What we are (and aren’t)
ShieldBoardUp is an independent referral service. We are not a contractor: we don’t carry ladders, and no one on our team will arrive at your home. What we do is maintain a network of licensed, insured local contractors who handle emergency board-up, roof tarping, and water removal — and when you contact us, we connect you with one who covers your area and damage type, at any hour.
The referral costs you nothing and obligates you to nothing. You pay the contractor their normal rate; we may receive a referral fee from partners, which is how the service stays free for homeowners. That arrangement is disclosed on every page of this site and in detail in our advertising disclosure.
Why this site exists
Property emergencies are a terrible time to do research. At 2 a.m. with water rising or a door hanging open, people either freeze, overpay whoever answers first, or wait — and waiting is the most expensive choice of all, because damage compounds by the hour. We built ShieldBoardUp to compress that moment: one contact, a vetted local crew, and published cost data so you know what normal pricing looks like before anyone quotes you.
How we research our content
Every cost figure on this site is compiled from published industry cost data — sources like Angi, HomeAdvisor, Homewyse, and HomeGuide cost indexes — cross-checked against each other and updated for the current year. City guides are built from documented local events (federally declared disasters, published storm records) and the actual damage patterns of each region’s housing stock. Where we state a number, it’s a real published range, not a guess; where markets vary, we say so. Our guides include honest DIY instructions and honest lines about when DIY is a bad idea — if the safest answer is “don’t,” we print that.
Who runs this
ShieldBoardUp is operated by Shield Web Services. Questions, corrections, or partnership inquiries: shieldwebservices@gmail.com or the contact page. If you’re a licensed emergency contractor interested in receiving referrals in your market, we’d like to hear from you.