How we make Roof Decoder

Roof Decoder is written for US homeowners who just noticed a problem with their roof and want plain answers before they call anyone. This page explains who makes it, how, and how it pays for itself.

Who writes it

Pages are signed by the Roof Decoder editorial team, not by an expert we made up. No licensed roofer, public adjuster, insurance agent or lawyer reviews these pages. That is why every fact links to its source, and why we never tell you what your policy covers or ask you to climb on a roof.

How we use AI

We write with the help of AI models. They search official sources, draft each page from those sources and check the draft. A person on our team decides which pages are published and approves larger edits.

How we check facts

• Every figure, rule or safety warning links to its source as a small numbered note. Most sources are government agencies and universities; some are national industry and research bodies, such as NRCA, IBHS and the Insurance Information Institute.
• A program checks that each of those sentences links to a source and that its figures appear in that source. Any sentence it cannot confirm goes to a separate AI reviewer, which compares it with the source. If the source does not support it, we change the sentence or take it out.
• If we cannot source a figure, we leave it out.

Homeowners' words

Quotes from other homeowners are copied word for word from public discussions and say where they come from. We also write with the everyday words homeowners use in those discussions. Their experiences show what people go through; they never prove a fact.

Dates

The "Updated" date on each page is the last time the page was edited. We do not change it to make a page look recent.

How the site makes money

Pages may show ads served by Google. Right now no page has referral links; if that changes, the paragraph with the link will say so. See our Disclosure.

Corrections

If you find an error, email [email protected] with the page and what is wrong. We check it against the source, fix the page and update its date.