Storm repair costs more when it is done in the wrong order. The first job is to stop the water, and that is a temporary cost. The second job is the permanent scope, and that is a different line item with a different price. Mixing the two is how an owner ends up paying twice for the same corner of a roof. The City of Coeur d'Alene design criteria carry a 115 mph design wind speed and a 60 psf ground snow load, and a storm that tests either one leaves damage that has to be sorted before it is priced.
We dry in first, document everything and return the permanent scope with its own number.
The Call: Dry-In, Then Scope
When a storm opens a roof, we send a crew to stop water entry. That means tarps, temporary patches, debris removal and, where it is safe, a temporary seal at the opening. It is billed as its own line. It is not the repair.
Once the building is dry, we walk the whole roof and write the permanent scope. Every item gets a location, a photo and a price: lifted edge metal, torn membrane, crushed insulation, damaged curbs, bent drains. We mark each item as storm damage or pre-existing condition, because that line decides what an insurer will consider and what the owner carries. A GC with the building under contract wants the same list with the change-order triggers marked.
Access is part of the call. After a snowstorm, the roof may be iced, and a crew works from the safe side of the building first. After a windstorm, loose metal can still be hanging, and the first job on the roof is to secure or remove it before anyone walks the field. We set fall protection, mark the unsafe zones with tape and photograph the roof from the ground and from above before a single fastener is pulled, so the damage record exists before the repair changes it.
Where It Fails First: Edges, Corners and Penetrations
Wind starts at the perimeter. The edge metal lifts, the membrane under it peels, and the failure runs inward along the corner. The November 17, 2015 windstorm put about 238,000 customers in the Spokane and North Idaho region without power and downed trees across the area. A tree on a roof is a puncture and a load; a gust under an edge is a peel. Both leave a repair that starts at the corner and works across.
We check edge metal, coping and gutters first, then rooftop equipment, curbs, skylights and penetrations, and the seams along the field. Perimeter fastening is where a storm repair should also be an upgrade. Replacing a torn edge with the same weak attachment buys the next storm a repeat. For a roof that has already lost an edge, the wind damage repair scope sets the fastener pattern and the edge profile.
What the Code Sheet Says: Snow Storms Are Load Events
A heavy snowfall is a storm too, and its damage is harder to see. Snow weight swings with moisture. Saturated snow runs roughly 20 pounds per cubic foot, while drier snow can be far lighter, so the same depth can load a roof very differently. A rain-on-snow event adds water to the pack and the load rises fast.
After a heavy snow, we look for deflection in the deck, cracked or displaced insulation, drift pockets that held more than their share and drains that failed to pass the melt. Ice barrier is required under the city sheet, and refreezing at edges and low-slope details causes leaks that look like storm damage but start as slow water entry. The numbers climb along I-90: about 59 inches a year in Post Falls, 76 in Wallace and over 100 in Mullan. Snow and ice damage repair is a separate scope with its own findings.
What It Costs: Four Line Items
A storm repair has four lines. Emergency dry-in. Permanent repair of storm damage. Upgrades to the failed details, such as edge attachment. And pre-existing conditions found along the way. Keeping them apart helps everyone. The owner knows what the storm cost. The insurer sees the storm scope. The GC sees what is added scope.
The biggest cost swing is hidden moisture. Insulation that took water through a torn membrane stays wet after the surface dries. We check with moisture meters and, if needed, an infrared scan, and we cut cores to confirm. Wet board is a line item with a quantity, and it gets a unit price so the number can move up or down with what is found. That is a change-order trigger agreed before the work begins.
Other swing items are worth naming. Crushed or displaced insulation over the impact point. A bent drain body that no longer seats. A rooftop unit knocked off its curb by wind. A skylight cracked by flying debris. Each one is priced as a unit so the total moves with the findings and nobody argues about a lump sum at the end.
Schedule and Snow Window: Temporary Now, Permanent When It Cures
Winter storms limit the permanent repair. Adhesives and sealants have temperature ranges, and a membrane cannot be welded or bonded on a frozen, wet deck. The temporary seal holds the building through the cold, and the permanent repair waits for a dry window in spring. If the roof is frozen and damaged, we report which items can be fixed now and which must wait, so the owner can plan.
In summer, the schedule is faster. A crew can dry in the day of the call and start the permanent work within days, subject to material lead times and the insurance process. Buildings with high-value interiors, such as medical space, get priority on moisture checks. A large tilt-up at Riverbend Commerce Park with many tenants needs each bay checked, since water can travel along the deck.
Closeout: Records That Hold Up
At the end we hand over a package: the dry-in log with dates and photos, the damage map, the permanent scope with prices, material and product data, and final photographs. If an insurance claim is open, the same package goes into our claim documentation. If the storm was not covered, the package still shows the owner what was done and why.
For a building on a preventive maintenance program, the storm record joins the roof file. That is useful at the next walk, since it shows which areas were repaired after the storm and which were left, and it keeps the next storm bill from being a guess. Over several seasons, the file shows which corners fail first and which repairs held, and that is the evidence for upgrading an edge or adding snow guards in the next capital cycle.
Commercial Roofing Questions
What do you do first after a storm opens the roof?
Dry it in. Tarps, temporary patches and debris removal to stop water entry. That is billed as its own line, separate from the permanent repair.
Is storm damage separated from old damage?
Yes. Each item is marked storm or pre-existing, with a photo and a price. That split is what an insurer reviews.
Can the permanent repair wait until spring?
Often. A good temporary seal holds through winter. Permanent work needs dry, warm days to bond and cure.
Do you check for wet insulation?
Yes. We use moisture meters, an infrared scan where needed and cores. Wet board is priced as a unit line so the number tracks what is found.
Should the repair match the original edge?
Not if the original failed. We recommend a stronger attachment pattern and edge profile and price it as an upgrade line.