Fred Malik from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety joins us to give tips on how Texans can reduce the risk of roof and home damage in severe weather.

What is the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety?

The IBHS is about keeping people in their homes and getting them back to everyday life after a major weather.

How can Texans reduce the risk of storm damage?

Texans can reduce 50% of your losses just by getting a better-performing roof. Your roof is the thing that’s most exposed in a storm, and damage to a roof is the easiest to mitigate.

When replacing a roof or building a new home, what should a contractor know?

Attach the roof with ring shank nails (nails with ridges or grooves on them). Ring shank nails can double the strength of your roof. And they’re extremely affordable, less than $50. Attach the roof decking (the part the shingles or metal roof sits on top of) to the trusses of the rafters with ring shank nails.

Seal the roof deck to keep wind and water out of the primary roof cover. That will keep the water from getting into the house and leading to more expensive damage.

The bulk of insurance claims from natural disasters in Texas are from smaller storms (flooding, hail, etc.) and preventable damage. The roof covering products that you choose should be designed to resist the conditions you might face in your area. You don’t necessarily have to spend more money.

Focus on opening protection. If you lose a door, a window, or a garage door, all the pressure in your house gets into places where it’s not supposed to be. That can lead to major structural failures. If you don’t live on the coast, your biggest issue is your garage door. Make sure it is properly rated.

In Texas, hail is the No. 1 threat to roofs. Can impact-resistant shingles help against hail damage?

Most shingles are tested with a solid sphere of ice or a steel ball dropped on the surface. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, that’s not a realistic way to test hail damage. So they created a new test that studies the way different types of hail hit a roof and how they can damage a home.

In 2020, IBHS released the test results and the list of shingles that perform better. If they rate shingles as good or excellent, it’s going to resist most of the different types of hail. Roofers and contractors should visit https://www.ibhs.org or https://www.fortifiedhome.org to see the list of products that work best. And not all of them are the most expensive.

The IBHS doesn’t get any compensation from shingle manufacturers. They recommend the products that deliver the best no matter the cost or brand name. You can also find guidelines for hurricanes, high winds, and hail at https://www.ibhs.org and https://www.fortifiedhome.org. It’s free information for roofers, contractors, and consumers.

If you want to learn more about insurance options or it’s time to shop for insurance, go to the Texas Department of Insurance website, https://www.tdi.texas.gov, or call 800-252-3439