I get a lot of calls from clients trying to determine if they have hail damage on their roofs. I would like to spend a few moments visiting with you about how to know if your roof is damaged or not. The first question to answer is how large and how much hail has to fall to cause damage to your roof? Today's roofing materials are very resistant to damage but not damage proof. The hail that falls must be larger than your thumb nail. Damage does not occure with normally with hail this small or smaller. A good way to determine damage is look at your yard. If you see green leaves on the ground everywhere, you probably have a damaged roof. What happens is the hail will knock off the leaves. If the large leaves on your outdoor plants have holes in them, you need your roof checked. Look at the wood trim on the side of your house the hail came from. If you see dents or knocked off paint, you probably have damage. If you have dents in your metal fascia, you probably have damage. Even with all these signs, your roof will still need to be inspected.
Some of my past blogs we have talked about picking a company. Go back to those entries for more information on this. I want to share with you some danger issues to avoid. If you have someone come to your door uninvited that ask if he can inspect your roof for hail damage, beware. What he will most certainly say when he comes down is you, infact, do have damage. He will tell you to call your insurance company for an inspection. There may or may not be damage. If you have not ask this company to inspect your roof, don't let him go up! How do you know he is insured? How do you know if he is local (most local companies do not use this method of finding customers). Find a licensened local company with good references to inspect your roof. You will most likely get the truth.
Notice I have not given information on what hail damage looks like. If the hail stones are large, it will be easy to see the damage on the shingles and metal parts of the roof. Sometimes the damage is very hard to determine and experience is needed to make the call. Remember, it is up to the insurance company to accept the responsibility to replace the roof so don't contract with a roofing company before you get the go ahead from the insurance company.
Call me at 501-912-4603 if you have a questions.
Bill