Lincoln roofing crews ask people to ‘hang tight’ as they work to fix storm damage

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln roofing crews are working long hours to keep up with repairs after the strong storms that swept through the city on Wednesday.

Neeman and Sons, Inc. has gotten more than 100 calls in two days.

Josh Magwire, the president of special operations, said he has visited about a dozen houses a day to assess damage.

“It’s been a weird year because it seems like every time it rains, there’s 50 mile an hour winds with it,” Magwire said. “We spend several days catching up with just the wind damage stuff.”

The majority of the fixes are small, with only a few shingles missing.

But others are time consuming.

“With tree damage, holes in the roof, we try to get over there as soon as we can so we can get it patched just in case there’s rain in the next day or two,” Magwire said.

He said you shouldn’t panic if crews don’t make it to your house right away.

And he said it’s not a good idea to take things into your own hands.

“I would never recommend somebody get on their roof unless they’re a roofer or they’re comfortable, but most homeowners are not,” Magwire said. “I would say just hang tight at this point.”

He said small repairs can wait about a week with good weather.

But if there’s a storm coming, it’s important to get shingles replaced before it becomes a bigger problem.

Magwire said the heat is presenting another obstacle for roofers.

It can be 20 to 30 degrees hotter on the roof than on the ground, according to Magwire.

“I’m working as late as I can to try to get to as many people as I can, so that means working in the hottest part of the day,” he said. “That’s another thing I’d like people to be patient with. It’s 100 degrees out, it’s even hotter on a roof, so think about us a little bit, too.”

Magwire said it might be cheaper to just call the roofing company instead of insurance.

If you’re only missing a few shingles, it will often cost less than an insurance deductible.