Michigan
Supplements written for Michigan roofs, both peninsulas
Two peninsulas surrounded by water that never quite freezes, a winter that loads the framing for months and then sends the meltwater backward under the shingles, and city housing old enough that most of what current rules require was never on the building. The good news sits in the rulebook: there is one of them, it covers the whole state, and the arguments in it carry numbers.
By Kyle Hamrick, Founder
The Estimate Company is run by a licensed independent insurance adjuster. The output is Xactimate estimating, supplement packages, and the paperwork that holds them up, produced for roofing contractors running storm work across the country. Adjuster licensure is held in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Alabama.
Estimating is the entire assignment on a file out of this market, which deserves to be stated rather than implied. No adjuster appointment is held in this state, the claim is not adjusted from this desk, and the homeowner belongs to your contract and not to ours. We produce the scope, cite the code basis, and assemble the documentation, then push the file along with your office until the carrier responds.
The Estimate Company is run by a licensed independent insurance adjuster, with claims experience across many states, writing for contractors nationwide. What we bring to a Michigan file is code mechanism, carrier behavior, and claim pattern, confirmed for the address rather than assumed from a statewide rule. More about Kyle.
What actually damages roofs in Michigan, and what it does to the estimate
The western shore and the north: snow that stays
Air crossing open water off Lake Michigan picks up moisture and drops it inland in bands that can sit over Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, and the counties behind them for days at a stretch. Up the northern lower peninsula and across the entire upper peninsula the totals climb again. What that produces is not a storm claim, it is a season long loading condition on framing that was sized for a different set of assumptions.
The failure sequence is always the same. Heat leaking through a thin attic melts the pack up in the field, the runoff reaches the overhang where there is no heated space beneath it, and it freezes into a ridge at the edge. Water stacking behind that ridge works uphill under the courses and enters the building at the top plate. Nothing about it is visible from the shingle side, so the file lives or dies on interior photographs, moisture readings, and a written description of the melt path. The roof claim inspection checklist sequences the inspection so that evidence exists before the covering comes off.
Summer wind across the lower peninsula
Warm season thunderstorm complexes ride in from the west and organize as they cross the lower peninsula, and the corridor from Kalamazoo through Lansing and Flint into the Detroit metro takes the mature end of them. Some of those systems reach derecho scale and put down long track straight line wind, and the rest of them do the same thing at a smaller radius several times a summer.
Wind loss is the hardest damage type to get funded because it leaves nothing to count. There is no impact pattern to tally in a test square. There is a fold across the mat where the tab bent back over the fastener line, an adhesive strip that has released with the tab still sitting flat, ridge cap that no longer seats, and flashing that has moved off its line. Absent a photograph shot deliberately and captioned deliberately, every one of those reads to a reviewer as a roof that got old. That single fact governs how these files have to be built.
Detroit, Flint, and the age of the building stock
The neighborhoods that went up around the auto plants are the oldest large scale housing inventory in this part of the country, and they were framed and roofed generations before the eave membrane, the fastening schedule, the edge metal, and the ventilation minimums existed on paper. Board decking, gapped sheathing, brick chimneys carrying original counterflashing, and steep cut up rooflines with dormers are ordinary conditions rather than exceptions.
That age is a lever and a liability at the same time. Every one of those gaps turns into an obligation the moment the covering is replaced, and the code that creates the obligation is the same statewide document no matter which department issues the permit. The liability is that age is also the easiest thing for a carrier to reach for, arriving as heavy depreciation, as a settlement schedule that pays an older roof at a reduced basis, and as a repair scope drawn small on purpose. Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, and Lansing add the mirror image in their newer rings, where the roof is young enough that nobody can argue wear and the fight moves entirely to whether the damage happened.
Three code arguments that move Michigan files
One rulebook, promulgated as rules, amended only with permission
The Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act puts the construction code in the hands of the state, and the technical requirements arrive as administrative rules with the residential provisions sitting in Part 5. Local governments enforce and inspect, and a local amendment has to go up for approval instead of being invented at the counter. The practical effect on a supplement is that the first hour of research disappears: the provision is the same at every address, so a reviewer cannot open by asking which ordinance you think applies. Verify with local building dept Ask the office pulling that permit which edition is in force and whether an approved amendment rides on top of it.
The eave membrane comes with a dimension attached
The ice barrier requirement lives at Section R905.1.2 of the state residential provisions, owed wherever the area has a history of ice forming at the eave, run from the low edge of the roof surface up to a measured point past the exterior wall line, with the figure written into that section being 24 inches. That is the most valuable sentence available on a claim here, because a measured requirement converts an opinion into a takeoff. Set it against your sketch and the quantity is arithmetic, not advocacy, and on a roof with valleys and additions the answer is far larger than the single edge course the original estimate assumed.
When the old covering is legally required to come off
Section 706.3 of the state rehabilitation code for existing buildings forbids installing new covering over the old where the existing roof is water soaked or has deteriorated past serving as an adequate base, where the covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos cement tile, or where two or more applications are already in place. Section 706.5 goes further and bars reinstalling rusted or deteriorated metal edging, vent flashing, collars, and counterflashing. Those two sections together answer most of what a repair priced estimate leaves out, and they answer it with section numbers rather than with an argument about fairness.
The carriers writing Michigan, and the residual market behind them
Auto-Owners, Home-Owners, Frankenmuth Insurance, Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan, MEEMIC, Citizens Insurance, Pioneer State Mutual, State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive write most of the homes here, and the in state mutuals hold a bigger share of that book than an out of state contractor expects. Auto-Owners is headquartered in Lansing and Frankenmuth operates out of the town it takes its name from. Those desks are staffed by people who have looked at ice dam files their entire careers. A package assembled from a template gets recognized on sight, and a scope built on the sections that actually govern gets read closely.
One clarification worth making early, because out of state estimators trip on it constantly: the no fault system this state is famous for governs automobile coverage. It has nothing to do with a homeowners property claim, and treating a roof file as though some version of it applies is a fast way to lose credibility with a desk that hears the mistake every week.
What does apply is the ordinary set of policy levers, and every one of them can hand back a recovery that was won on scope. Cosmetic damage endorsements that exclude dented metal, roof settlement schedules that pay an aging covering at a reduced basis, and percentage wind deductibles keyed to the dwelling limit all appear on forms written here. So the declarations page rides in with the claim documents instead of surfacing once the argument is underway. Where the settlement was already reduced on that basis, depreciation recovery is its own separate fight with its own evidence.
Behind the voluntary market sits the Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association, the residual mechanism for property owners the standard carriers decline, which shows up most often on older urban risks. Those claims travel on distinct paperwork at a distinct pace, and a scope written for them has to be complete on the first pass. After a widespread wind day or a historic snow event, the standard carriers surge catastrophe crews in on daily inspection counts with throughput as the measure. The reinspection supplement is for the files that stay frozen until a carrier representative is back on the roof with a finished evidence package waiting.
What gets recovered on a Michigan roof file
Ordered by how often the item is missing when a file reaches our desk.
Status key: In scope. Usually omitted. Code driven. Verify with the authority having jurisdiction. Every status is spelled out in words beside the item, so nothing depends on color.
Ice barrier quantity taken off the sketch, not off habit
Code driven
The provision sets a distance measured from the low edge inward, so the correct number falls out of the roof geometry rather than out of a rule of thumb. Every valley, every dormer return, and every low slope tie in adds to it, and the first estimate almost always priced a single course at the gutter and moved on.
Full tear off where two or more coverings are already up
Code driven
Two layers is an extremely common condition on housing of this age, and the rehabilitation code treats it as disqualifying for a recover. Once that is established the argument stops being about preference: the removal, the haul off, and whatever the bare deck turns out to be are all part of the job the code requires.
Rusted metal edging, collars, and counterflashing not reinstalled
Code driven
The rehabilitation provisions specifically bar putting rusted or deteriorated flashing, edge metal, drain outlets, and collars back on a reroofed deck. On a roof that has spent thirty winters cycling through freeze and thaw that is most of the metal on the building, and carrier estimates routinely assume it all goes back up.
Snow load deflection at rafters, ridge, and sheathing
In scope
A settled pack with a rain crust over it loads framing that was sized decades ago, and what it leaves behind is a sagging plane between bearing points and sheathing that has taken a set. A roofer reads that as structural in about four seconds, and a reviewer reads it as an old house, so the photographs need captions that say which one it is.
Damming damage in the soffit, fascia, and wall cavity
Usually omitted
The water that backs up behind an ice ridge at the overhang travels into the parts of the building nobody inspects from a ladder. By the time the stain reaches the plaster and the trim swells, the original estimate has been written, approved, and closed on the shingle field alone.
Plank decking and skip sheathing brought to the fastening schedule
Verify with local building dept
The prewar neighborhoods across the older cities sit on board sheathing laid with gaps, and there is nothing continuous under a modern nail pattern. It is discovered the hour the covering leaves the deck, not from the driveway, and the confirmation of what the current schedule requires belongs with the department issuing the permit.
Drip edge at eaves and rakes
Code driven
The requirement arrived long after most of this housing was first roofed, so tear off tends to expose bare sheathing at both edges. Nobody prices metal that was not there before, which is exactly the reasoning that leaves a code obligation off the estimate.
Attic intake and exhaust ventilation to current requirement
Verify with local building dept
Underventilated attics are the reason the field melts while the eave stays frozen, so the ventilation deficiency and the damming loss are the same problem wearing two hats. Confirm what the current requirement asks for at that address before the correction goes into the scope.
Starter course at eaves and rakes
Usually omitted
On a roof that spends half the year under wind coming off open water, the manufacturer wind rating is the whole point of the product, and no manufacturer honors it without starter. It is separate material, separately hung, and it disappears into the field shingle line anyway.
Ridge cut, vent, cap, and end plugs
Usually omitted
Sawing the slot open, dropping vent into it, running cap the length of the peak, and plugging both ends bill as four things because they take four passes. Fund the cap alone and the exhaust half of the ventilation path is unpaid, on a house that pushes moisture into its attic every night from October to April.
Seal bond failure documented across a full elevation
In scope
An organized summer wind complex can cross the lower peninsula and leave a covering that photographs as untouched while the adhesive strips along an entire elevation have quietly let go. What proves it is a fold line through the mat plus a tab that comes free under a hand, and neither one is worth anything to a reviewer without a caption explaining it.
Overhead and profit on multi trade files
In scope
A winter loss that runs from covering through gutter, soffit, fascia, and interior finish puts several crews on one job in a sequence somebody has to own. That coordination is a general contractor function, and the trigger is the trade count rather than the size of the total.
Not one of those goes over as a favor being asked. Each lands as a priced Xactimate line with the section or the manufacturer requirement sitting beside it. The wrapper depends on the claim, shipping as a roofing supplement, an Xactimate supplement package, a supplemental estimate, or a full claim estimate written from scratch.
What happens to your file after you send it
- 01
The carrier estimate gets read line by line against the roof
Not skimmed. We pull the estimate apart against your measurements and photos, marking every line where the assembly written does not match what that roof needs in that jurisdiction.
- 02
Code and manufacturer requirements get sourced before they get argued
One statewide rulebook means the citation is available immediately, so the effort goes into applying it correctly: the membrane distance measured off your sketch, the recover prohibitions checked against the layer count, and the flashing reuse rules read against what is actually on the building. The edition in force and any approved local amendment still get confirmed for the address rather than asserted as a statewide rule an adjuster can knock down.
- 03
The supplement is written in Xactimate and delivered as a PDF
Real file, real price list, real sketch. You get the PDF as the deliverable, and the ESX free any time you ask for it. Retail estimate work with no supplement attached delivers the ESX. Written same day or next day, submitted next day. One to three extra days on large commercial and multi structure work.
- 04
We stay on the file until the carrier answers
Follow up, desk adjuster calls, and reinspection support when the carrier sends someone back out. Response runs about three weeks as a general expectation, and the file does not close on our side because it went quiet on theirs.
Two promises, stated separately
Promise one: the fee
The standard fee is 15 percent of supplemental recovery. If a file produces no additional approved recovery, you pay nothing on that claim. That is the whole fee structure, and it applies claim by claim.
Promise two: the guarantee
Send us an average of 2 claims per week for 12 months. If that volume does not produce a minimum of six figures in additional margin for your company, we write you a $5,000 check at the end of the 12 months. The volume, the 12 month term, the six figure threshold, and the $5,000 figure are one set of terms and they always travel together.
Two different promises, no overlap. The fee describes what a single claim costs you. The guarantee describes what a year of steady volume is worth. Nothing in the fee structure is a guarantee, and the guarantee does not change the fee.
Michigan questions we get from contractors
Does one code book really cover the whole state?
Yes, and it is the single most useful fact on a file here. Residential construction runs under the state construction code promulgated as administrative rules under the Stille-DeRossett-Hale single state construction code act, with the residential provisions carried in Part 5 of those rules. Local governments administer and inspect, and where they amend, the amendment goes upstairs for approval rather than being written freehand. Compare that with a state where adoption is a village by village question and the difference is obvious: the research step collapses and the argument starts at the assembly instead of at the ordinance.
What is the strongest code argument on a roof here?
The eave membrane, because it is a numbered provision carrying a dimension. The residential provisions at R905.1.2 call for an ice barrier where there is a history of ice forming along the eave, carried up from the lowest edge to a measured distance past the exterior wall line, and the figure in that section is 24 inches. A dimension turns an adjuster judgment call into arithmetic against your sketch, and on a cut up roof with valleys and low slope tie ins the quantity it produces is nothing like the token strip the first estimate priced.
Can a carrier pay to lay new shingles over the old ones?
Not where the rehabilitation code says the deck has to be cleared first. Section 706.3 of the state rehabilitation code for existing buildings requires every existing layer to come off before new covering goes on when the old roof is water soaked or has deteriorated past being an adequate base, when the covering is wood shake, slate, clay, cement, or asbestos cement tile, or when there are already two or more applications up there. That last condition catches an enormous number of these roofs, and it converts a recover priced estimate into a tear off with disposal and deck work behind it.
Why do lake effect claims get argued differently than storm claims?
Because the loss accumulates instead of arriving. A snow band coming off Lake Michigan can bury the western counties over several days, and what follows is weeks of load on the framing, meltwater refreezing at the cold overhang, and water pushed back up under the courses into the soffit cavity and the wall. There is no single moment to point at and no debris field to photograph. The file has to establish the mechanism in writing, document the interior with moisture readings, and connect the damming to the winter it came from before anybody funds work past the shingle field.
How much does a supplement typically recover?
On claims where the roof is already approved for full replacement, our own closed files show a median recovery of about $4,000, with half landing between roughly $1,800 and $9,500. Claims that start denied or repair-only run far higher.
How fast is turnaround, and what does it cost?
Estimates are written same day or next day and submitted next day. Larger commercial and multi structure files take one to three extra days, said up front. Carrier response runs about three weeks as a general expectation. The standard fee is 15 percent of supplemental recovery, and a file with no additional approved recovery owes nothing on that claim.
Michigan markets
Southeast Michigan
West and central Michigan
- Grand Rapids and the lakeshore counties
- Kalamazoo and the southwest corner
- Lansing and the capital region
Files also come in from Sterling Heights, Warren, Dearborn, Livonia, Troy, Farmington Hills, Southfield, Rochester Hills, Wyoming, Holland, Muskegon, Saginaw, Bay City, Midland, Jackson, Battle Creek, Port Huron, Traverse City, and Marquette.
Hand over one file and let the sections do the arguing
Send over the carrier document, the roof measurements, and the declarations page. The file that returns the next day prices the membrane off your sketch, tests the layer count against the recover rules, and puts a section number next to every line that has one.