Tulsa FORTIFIED Roof™
Tulsa FORTIFIED Roof is a better way to protect your home against severe weather. FORTIFIED is a program of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) and is a voluntary construction standard backed by decades of research to help protect your home against severe weather.
Homes meeting the rigorous requirements of the FORTIFIED Home™ —High Wind & Hail Roof Standards —may receive discounts on their homeowner’s insurance premium. Contact your insurance agent for discount details. View the current discounts here.
A FORTIFIED roof includes the following enhancements:
- Enhanced Roof Deck Attachment
- Sealed Roof Deck
- Locked Down Roof Edges
- Impact Resistant Shingles Rated by IBHS
- Wind and Rain-Resistant Attic Vents
Free Estimate
Tulsa FORTIFIED Roofer Since 2018
FORTIFIED Roof was specifically designed to prevent damage that commonly occurs during high winds, hurricanes, hailstorms, severe thunderstorms, and even tornadoes up to EF-2. No matter what type of roof you have—shingles, metal, or tile—choosing a FORTIFIED Roof for your next roof replacement will make your home stronger.
Since 2018, Dave Laizure, owner of Whirlwind Roofing & Construction has been an approved FORTIFIED Roofer with the following FORTIFIED certifications.
- FORTIFIED Hail Certified Provider
- FORTIFIED High-Wind Provider
The FORTIFIED Roof certification demonstrates a solid understanding of the critical aspects of installation and documentation for roofing a new or existing home to meet the stringent FORTIFIED standards.
Stronger Edges
Roof damage often begins when wind gets underneath the roof edge and begins ripping it away from the home. To help protect this vulnerable area, FORTIFIED requires specific materials and installation methods, including a wider drip edge and a fully adhered starter strip, that when used together create a stronger system.
Sealed Roof Deck
If wind rips off your roof covering―such as shingles, metal panels or tiles―it exposes the wood beneath and allows water to pass through the gaps and enter your home. FORTIFIED requires roof decks to be sealed to prevent this type of water damage.
Better Attachment
Instead of common smooth nails, FORTIFIED requires ring-shank nails, installed in an enhanced pattern, to help keep the roof deck attached to your home in high winds. In fact, using ring-shank nails nearly doubles the strength of your roof against the forces of winds.
Impact-Resistant Shingles
In hail-prone areas, homeowners are encouraged to opt for the Hail Supplement to their FORTIFIED designation. To achieve this added level of protection, shingles must score Good or Excellent on the IBHS Hail Impact Ratings. These outperform typical Class 4 shingles when tested against realistic hailstones and will better protect your home from hail up to 2” in diameter.
First Things First: Pre-Qualifications
#1: Verify That Your Home is Eligible
This is a required step in the FORTIFIED program. Not all homes are eligible for FORTIFIED designation. Please read the Eligibility Checklist before moving forward. This is a guide to identify potential FORTIFIED compliance issues early in the process, so all parties (client, contractor, evaluator, and engineer) can make informed decisions. This is not an all-encompassing list or a guarantee that a home will receive a FORTIFIED designation. There may be site conditions not listed here that impact a home’s FORTIFIED eligibility or compliance.
#2: Hire a certified FORTIFIED evaluator.
If you are seeking a FORTIFIED designation certificate, which is generally required for insurance discounts and/or tax incentives, you must work with an evaluator. This independent third party inspector will verify that the requirements of this checklist have been met and will submit the required documentation to IBHS. You will pay this person separately from your roofing contractor and their services are not eligible for any grant proceeds you choose to seek. Refer to the Evaluator Checklist for a complete list of the Documentation Requirements.
Note – Whirlwind Roofing/Dave Laizure is a FORTIFIED contractor, not a third party evaluator.
#3: Contact Whirlwind Roofing
After your home is verified and you have hired a third party evaluator, contact our owner Dave Laizure for a comprehensive bid.
"Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act" Consumer Grant Program (2025)
FORTIFIED Articles & Press Releases
The Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act grant program is set to launch in March 2025.
The grant program was developed to assist homeowners in reinforcing their roofs with impact-resistant materials that meet FORTIFIED standards set by the IBHS. Additionally, many insurance companies offer reduced premiums for homes with such modifications.
Read about the qualifications required Here.
To receive this grant, you must obtain an IBHS FORTIFIED Home – Roof™ – High Wind designation with the Hail Supplement.
To obtain a FORTIFIED™ Designation certificate, your property must first receive an evaluation from a Certified FORTIFIED™ Evaluator who is approved by the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes program.
After a certified FORTIFIED evaluator has determined your home meets the eligibility requirements to qualify for a FORTIFIED designation, you will select three contractors from a list of SOH qualified and trained contractors. The three contractors will provide bids for the specific work needed on your home.
Once the bids are submitted, you’ll receive a grant award letter. You must have the award letter from SOH before mitigation work can begin. As mitigation continues, the evaluator will work with the chosen contractor to document the work and materials meet the FORTIFIED standard and submit the documentation to IBHS for review and certification.
The evaluator will inspect your property to determine if it meets the minimum eligibility requirements to be FORTIFIED. If the property does not meet the FORTIFIED minimum eligibility requirements, the property will not be awarded a grant.
Payment up to $10,000 will be issued by the Strengthen Oklahoma Homes program on your behalf directly to the contractor only after you satisfy all the requirements for the grant.
To learn more about the consumer grant program, visit OK Ready at https://www.oid.ok.gov/okready/
Feb 2025: Whirlwind Roofing receives Strengthen Oklahoma Homes (SOH) grant program approval.
Jan 2025: OK Ready Homeowners Checklist and Instructions
November 15, 2024: Garage Door Requirements for FORTIFIED High Winds Designation
October 21, 2024: Dog Doors in FORTIFIED Homes
June 26, 2024: Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Program: What You Need to Know
May 26, 2024: FORTIFIED Guidance on Leaf Guards and Gutters
May 13, 2024: Governor Signs Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act Into Law
March 14, 2024: Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act: Making Your Home Resilient While Saving You Money
FORTIFIED Cost Analysis – HUD 2022 A Cost-Benefit Analysis of FORTIFIED Home Designation in Oklahoma by the University of Oklahoma
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The additional building materials, third-party inspections, and labor required to upgrade to a FORTIFIED roof is more expensive than a traditional roof system. Pricing depends on available material costs and complexity of the project.
Third-party verification by a FORTIFIED Evaluator is required to make certain the upgraded construction materials and installation methods used on your home meet the standards required for a FORTIFIED designation certificate. This is a service the homeowner pays for separately from the roofing contractor. A list of evaluators can be found at https://fortifiedproviders.com/
No. Your roof will need to be re-inspected every 5 years to maintain its FORTIFIED certification. Also, if your home has been modified in the past 5 years―perhaps you enclosed an attached porch, added a new bedroom, or even had a doggie door installed―the evaluator will work with you to determine whether your home still meets the FORTIFIED standards. Typically, this will involve discussing the changes with the contractor who made them and documenting the building materials and construction techniques used. Each situation is unique, and a certified evaluator will be able to provide an assessment specific to your home.
The Strengthen Oklahoma Homes Act (SOH) provides grants to Oklahoma residents for residential wind and hail mitigation on new and existing, owner-occupied, primary residence single-family homes beginning in 2025. Funding for this program comes from the insurance industry in Oklahoma and is not funded from the state’s general budget. To receive this grant, you must obtain an IBHS FORTIFIED Home – Roof™ – High Wind designation with the Hail Supplement. Visit the OKReady website for the latest grant information.
Not yet in Oklahoma, as of July 1st, 2024. But, FORTIFIED incentives are spreading rapidly, so stay tuned. Contact your tax advisor directly and ask if any are offered in your state. Also, ask about any incentives for construction upgrades that help protect your home from severe weather.
As of Jan 1, 2025, for all FORTIFIED Home designations, roofs must be installed by certified FORTIFIED Roofing Contractors.
No. While lab and real-world experience has proven FORTIFIED to be remarkably effective at limiting storm damage, we do expect some FORTIFIED homes to experience damage during extreme weather. Some elements of a home (like siding) are not addressed by the standards and may be damaged. Other components, even ones included in the standards, can be affected by age, climate and maintenance, and some simply have limitations that prevent 100% protection on 100% of the homes where they are installed. Understanding that even a well-built home may suffer damage is key to FORTIFIED’s success. Its multiple layers of defenses significantly reduce the chances of a cascade of damage.