Franklin County sits inside eastern Missouri's severe-storm corridor, and the roofs here take a beating that homeowners in calmer states never see. The March 14-15, 2025 outbreak that put Franklin County in the federal disaster declaration brought large hail, tornadoes, and straight-line winds over 75 mph, the kind of hail that starts bruising asphalt shingles on contact. Add those tornadoes and damaging winds across eastern Missouri, then layer Missouri's winter freeze-thaw on top, and a roof in Union, Washington, or Pacific gets worked from three directions every single year.
The catch is that most of that damage is invisible from the driveway. Hail bruising is a soft, granule-stripped spot you have to kneel on the shingle to see, and adjusters working a busy storm route miss it constantly. That is exactly why Tom Emmendorfer, founder Matt's son who runs roofing and claims for the family, gets on your roof first and is standing next to the adjuster when they climb up. In Matt's words, the adjuster's inspection is the one time you can sell the damage, so being there the same time he is matters more than anything else in the claim.
Emmendorfer Exteriors has worked Franklin County storms since 1990, and the family has put roofs on right around 2,400 Missouri homes, including 306 jobs in 2025. We are not a crew that pulled into town behind the last hailstorm and will be gone before the next one. Our in-house family crews do the work, the same name that sells your job is on your roof, and Tom is the one going back to the house a second or third time when State Farm, Allstate, or Travelers sends a different adjuster. We do the claim diligently because we are still your roofer long after the check clears.
A storm claim is won or lost on documentation and on who is standing on the roof with the adjuster. Here is exactly how Tom runs it.
Call the roofer before the insurance company. Tom gets on your actual roof, not a satellite image, and documents hail bruising, wind-lifted shingles, granule loss, and damaged metal and flashing with photos. A written inspection from a real contractor creates independent evidence of the full damage scope before any adjuster forms their own opinion.
If the damage is real, we help you open the claim with your insurer and pin it to the correct date of loss. Most Missouri policies require the claim within roughly one year of the storm, so a homeowner who notices a ceiling stain months after a spring hailstorm still has a window. We make sure the claim is filed clean.
This is the step that wins claims. Tom is on the roof at the same time as the adjuster, walking every slope with him so the bruising and soft spots do not get written off. Under Missouri law you have the right to have your contractor present at the inspection, and we use it on every claim.
Adjusters routinely miss damage or leave line items off the scope. We document what was skipped, send it back with photos, and go back and forth with the same or a different adjuster until the approved scope matches what the storm actually did. We do not have a problem doing it, and we make sure it gets done.
Once the claim is approved you pay your deductible and we handle the rest. Our in-house crews tear off, replace any failed decking and fascia we find, and install your CertainTeed, Owens Corning, Malarkey, or GAF system. Then we magnet-sweep for nails and haul every scrap so we leave no footprint behind.
We are factory-certified across four manufacturers, which is rare in a market where most roofers name one brand at most. On a storm job that means we match the system to your home and your policy instead of selling you the only product on the truck.
Our go-to when hail is the reason you are filing. Malarkey's Class 4 shingle carries the top impact rating and can earn a homeowner an insurance premium discount with many Missouri carriers. After what Franklin County took in the March 2025 storms, it is the upgrade we recommend most on a replacement claim.
CertainTeed, Owens Corning, and Malarkey architectural shingles, with GAF available when a homeowner or housing job calls for it. On a claim, brand-matching matters: Missouri line-of-sight case law can owe you replacement when new material would visibly mismatch the existing roof.
Hidden-fastener metal that shrugs off hail and wind and outlasts asphalt by decades. A strong choice on the steeper, more exposed roofs around Pacific, Villa Ridge, and the New Haven river bluffs where storms hit hardest. See our metal roofing page for the full breakdown.
Storm damage rarely stops at the field shingles. We replace failed decking and fascia on tear-off, re-skin low-slope porches and additions with TriBuilt or Carlisle TPO, and rehang storm-torn gutters and gutter boards so the whole exterior is back under the dry.
After a storm, the order you make two phone calls changes the whole claim. Here is how the two paths play out in Franklin County.
| Step in the claim | Roofer first (what we recommend) | Insurance first |
|---|---|---|
| First inspection | Independent written damage report on file before the adjuster forms an opinion | Adjuster sets the scope alone, often from the ground or a quick pass |
| On the roof with the adjuster | Tom walks every slope with him and points out missed hail bruising | No advocate present, bruising and soft spots get written off |
| Damage that gets missed | Documented and supplemented back to the carrier with photos | Underpaid scope is harder to reopen once the claim is settled |
| Your deductible | We explain it honestly and never offer to waive it, which is illegal in Missouri | Storm chasers may dangle a deductible deal that violates state law |
| After the check clears | Same local family is still your roofer for warranty and callbacks | Out-of-town crews are often gone before the next storm season |
We bring the same in-house family crews and the same written-estimate promise to every town in Franklin County.
Tom climbs your actual roof, documents the hail and wind damage, and stands next to your adjuster to make sure nothing gets missed. No subbed-out crews, no deductible games, free across Franklin County.
