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Determining if Your Roof Is Damaged from Hail

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 23 August 2017 13:26

When hail begins to fall, most people don’t realize the type of damage that it can do. Within minutes, however, tiny hail stones can begin to grow in size and number putting dents in your car, knocking down tree limbs, and doing serious damage to your roof. Worst of all, because hail storms can be so incredibly localized, it can sometimes be hard to determine if your home or roof was damaged by hail if you weren’t there when it happened to see how large or forceful the hail was. Because hail can cause long-term problems to your roof, and because your insurance company will likely only approve a claim filed in a timely manner, it’s in your best interests to determine if your roof has been damaged in a timely way whenever hail strikes your area. In this article, John Anderson from Severe Weather Roofing, with locations in Denver, Golden & Ft. Collins, explains how you can determine if your roof is damaged.

What Hail Does to Your Roof

You may think of hail as simply bouncing off your of your roof and rolling down into your gutters. You may also think that unless the hail is the size of a softball and puts a hole in your roof that there may be no damage at all. Unfortunately, most hail damage is a lot more subtle at first and only truly shows up over time.

When hailstones hit your roof, they essentially end up doing two things: they bruise the mat of your shingles and they knock off some of the protective granules. The next time it rains, a lot of those loosened granules will now wash right off of your roof and down into your gutters. Now your shingles are more exposed to the elements, which means that they are going to begin to deteriorate more quickly, leading to issues like leaks within a few months to a year.

Larger hailstones can also do more immediate damage as well, depending on how hard they struck. A large hailstone may crack shingles and put dents in your metal flashing. Because not all roofs crack, however, many people may glance at their roof, see no visible damage and assume things are fine. A few months later, when your roof begins to leak, you may not connect the hail storm to the water infiltration, and you may miss out on insurance coverage for repairing or replacing your roof. Therefore, you need to do a much more thorough job of checking your roof after each and every hail storm to determine if more damage has been done.

How to Inspect Your Roof

If hail has hit your area, and you aren’t sure if it hit your house, begin your inspection by looking at your yard and your neighbors’ yards. Look for fallen tree limbs, dents on cars, damage to siding and garage doors, and other debris that could indicate a major storm. If you see these things, you need to check your roof.

Your insurance agent will check your roof by dividing it into sections and counting the number of hail strikes per section to determine if your roof warrants replacement. You can do the same, or simply get up on your roof and look for areas that appear to have sustained an impact, or look for areas that are missing granules from small sections.

It’s important to remember that sometimes those granules don’t wash away right when the hail struck. Sometimes it takes some rain to wash them away. If you don’t see any evidence of hail strikes when you first check your roof, wait until after the next storm. Take a look in your gutters; deteriorating shingles or shingles that have been struck by hail will likely shed large amounts of granules into your gutters where they will collect. If you find granules in your gutters, it’s time for another trip up to your roof. You should now see evidence of areas with missing granules in the shape of the hailstones that struck your roof.

Get an Inspection

Before you call your insurance company, it’s in your best interests to have your roof inspected by a qualified, local roofer or contractor. This roofer can help you figure out just how bad the damage is, and can help walk you through the insurance payment and roof replacement process. Remember that not all damage shows up right away, so your contractor may advice waiting until after a storm before having the inspector come out to maximize your potential for getting your claim approved, or your contractor may want to be on hand during the inspection to help make the case for replacement for you.

Protect Your Roof

Your roof is one of the most important parts of your home. Hail can seriously compromise your roof, allowing water to infiltrate, which can lead to things like mold, mildew, and water damage that can mean a lot more in necessary repairs down the road. Always check your roof after a hail storm, or have a qualified, local contractor come and check your roof for you to make sure it stays in great shape for many years to come.

If your roof happens to have damage from storms or years of wear and tear, make sure to get it fixed as soon as possible. Take advantage of an  unfortunate situation and create a a new durable roof that will protect your home for many years. Cedar shake roof life expectancy offers the longevity every homeowner needs in their roof. Add the best roof underlayment with it and your new roof is sure to withstand furture storms and threats. 

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Matt Lee

Matt Lee is an SEO and content marketing specialist serving building material manufacturers. He’s the founder of digital marketing agency, Lead Generation Experts, and Local SEO Course, Rise Up Local, that teaches business owners how to rank higher and get more leads through search engines.

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