GEORGETOWN, Texas — Tuesday’s wind took a toll on many homes in Central Texas, and residents in Georgetown’s Fairhaven neighborhood are now trying to make repairs.
Jacob Gonzales is a Georgetown homeowner who woke up to the sound of the shingles blowing off his roof early Tuesday morning.
“Like 3 a.m. I woke up, and I thought that the actual studs of the house were like coming off because it was so loud,” Gonzales said. “I thought there was someone banging on the roof.”
As the wind picked up during the day, and not wanting to further to happen to his roof, Gonzales decided to start on as many repairs as he could.
“If we get rain in the attic … it’s just more and more problems,” Gonzales said. “Even if insurance covers it, it’s more of a headache to deal with, I just want to prevent as much damage as I possibly can.”
Throughout the day on Wednesday, Gonzales’ street was filled with roofing trucks from different companies trying to help out.
“It is borderline tornado circumstances here,” said Blake Rockwood, a roofer with Water Damage & Roofing of Austin. “There’s a ton of houses with a lot of missing shingles.”
Rockwood said these homes were made with three-tab shingles, which are only able to withstand wind speeds up to 60 mph. He says if they were built with architectural shingles, they would be able to withstand wind speeds of up to 110 mph.
While repairs on these roofs are helpful for now, so no other weather events damage them any further, Rockwood said they need to be completely replaced with new shingles to prevent this from happening again.
“Right now, even if you go back with the same shingles, this is bound to happen again in the future,” Rockwood said.
But that’s something that Megan Turnipseed, another neighbor in Fairhaven, said would be a big burden on her.
“I don’t have the money for that, it’s a really big expense and that’s a really big concern for me,” Turnipseed said.
Now, many neighbors are upset at the homebuilders, and are working to get in contact with them to see what can be done about repairs.
“It’s evident that we have a poor product or poorly installed, I don’t know what the right answer is, but something’s not right,” Turnipseed said.
KVUE reached out to the homebuilders, D.R. Horton, and received a statement saying they are currently investigating the issues. Below is the statement from Scott Wilburn, the Division President for D.R. Horton’s Austin Division:
“D.R. Horton is aware of the concerns raised by some homeowners regarding the performance of roof shingles during the recent high winds experienced in Austin and surrounding areas. We are currently investigating the matter and involving the two shingle manufacturers represented in the community. D.R. Horton takes home quality seriously and is committed to meeting the highest standards of craftsmanship and durability for our homes. Any homeowner with a concern about their home is encouraged to contact us at 512-345-4663 or visit drhorton.com/customer-care to submit an online warranty request. Please note, damages caused by extreme weather such as high winds, hail and lightning is not typically covered by our builder warranty.”