Storm

Storm Damage Roof Checklist for Alpharetta Homeowners

By Alpharetta Roof Repairs · September 8, 2026 · 5 min read

Alpharetta's storm damage doesn't arrive with a name. It arrives at 4:30 on a July afternoon as a line of thunderstorms off the Peachtree City radar, drops an inch of rain in twenty minutes, gusts to 60 mph, and is gone by dinner. The damage it leaves is specific to this place — loblolly pines on shallow roots in wet red clay, ridge caps peeled off steep roofs, and every so often a supercell that drops real hail across Milton and Johns Creek. Here's what to walk through the next morning.

First: what not to do

Don't get on the roof. Wet architectural shingles on a 10/12 pitch are a hospital visit. Everything on this list can be done from the ground, from a window, or from inside the attic.

Don't sign anything a stranger brings to your door. Crews with magnetic truck signs work Windward and Medlock Bridge within a day of any storm. Georgia's home solicitation law gives you three business days to cancel a contract signed at home; better not to sign it. Read how to tell if a roofer is legitimate in Georgia before you talk to anyone.

The ground walk

• Trees. Is anything on the roof, leaning on the house, or hanging over it with a fresh split? A pine leaning against the roof is a structural problem waiting for the next gust. Photograph it and keep everyone out of the rooms beneath it.
• Shingles in the yard. Note which slope they came from. Whole shingles mean the seal strip failed — the roof is old or the wind was exceptional. Pieces mean the shingles are brittle.
• Ridge cap. Look at the very top of each ridge. Missing or lifted cap shingles and a ridge vent flapping loose are the most common wind damage on North Fulton roofs and the easiest to miss.
• Gutters and downspouts. Pulled loose, dented, or packed with granules that weren't there last week? A sudden pile of granules in the downspout splash block after a storm can mean hail.
• Metal. Check the mailbox, the AC condenser fins, the metal porch roof if you have one, and the top of the gutters for round dents. That's your hail indicator.
• Siding, windows, screens. Torn screens and spattered mud on one side of the house tell you which direction the wind came from, which tells the roofer which slope to look at first.

From inside

• Every ceiling, especially the bonus room and the rooms under valleys and the chimney.
• The attic, with a flashlight, for daylight and wet decking — see how to find a roof leak from inside.
• Around skylights.
• Around the fireplace.

What the damage usually is here

Creased shingles are the one adjusters and homeowners both miss. Wind lifts the shingle, breaks the mat at the fold, and lets it lie back down. It looks fine. It leaks next spring. Documenting it within a few weeks of the storm, while your insurer's records still show the wind event, is the difference between a covered claim and an "age-related" denial.

The order of calls

1. If a tree is on the house: roofer first, then insurer, then tree company. The tree has to be lifted off with a crane, not dragged, or it takes the ridge and trusses with it. We coordinate crane and tree crews we've worked with and tarp the opening the same day.
2. If water is coming in: roofer, then insurer. Emergency roof repair Alpharetta wide is triaged by how much water is getting in; tarps are $300–$700 and are normally covered by the claim as emergency mitigation. Keep the receipt.
3. If nothing is coming in: roofer for an inspection, then decide about the insurer. A $400 ridge cap repair against a $5,000 wind deductible is not a claim. A creased slope on a 12-year-old roof is.

Documenting for a claim

Time-stamped photos of everything above, from the ground. The date and rough time of the storm — the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City (weather.gov/ffc) publishes storm reports with wind speeds and hail sizes by location, and an adjuster will look there. Then a roofer's report with photos from the roof, creased shingles chalked, hail bruises circled with a ruler in frame.

What we won't do is inflate the scope to absorb your deductible. That is insurance fraud in Georgia, and a carrier that catches it denies the claim and drops the policy. A roofer who offers it is telling you what kind of company they run.

The storm damage page covers what happens after the tarp: the adjuster meeting, the re-inspection if the first estimate misses the creased slope, and whether to put a partial payout toward a full replacement.