Skip to content This homeowner in Millersburg, Ohio, called Asbury Home Improvements to set an appointment in order to determine whether she needed a gutter repair or replacement.
When we came out to take a look at her project, we inspected her gutters and found that they weren’t draining properly. They had enough wear and tear that a simple repair wouldn’t do the job. Therefore, we recommended a full gutter replacement.
While we were there, we offered to check her roof and attic as well. Whether everything was in great shape or there were some issues, we wanted her to be aware, since many roofing issues aren’t visible from the ground, especially on two-story homes.
During the attic inspection, we found that the ventilation was very poor, which had allowed a large amount of mold to grow over the years. The roof also showed wind damage from a relatively recent storm.
Between these two major issues, we told the homeowner that she needed a roof replacement. At first, she was very shocked and in disbelief. She told us that she did not have the funds to afford paying for a roof replacement, especially because she had just signed a contract to paint the exterior of her home, and now the gutters needed to be replaced as well.
Naturally, we understood. However, because of the wind damage we found, we let her know there was a chance her insurance company would cover most of the cost, leaving her responsible only for her deductible. Her mood quickly changed, and she became hopeful.
She then opened up to us and told us the story of her home. This home meant everything to her. Her husband, who had passed away, had built it from scratch, mostly by himself. Maintaining this home was very important to her, so she knew that she had to at least give it a try and see if the insurance company could cover the expenses.
We assured her that we would do everything we could to get her insurance company to approve a full roof replacement.
After working tirelessly with her insurance company for about two months, we were able to get her roof approved for a full replacement. When we told her the good news, she was extremely excited and really looked forward to this necessary improvement for her precious home.
The only thing that the insurance company didn’t approve coverage for was the moldy decking that had been found. We told her we would continue working on her behalf to see if we could get at least part of it covered. We also warned her that we might find more moldy decking during the replacement. Since certain areas of the attic were inaccessible, we couldn’t inspect all of the roof decking beforehand.
Finally, the day of installation came around, and we got the old shingles removed. We took out a few pieces of decking in the area that we couldn’t access through the attic, and just as we had warned our customer, there was additional moldy decking. In total, we had to replace 33 sheets of decking
The customer was a bit disappointed that she might have to cover that much decking out of pocket, but at the same time, she was happy because her home was being taken care of properly.
In the end, after the installation was complete, we continued working with the insurance company as we had promised, and soon afterward, we were able to get most of the decking covered.
She was so happy and thankful that it reminded us why we do what we do.
All she had to pay for was the deductible from her insurance policy, a few sheets of decking, as well as some material upgrades that she wanted.
For our customer, this was more than just her home—it was her castle. She even had a sign next to her main entrance that read, “Estep’s Blue Castle.”
Throughout the whole process, we became good friends. We even gave her a beautiful handmade painting of a castle, created by one of our employees. She absolutely loved it and deeply appreciated the thoughtful gift, so much so that joyful tears filled her eyes as she received it.
