HAIL DAMAGED ROOF
Hailstorms can cause serious damage to a roof. The impact from a hailstone can bruise or crack roofing shingles, potentially leading to water damage in your home. While you can’t always avoid roof damage from hail, you can help to minimize the extent of damage by detecting problems early, taking action to repair or replace your damaged roof as quickly as possible.
How Do I Know If My Roof Has Been Damaged by Hail?
In the aftermath of a hailstorm, it’s important to get your roof checked for damage. Hail falls in random patterns and therefore may only damage a few houses within a neighborhood, so your roof may have damage even if your next-door neighbor’s roof doesn’t.
Look for signs of hail damage around your yard and property, such as:
Plants stripped of their leaves
Dents in cars, gutters, or garage door.
Splatter markings on fence or concrete
Damaged air conditioner units, or
Evidence of damage to other exterior furnishings
Surface Hail Damage
The first type of damage you want to look for is damage to the surface of your roof. If you have an asphalt shingle roof, you may notice the following signs of damage after a hailstorm:
Small divots
Round black areas
Bruises, and/or
Loss of protective granules, which may collect in gutters and downspouts
Hidden and Related Roof Hail Damage
Not all hail damage can be seen on the surface of a roofing shingle. Sometimes the impact from a hailstone can cause shingles to split and can only be seen when you look at the backside of the roof shingles.
It’s best to call us to assist in this type of inspection, as we can lift up, examine and re-seal shingles as needed. We will also assess other roofing components for damage, such as flashing, roof vents, skylights, gutters, and chimney caps or covers.
Imitation Hail Damage on a Roof
It’s important to correctly identify the type of roof damage so the best action plan can be put into place, which may involve warranty and insurance claims. We are able to differentiate hail damage from other types of roof damage, such as
Blistering and cracking caused by UV degradation from the sun,
Scuffing damage from when shingles were installed
Wind and debris defacement, and
Worn-out shingles
Once the damage is identified, we can provide a roof inspection report and advise on the next steps to getting your roof repaired or replaced.
Is It Necessary to Fix Hail Damaged Shingles?
If your roof has been damaged by hail, it can be difficult to understand whether the damage is only cosmetic or if it could also impact roof performance. If hail damage is allowing water to pass through your roofing system, then this is a performance issue and should be fixed as soon as possible to help prevent serious water damage to your home.
If hail damage has caused granule loss on your roof shingles, it could also affect the performance of the shingle, in addition to the aesthetics. Granules on asphalt shingles help to protect the asphalt from UV light degradation caused by the sun. While you may not have a roof leak right away, shingles that have lost granules have a higher risk of failing prematurely. Which would require hail damage repair.
Is a Hail Damaged Roof Covered by Insurance?
Most insurance policies will cover hail damage, but it’s best to study your homeowner’s policy in-depth, especially if you live in a region prone to hailstorms. Some of the common stipulations associated with hail related insurance claims include:
Homeowners usually have within one year to file a claim.
Policies require a deductible payment to your contractor under your hail deductible. This will be what the insurance company will not pay towards your claim and is your out of pocket expense.
How Much Does Insurance Pay for a Hail damaged roof?
Insurance will either pay replacement cost or an actual cash value depending on the type of policy coverages you have. ACV policies depreciate the payment based on how old the roof is. To get your roof replaced or repaired, you will probably have to pay more with the ACV policy. Replacement cost policies pay the going rate for a roofer to replace your roof with materials of like/kind of your existing shingles. With the Replacement Cost policy, your deductible should be your only out of pocket expense in your claim.
Get a Free Roof Inspection for Hail Damage
It may be difficult to spot some types of roof damage from the ground, so you’ll want to get as close to the surface of the roof as possible for a complete inspection. We recommend scheduling an inspection with a real professional that knows how to spot hail damage. We provide free inspections and estimates.
For more info or a free inspection you can call us at (337) 366-0814 or leave us your contact info here and we will contact you back shortly.