the downspout and create a problem as well.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. Any additional tips or advice for homeowners dealing with storm damage?

Bridget Wilson: Yes, actually. So people love to tarp. People think that tarping is the answer all the time. Blue tarps everywhere. Tarping is great. Also, they come in other colors, just so you know. I don't know why in construction we've chosen blue to be our flag, but it's hideous. So you could get gray, black, brown, which makes a little less eyesore and it kind of stresses homeowners out a little less than when they come into their house and they see the big, bright blue tarp and it's jarring.

But I always tell people, you can either get a roll of Visqueen at Home Depot or Lowe's, get the thicker Visqueen. Visqueen is a plastic for anybody not roofer that's listening. Or you can grab a couple different sized tarps at Harbor Freight, at Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, Target, you can buy them anywhere. If you see them on clearance, buy a couple of them. And I always tell folks, when you go to tarp, if you do it yourself, that's one thing. If you have somebody else to do it, please don't nail it into your roof if you can avoid it, right? Your face. You know, right?

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: Okay, I have a hole now. I have 53 holes protecting one hole. Or 153 holes because now I've got the furring strips there and it's the tarp. So I always tell people, have a couple, have whatever you want, Visqueen or tarps and grab a couple bags of potting soil or sand or playground sand, which is readily available here all the time. When you go to tarp, whether you have somebody do it or you do it yourself, pull the tarp out, put it over the ridge, the ridge is the top of the triangle. You'd be surprised how many people I judge because they will put a tarp in the field of the roof and it's not over the edge and water just seeps below it, it's a thing.

But anyways, put it over the ridge and weigh it down with sandbags or potting soil. It is a rookie way to do it, but it is the least resistant way to do it because if you're waiting, because those things start to deteriorate after about six to eight weeks. If we've been hit pretty hard and it's taking the roofers a long time to get to you, they might start to disintegrate. Fine. You can always re-tarp, you can get more bags of sand, you can get more potting soil. But once those bags start to break apart, that sand and soil is just going to go into your garden. And it'll just get absorbed into your yard. It's just easier. It's the path of least resistance. It's less stuff for you to clean up. So that's what I always tell folks to do. If you have to tarp, do that. Have somebody do that, and please don't put more nails in your roof unless you have to.

Now a tree falls on your roof, there's a gaping hole, yeah. That roof is going to be ripped off and replaced.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah. But if you can't see where the water's coming in, but water's coming in, just wait, because it could be something that'll cost less than that couple thousand dollars to replace or to repair. And now you've tarped, which costs a couple thousand dollars to tarp and now you're re-roofing the whole thing and it just turns into the vicious cycle of more work for you.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Okay, so we learned that tadpoles can grow in your gutters.

Bridget Wilson: Yes.

Megan Ellsworth: We learned to clean your gutters and don't let plants and trees grow in them. We've also learned how to tarp a roof. This is great stuff.

Bridget Wilson: I'm so happy.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. I know I wasn't taking notes, but I hope everyone else was. And Bridget, you are just a wealth of knowledge and Florida is crazy. I'm glad you're there to help people because-

Bridget Wilson: Thank you.

Megan Ellsworth: ... I don't know what they do without the roofers in Florida because they're really doing the most.

Bridget Wilson: Yeah. Roofers in Florida, yeah, think about there's something a little off about us because we're doing it in the worst place ever, so there's that.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, man. Maybe not the worst place ever, but the hardest place to have a roof.

Bridget Wilson: Worst place for roofing. Yeah, it's a great place, but yeah, I should have finished that sentence. Worst place for roofing. I mean us, Texas, everything down here it's just it is really hot.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. Thank you so much for chatting with us and just teaching everyone all this great stuff about gutters and tarping and storms and being prepared so thank you. I can't thank you enough.

Bridget Wilson: Thank you. I hope it helps at least one or two people, so...

Megan Ellsworth: I'm sure it will.

Lauren White: Yes.

Bridget Wilson: Awesome.

Megan Ellsworth: Everyone out there listening, you can go to askaroofer.com to learn more. Cardinal Roofing does have a directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com as well so you can go learn more about them if you are in the Florida area and need help with your roof. So Bridget, thank you again. And Lauren, this has been a great episode. I'll see you on the next one.

Lauren White: Yes, definitely. Thank you, Bridget.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, tadpoles growing in gutters...

Lauren White: Llamas on rooftops?

Megan Ellsworth: Llamas and alpacas and miniature donkeys?

Lauren White: Yeah, my goodness. What a place for those...

Megan Ellsworth: Bridget has some stories?

Lauren White: Lacrosse balls too. Don't forget the lacrosse balls and the frisbees.

Megan Ellsworth: Oh, yeah. Lacrosse balls, frisbees, tennis balls, pool cages...

Lauren White: Yeah, what a place. What a place to be a roofer. So many challenges.

Megan Ellsworth: I know.

Wow, okay. Bridget is a wealth of knowledge.

Lauren White: I know, from insurance, to roofing, to animal care, all of the above. Just so many things that I didn't know. And we talk about storms and write about storms pretty frequently because it happens every year, and just... Yeah, so much information.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Lauren White: Very helpful.

Megan Ellsworth: We learned how to tarp a roof. That's something we haven't really talked a lot about before. And so this episode's just full of tips and tricks to take care of your roof before and after a storm, and she's amazing.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Totally amazing. I love her.

Lauren White: And I think this episode is so important to listen to before storm season because when you're in a clear state of mind, because there's so many things that happen during those disasters that you're kind of in that fight or flight mode and might not be thinking of all of the steps and might not have a plan or that type of thing. So what she outlined of emailing things to yourself, having a printed version in case the Internet's out, all of that is just so valuable to know ahead of time.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, really valuable. Yeah, and I didn't even think about the Internet going out and losing service.

Lauren White: Yeah, or if your phone gets damaged or if you get five inches of rain in an hour like Florida can casually.

Megan Ellsworth: That's crazy.
Yeah, we're mountain people.

Lauren White: Five inches of snow in an hour, I don't even know what would happen.

Megan Ellsworth: Well, this is a great episode. Everyone, pull out your notepad because you're going to be taking notes for this one and also laughing a lot. It was great and all right. Enjoy the episode. I'll see you on the next one, Lauren.

Lauren White: Yes, sounds great. Can't wait. See you.

Outro: Goodbye.

A Floridian homeowner wants to make sure she doesn't have any suprise critters visit her through her roof's gooseneck vent.

Sylvia from Florida was looking for ways to keep unwanted guests out of her home. For some extra advice, she asked our AskARoofer experts their thoughts. Here's what she said:

I have a gooseneck vent installed on my roof above my bathroom. It has a wire screen installed on it so that critters can’t get in. But, what about rats that come up from the sewer? If they get to the top of the vent stack, can they then squeeze between the vent stack and the gooseneck to go back down and enter the attic?