No Fiddlers on the Roof

(Video: At the end of the day, members of a crew from AllenSmart Builders were moving as fast on top of my house as they were when they started the day.)

By Jay C. Grelen, Self-Appointed Editor Maumelle Monitor[ed]

The whine of portable air compressors and the staccato rat-a-tat of the roofing-nail guns they power have become Maumelle’s soundtrack since the January 11, 2024, hailstorm that took out windows, walls, roofs, gutters, and siding all over town.

Daniel Allen, owner of AllenSmart Builders, unintentionally strikes a picturesque pose as he documents hail damage to our roof.

Half-dollar-sized hail started pounding Maumelle about 11:36 pm. Interactivehailmaps.com correctly predicted that Maumellians would awaken to damaged cars, roofs, siding, and windows. What the experts didn’t say is that we would awaken at 11:36 p.m. as the hail hammered our homes.

Daniel Allen’s crew racing the sun to finish laying new shingles.

Insurance claims adjusters, many assigned to Central Arkansas from other states to help with the massive task, swarmed into town within days, followed closely by contractors.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin cautions Arkansans to be wary of a contractor who pressures you to hire him. His tips include: Get more than one estimate. Check their references. Don’t sign a contract with blanks “to be filled in later.” Don’t pay a contractor in full until the work is finished. Review and understand all documents sent to your insurance company. Get everything in writing: repair costs, scope of work, time and payment schedules, and any other detailed guarantees or expectations.

Daniel Allen casts a shadow on the house next door as he photographs the new roof his crew installed the day before.

Pretty quickly, the contractors arrived. Our roofers replaced our roof one month and 11 days after the storm. I enjoy watching roofers. They are gutsy. They walk to the edge of steep second-story roofs with no apparent fear. They climb ladders like normal folk, but they descend ladders facing forward as if they are descending a flight of stairs. Either direction, they are moving quickly.

Nothing like new Whirlybirds, all black and shiny, to improve curb appeal. That’s Daniel Allen’s shadow. Again.

When you watch from the ground at certain angles in the morning or at the end of the day, you can’t make out much detail about the individual roofers. They are silhouettes against the sky, a beautiful and constantly changing work of roofing art in motion.

The west wall of our house at 11:50 a.m. on January 12 after the hailstorm beat it to pieces the night before.

Our neighbor, Josh, who lives two doors to the west, accused me of throwing baseballs against the vinyl siding on the west side of our house. Of all the west-side walls I’ve seen on our street, our wall looks far worse than any other.

When you work at my house, you will have sweet tea. Daniel Allen, founder and owner of AllenSmart Builders, shoots a selfie as he serves himself. His dad, Neil, is to the right. That’s Maumelle’s Chief of Staff Emeritus and Chief Maker of Sweet Tea standing in the middle. Daniel is the brother of and Neil is the father of Kris Allen, who won the American Idol competition in 2009.