The best thing about home insurance is that it protects your most valuable asset. That is, until it doesn?t. For most homeowners, unfortunately, just when they discover what insurance won?t cover, is exactly when they need it the most. And in the middle of a crisis, is usually not the best time to fight the insurance company either. So what is a better way?

Here are three things you can do to protect your home insurance rights:

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Document, document, document. Making sure you have a current inventory of everything in your home, as well as everything on your home ? such as any recent repairs, maintenance, or upgrades, is not only smart, but also proactive. Often, the first thing insurance companies ask for is documentation of your claim, and if you don?t have it, you are already fighting an uphill battle. On the other hand, when you can prove what you had, you can also prove what you lost, and what you are now owed ? which is the insurance company?s job to cover.

Take pictures of everything. With Smartphone technology, it should be second nature to keep current pictures of everything in your home ? the roof, the siding, deck, interior, ceiling, floors. You get the idea. Because as soon as you have damage, guess what you are going to do? That?s right. Take more pictures. This way, you create a running account of what your home looks like ? under normal conditions ? and what it looks like after damage. And the more you can prove your claim, the harder it is for your insurance company to deny it.

Know your policy. I know, a home insurance policy is not exactly captivating reading. But one of the largest reasons claims are denied is simply because homeowners thought things were covered that were not. Wind damage, for example, can easily be excluded from your insurance policy ? and has been in many states with a high propensity of wind damage claims ? and yet because you have hurricane coverage, you assume you are covered for wind damage. Not so, as wind damage and hurricane are two different things ? something you don?t want to find out after the fact. So before you accept that homeowners policy, take the time to read through, ask all the questions you need, and make sure you are covered for what you need to be covered for.

Thicker is not always better; better is better!

With a virtual smorgasbord of roofing products to choose from, quality, value, and performance cannot be determined by measuring and subsequently putting a price on thickness alone. The debate is only technically relative to ?like kind? materials and the novice has a tendency to assume that just because certain products are similar, they are all alike.

Just about any roof system will stop water infiltration for a while but if you?re looking for performance, it is important to understand the entire value proposition. And thickness alone, above the fiber, below the fiber, or in total for that matter, offers little assurance that your purchase will meet your expectations. The only truth in this matter is that you will most likely get exactly what you pay for.

There are three separate ASTM thermoplastic standards for three very distinct plastic membrane technologies. The segregation of the ?plastics? has been recognized by FM, UL, the NRCA and the ICC. Yet we continue to debate the value of ?thickness? as a measure of the comparative value proposition among the individual products.

Look at the individual products within their ASTM class and evaluate their ?thickness? as a percentage of the minimum requirement as established by ASTM. ASTM Standards are only published as the result of consensus among a broad spectrum of industry professionals. aThe standards offer a characterization of specific products and articulate minimum physical properties desirable for those SPECIFIC products.

Theoretically, an 80mil TPO should out perform a 60mil TPO but that doesn?t mean the thicker TPO will out perform a 60mil vinyl or even a 36mil KEE membrane. It?s not the thickness of the material that really dictates performance. Rather, it is the chemical makeup of the material and how it?s processed into a compound.

There?s no doubt and you will be hard pressed to find someone to disagree that the only way to evaluate the performance for any of the membranes segregated within the categories as agreed upon by the ASTM Committees, is TIME.

Today, the thickness paradigm is rampant and crosses all polymeric materials. Is the push for thicker membranes really necessary? When consideration is given to the roofing industry?s new obsessions with sustainability, the question is not just whether these thicker materials are relevant to performance, but also if they can be stewards of our limited natural resources.

By definition, a true KEE membrane does not have to be thick to exhibit very desirable membrane attributes or retard the loss of some migratory component, whether it is the plasticizers in PVC or the Heat Stabilizers in TPO. KEE does not migrate, and a real KEE membrane with a minimum thickness of 0.81 mm (0.03 in.) has proven its ability to remain flexible and endure in harsh environments for more than 25 years.

Better is better when you consider how a KEE membrane is engineered. The membrane?s strength attributes come from the fabric, not its thickness. If the fabric is properly engineered, then the KEE coating?s purpose is to protect the fabric?s inherent attributes. Of course, the coating does have to endure the effects of time?and with roofing, time is brutal, but KEE has endured.

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?First my car got washed away, then it got buried in hail,? reports one resident after Thursday night?s hailstorm in Littleton, Colorado. Following this unexpected blast of wintery weather, rain and hail pounded parts of Littleton, flooding the area with nearly 4 feet of water in some places, and leaving behind nearly 6 inches of hail on one street.

Bad news for residents. But for ASAP ROOFING, the national roofing company that?s based in Aurora, Colorado, this sort of hailstorm is nothing new. ?We specialize in hail storms like this,? reports company co-owner, Igor Kublitskiy

According to Kublitskiy, one of the first things ASAP ROOFING will do is assess for any crisis situations. ?Often times we have customers who have roof leaks and severe damage after a storm like this,? Kublitskiy continues.

Unlike the fast fix roofing situations seen in mass natural disasters ? residents in New Orleans remember the blue tarp roofing all too well ? ASAP can respond to a customer?s leaking roof with a new roof, and fast too.

?We can usually respond to any customer needs within 24 hours ? we have to, when we have customers who need a place to sleep,? comments Kublitskiy. This is also the reason that ASAP ROOFING follows Colorado storms, using software such asaStormtracker,aa web based tracking system that allows viewers to anticipate a storm, and prepare for it.

?If there is one thing we could get our customers to do, that would be to prepare for the storms by inspecting their roofs regularly,? says Kublitskiy. Regular inspections and maintenance, according to the ASAP Co-owner will uncover any areas that are likely to leak, and areas of the roof in need of repair.

While residents of Littleton can be forgiven for not expecting the freak storm ? as nobody did ? regular roof inspections might have prevented the now overwhelming number of damaged roofs.

But either which way, ASAP ROOFING is positioned to help ? roofing emergencies is what they do best ? and offers customers not just a very fast roofing restoration, but leads the Colorado market in customer service, and sustainable roofing as well.

For more information on ASAP ROOFING, or the most recent Colorado hail storms, just visit http://asaproofing.com/

Written by Nick Dorotik

nick@asaproofing.com

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It?s natural that fire is one of the last things we think about when selecting a roofing system. Durability, protection against the elements and toughness often take priority. But when it comes to fire prevention, purchasing the wrong roofing material can be a life-or-death decision.

A flame-resistant roofing system is particularly important for buildings protecting something irreplaceable?people. When covering schools, hospitals, factories, hotels and other buildings bustling with human activity, a roofing membrane with flame-resistant properties will help protect lives.

Materials Matter

Low-slope roofs face a number of incidents, including electrical shorts from mechanics on the roof, lightning strikes, accidental fires caused by individuals working on the roof and even embers from wildfires, fireworks or other sources. How a roof membrane reacts in the face of those challenges is all about what it?s made of.

This video illustrates the difference between four common roofing systems. Notice that FiberTite self-extinguishes due to the optimal chemical composition.

All buildings must meet fire codes. Choosing a roofing system with far superior fire-resistant characteristics is important in all buildings.

Long-Term Effectiveness

When material that hasn?t been exposed to the environment is lab tested for fire-resistant properties, it still contains 100% of the fire-resistant properties. Over time, roofing systems face UV rays, weather and other environmental factors that make them less effective. FiberTite?s DuPont Elvaloy Ketone Ethylene Ester (KEE) ensures the product retains its quality and stability decades longer than other roofing membranes and delivers lasting fire protection.

Real-World Protection

For many decades, FiberTite has been tested repeatedly in the field. Its proven performance standing up to fire helped influence some demanding customers to choose it:

• A Fortune 500 customer replaced a relatively new roof with FiberTite after fireworks caused a roof fire on their distribution center.
• After an electrical short on some rooftop solar panels caused a small fire, a building owner selected FiberTite for the replacement roof.
• The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville specified FiberTite for its appearance and durability to protect its building and artifacts from roofing damage.
• A large theme park in Orlando specified FiberTite specifically to mitigate fires that may be sparked by their nightly fireworks displays.

The difference between meeting building code and exceeding it with an inherently flame-resistant roofing material can be the difference between a non-event and significant damage.

Learn More
For a deeper look at how some of the commonly used roofing materials perform when faced with fire, view this comparison.

Fire-resistant materials can play a crucial role in both preventing fires and limiting their damage, making proper fire testing and certification critical if you want your roof to be safe, protective and long-lasting. This whitepaper provides an in-depth look at the comprehensive FM and UL testing processes that expose roofing systems to incredibly challenging environments and threats, and how these major testing agencies assign roofing system classifications based on performance. Download your copy of this whitepaper below for a deeper dive into fire ratings and how we prepare for the worst-case scenarios.

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