Roofing in Lincoln and the towns around it
Two seasons do the damage here and they do it in opposite ways. Nebraska also gives homeowners a cancellation right most people never hear about until it is too late to use.
- Hail in spring, ice at the eaves in winter
- The cancellation right, explained
- One call, one local company
Towns
Malcolm, Roca, Denton, Bennet and Seward sit in the same weather and under the same state rules. Say where the house is when you get in touch.
Lincoln roofs get worked on from both directions. Spring and early summer bring the hail and the straight line wind that takes shingles off in strips. Then winter brings the quieter problem, where snow melts on the warm part of a roof, runs down to the cold overhang and freezes into a dam that pushes water back under the shingles and into the ceiling below.
Those two are not related and most homeowners treat them as though they are. Storm damage is an insurance conversation. Ice damming is almost never an insurance conversation, because it is caused by heat leaking out of the house rather than by weather doing something unusual. A roofing company that tries to sell you a new roof to fix ice dams has either misunderstood the problem or is hoping you have.
Nebraska is also unusually good to homeowners on the paperwork, and hardly anybody knows it. The Insured Homeowners Protection Act gives you a cancellation right on any roofing contract that will be paid out of an insurance policy, and the clock can start again when your insurer writes to say something is not covered. It also bans the deductible rebate that door knockers use as a closing line. Both of those are worth ten minutes of reading before storm season rather than during it.
The pages below split it into the spring problem, the winter problem, and the paperwork that sits over the top of both. If reading is not what you wanted, the number printed above rings through to a single roofing business covering Lancaster County.
The roof problems and the towns covered are the two places to start. Who writes this and ways to reach somebody are both short reads.
Roof problems, by season
What people ask
- Is a roofer in Nebraska licensed?
- Registered, not licensed, and the difference matters. Contractors working in Nebraska must register with the state Department of Labor, and the register is public and searchable. The Department says plainly that registration does not guarantee quality of work, so treat it as a floor rather than a recommendation.
- How long do I have to cancel a roofing contract here?
- Longer than most people think. For a contract that will be paid out of a property and casualty insurance policy, Nebraska lets you cancel before midnight on the later of the third business day after signing, or the third business day after your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of it is not covered.
- A contractor offered to cover my deductible. Legal?
- No. Nebraska law says a residential contractor cannot promise to rebate any part of an insurance deductible to win the work, and that extends to allowances, discounts on fees and other compensation beyond something of nominal value.
- Why does ice build up at the edge of my roof?
- Because heat is getting into the attic. It melts snow on the warm upper part of the roof, the water runs down to the cold overhang, and it refreezes there into a ridge that backs the next lot of water up under the shingles. It is an insulation and air sealing problem wearing a roofing costume.
Say what is happening up there
This goes to one roofing company working the Lincoln area. A single company. No bidding panel and no onward sale of your number.