LUTZ, Fla. — Heather Smith just a got a new roof on her home in Lutz.
“We needed something that was going to be durable and protect my family."
And now she feels more at ease with hurricane season here.
“It's definitely a stresser. We are not from the area, so coming down from Ohio it’s a new adventure. Getting hurricane-ready is something that is very real," Smith said.
West Edwards owns Sharpe Roofing and says roofs in Florida take quite a beating from the sun and rain and just because you don’t have any leaks doesn’t mean it’s going to hold up during a major storm.
“I kinda give an analogy, your tires have a 1/8 inch of tread on it. And it may get you to the store but it’s going to fail under pressure. The same with your roof. If your roof has gotten old, it can lose adhesion. That’s the ability for the shingles to stick together. You can imagine when the wind hits it that’s what it’s going to do is lift them up right?”
For starters, West says take a look at your roof and keep an eye out for anything that’s not right.
“See if you have any hip caps missing. See if anything looks like it’s lifted. See if you have anything causing an issue," said Edwards.
If you can access your attic, look for wet spots there and light peeking through.
One tip West suggests is if you do end up with a roof leak during a storm use a long storage bin to catch water.
They are long enough to be supported by tresses.
“It spans that distance and you can wait until you get a professional over to get it fixed because the last thing you should be doing is trying to get on your roof in the middle of a storm and fix it," said Edwards.
Experts also say to clean out gutters and downspouts, and to trim trees that might end up banging against your roof when high winds come.
Standard architectural shingles are rated for 130 miles per hour wind speeds.
But the roof just installed at the Smith's home has an unlimited wind speed warranty.
West says he hopes no roofs in our area are ever tested to their limits by hurricanes.
“I hate that they go somewhere else. Love it when they run up the Atlantic up to the North Pole but it’s just part of the luck of the draw.”
