WHAT DOES HAIL DAMAGE LOOK LIKE?
Do you own a home or business? Your property may have hail damage that you don’t know about.
Even if you get on your roof and check it out yourself, you probably have no idea what hail damage like. The damage caused by hail will look different depending on what type of surface or roof structure was damaged and what size of hail that impacted the structure.
ASPHALT SHINGLES
On an asphalt shingle roofing system you will notice granular loss from your shingles. These colored granules are in place on top of the shingles for more than appearance.
They are what protect the asphalt and membranes in the shingles from separating & deteriorating prematurely. You will sometimes notice a large pile of colored granules in your gutters or next to your downspouts after a hail storm.
LOW SLOPED AND FLAT ROOFS
On a low sloped or flat roofing system, you almost will never know you have hail damage unless you are experiencing water damage(s) or it has been inspected by a qualified technician.
Sometimes you may get conflicting stories on if you have hail damage or not. Most insurance guidelines state that hail must penetrate the roofing membrane in order to classify as hail damage but if you ask an engineer you may get a different answer. You can sometimes see visibly signs where hail has impacted a flat roof but did not break through the top membrane.
It almost looks as if the hail just knocked the dirt off of the roofing system. In this instance it almost always breaks the adhesive properties of the roofing system and causes the roof to prematurely fail. It will take a commercial roofing contractor that is familiar with low sloped roofing to work with your adjuster and/or insurance company.
TRUST THE PROFESSIONALS
When hail is big, it is hard to dispute you have damage. When hail is small to medium sized, it takes a trained eye to see the damages. Most home inspectors do not even know what hail damage looks like to a roofing system. Most property owners don’t know they have had hail damage to their roofing system until after the roofing system leaks. This sometimes takes months if not years and gets harder to make an insurance claim, the more time that passes.
When hail is the size of a baseball it can destroy almost anything in its path. When it’s that big, you can even see the damage it causes your roof, siding or gutters from the ground. It knocks down tree branches smashed windshields and totals cars. Even then, it requires an experienced roofing & siding contractor to assess your roofing, siding & gutter system(s) for possible hail damage and to negotiate your claim.
In the St. Louis area, it seems like we get hit with a massive hailstorm once every 10-15 years. You’ll know it was a big one because some slick salesman will come knocking on your door or calling you on the phone and will tell you that “Your area has been hit by hail. Can I take a look? Do you have insurance?”
Most of the time, these companies are here for a short period of time and deal mainly with residential customers. We ask that you choose a local roofing contractor, that was well established before the storm and that will be here when the “storm chasers” leave for all your needs.