On a bright afternoon, climb into your attic, switch off the light and let your eyes adjust. Pinpoints of daylight coming through the decking, dark rings on the plywood, or nail tips rusted along one slope all point to how your roof is really holding up. From the driveway you only see shingles, but most of what keeps water and wind out of your house sits under them or along the edges. That’s where Oklahoma storms find their way in.
This matters in central Oklahoma because the weather tests every weak spot. Hail causes a large share of the state’s insured property losses, and homeowners insurance premiums here rank among the highest in the country. Insurers now look closely at how roofs are built, and so does the state. Through the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes program, the Oklahoma Insurance Department offers eligible homeowners up to $10,000, paid directly to the contractor, to bring a roof up to the IBHS FORTIFIED Roof standard. The department reports that these roofs can cut severe storm damage by up to 80 percent, and early participants have saved an average of about $750 a year on premiums.
If you’re in the metro and want a crew that pays attention to these hidden details, E Antlers Construction is an Oklahoma-based contractor worth calling. The company installs, replaces and repairs roofs, repairs and maintains chimneys, and installs gutters, so the whole path water takes off your house is handled by one team. It works with GAF, Malarkey, CertainTeed, Tamko, Rhino Roof and other established brands, and it is available 24/7 for emergency response after storms. Free estimates and competitive pricing are available in Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman, Moore, Midwest City and throughout Oklahoma, Cleveland and Canadian counties.
What the Attic Can Tell You
Start inside before you think about materials. Water stains around the chimney chase or plumbing vents usually mean the flashing has failed, not the shingles. Compressed or damp insulation near the eaves suggests ice dams or gutters that back up. Rusty nail tips that drip in cold weather point to poor ventilation, where warm air condenses on the underside of the deck. If you see daylight around a vent boot, the rubber gasket has probably cracked, which happens quickly under Oklahoma summer sun.
Write down and photograph what you find. It gives any roofer you bring out a head start, and it creates a dated record in case a storm causes new damage later.
Five Layers Between the Plywood and the Sky
A storm-ready roof is built in a sequence, and each step protects against a different kind of failure.
- Fasten the deck firmly. Decking held with smooth nails at wide spacing can peel loose in strong gusts. IBHS research shows that 8d ring-shank nails, which have ridges that grip the wood, installed in a tighter pattern can about double the deck’s resistance to uplift.
- Seal the seams. Tape over the joints between deck boards, or a full layer of self-adhered membrane, keeps rain out of the attic even if shingles blow off.
- Lock down the edges. Wind usually gets under a roof at the eaves and rakes first. A properly fastened drip edge and an adhered starter strip keep the first course of shingles from lifting.
- Choose the right vents. Ordinary ridge and box vents can let in sideways rain. Vents tested for wind-driven rain close that gap.
- Choose the shingle last. Impact ratings come from UL 2218, which drops steel balls onto the same spot of a shingle. Class 4 shingles survive the largest ball without cracking. Most are made with SBS polymer-modified asphalt, which flexes on impact instead of shattering. Malarkey makes its impact-resistant line at a plant in Oklahoma City.
Questions That Reveal What an Estimate Includes
Two quotes for the same roof can differ by thousands of dollars, and the gap is usually in the parts you’ll never see. Ask each contractor these questions and get the answers in writing:
- Will the existing decking be re-nailed, and with what type of nail and spacing?
- Will the deck seams be sealed, or will underlayment go over bare joints?
- Is the drip edge new, and is the starter strip self-adhered?
- Will step flashing, headwall flashing and pipe boots be replaced or reused?
- What impact class is the shingle, and will you provide the documentation my insurer needs for a discount?
- If I’m pursuing a FORTIFIED certificate, will the work be coordinated with a certified evaluator during installation?
Insurance credits vary by carrier. Some give a small discount for a Class 4 shingle alone and a larger one for a certified FORTIFIED roof, and a few apply it only to the wind and hail portion of the premium. Call your agent before signing a contract, since documentation is much easier to gather during the job than after it.
The Chimney, Where Leaks Hide
Water that shows up near a fireplace often gets blamed on shingles when the real problem is the chimney joint. Proper flashing has step pieces woven into each shingle course, with counter flashing set into the mortar joints and lapped over them. A bead of caulk will eventually fail. Chimneys wider than 30 inches on the uphill side also need a cricket, a small ridge that sends water around the masonry instead of letting it pool behind it. Many older homes around Oklahoma City were built without one.
Also look at the top of the chimney. A cracked concrete crown lets water soak into the brick, and each freeze and thaw makes the cracks worse. A missing or rusted cap lets in rain, leaves and animals. If you’re replacing the roof, have the chimney flashing and crown handled at the same time, while the area is already open.
Gutters and the Ground Below
The roof moves water to the eave, and the gutters carry it the rest of the way. Central Oklahoma gets downpours heavy enough to overflow standard 5-inch gutters on large or steep roofs. Six-inch K-style gutters with 3 by 4 inch downspouts handle much more volume. Direct the downspouts several feet away from the house, because the region’s clay soils swell when wet and shrink as they dry, which puts stress on foundations.
After hail, check the gutters before you get on a ladder to look at the roof. Dents in aluminum gutters and downspouts clearly show hailstone size, and adjusters rely on them, so photograph them before anything is repaired.
Before the First Hard Freeze
Fall is a practical time to get this work done, with a few seasonal details to keep in mind. Shingle sealant strips need warmth to bond, so on a late-season install they may not fully seal until spring. Careful installers hand-seal edges and perimeter courses to cover that gap. Leaves from oaks and pecans fill gutters just as ice storm season approaches, and ice dams build quickly when meltwater can’t drain. Clearing the gutters, checking the flashing and taking another quick look in the attic in October can prevent many of the leaks that would otherwise show up in January.
