The roof supplement blog
Written for contractors who send supplements themselves. Code sections are checked against the published code before they go on the page, and where we cannot stand behind one, we say so instead of printing it.
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ACV, RCV, and the second check: where a supplement actually lands
How ACV, RCV, and recoverable depreciation actually work on a roof claim, and why an approved supplement usually shows up in the second check, not the first.
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Do you need Xactimate to send a supplement?
Carriers do not require Xactimate to review a roofing supplement. What desk adjusters actually do with your file, and what a supplement needs instead of an .esx.
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Ridge cap has a code. Starter strip does not. Why they get denied together
Ridge cap and starter strip get denied together as included in waste. On 3-tab roofs that is accurate. On architectural roofs it is not. What proves the difference.
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Steep and high charges: the two multipliers that come off without a sentence
Steep and high labor charges vanish from carrier roof estimates without a denial letter. What RFG STEEP and RFG HIGH cover, why they drop off, and how to document them back.
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The supplement was ignored. What comes next, in order
Your roofing supplement got no answer. The escalation path, in order: resubmit with better evidence, follow up in writing, route it through the policyholder, then the state.
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What supplement services charge, and what you get for it
Percentage agencies, flat-fee services, and software all sell roofing supplements. Here is what each model costs, what gets delivered, and who sends the file.
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Drip Edge in Georgia: The Code Version, and the Exact Date It Changed
Georgia has required drip edge at eaves and rake edges since January 1, 2014, the day the 2012 IRC took effect here. The adoption timeline with the rule that set the date, why the age of the old roof does not carry forward onto a replacement, and why rake footage is the quantity that quietly disappears.
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Drip Edge Code in Texas
Texas has no single residential code. A 2012 statutory floor, city amendments that can legally remove requirements, a separate track for unincorporated land, and a windstorm layer on the coast — here is how to find the drip edge rule that actually applies to one address.
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Ice and Water Shield Code in Ohio: What the Rule Says, and How to Document It
Ohio settles the ice-dam question statewide: a footnote in the code's climatic table designates every jurisdiction, and rule 4101:8-9-01 sets the material and the 24-inch measurement. Here is what the rule actually says and which photographs have to happen before the shingles come off.
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Overhead and profit, and the two sentences adjusters use to remove it
Fewer than three trades, and you self-perform. Neither line appears in the price publisher's own overhead-and-profit paper, which leaves the call to the estimator based on job conditions and who does the work. Here is what that paper says, and what to put in the file instead of a trade count.
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Roof Claim Denied as Wear and Tear: Reading the Letter
Wear-and-tear denial letters repeat the same blocks because state claim-handling rules shape most of them. Which block is load-bearing, why calling a roof worn out is two separate claims stacked into one sentence, and the line a roofing contractor cannot cross without stepping into public adjusting.
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Roof Decking: The Most-Denied Line You Write, and the Photo That Denies It
Decking damage is found after tear-off — which is exactly why carriers call it pre-existing. The bare-deck photo you take to prove the item is often the photo used to deny it. What to shoot instead, how to document sheet count, and why re-nailing is a completely separate argument.
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The roof photos you can never take again
Hail photos are the easy part. The frames that decide a supplement are of the roof that is still there — eave edge, underlayment, layer count, ventilation — and they stop existing the moment the shovel goes in. A tear-off day checklist.
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Matching Rules, State by State
Most matching advice is written for one state and then repeated in fifty. Here is where the wording actually differs, what each version turns on, and how to check your own state instead of guessing.
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Drip edge on a roof supplement, and why "it wasn't there before" is not a denial
Drip edge is required at eaves and rakes under IRC R905.2.8.5. Here is what that section actually says, why the absence of drip edge on the old roof does not exempt the new one, and what a desk adjuster needs to see before they will add it.
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A roofing supplement list with the third column: what the carrier says back, and how to answer it
Most supplement lists give you two columns — the item and what it is. This one adds the column that decides the file: the rejection a desk adjuster typically sends for that item, and what actually answers it. Twenty-plus line items on an asphalt shingle roof.