Hailstorms can cause serious damage to a roof. The impact from a hailstone can bruise or crack all types of roofing materials , 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 inspected 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/trees stripped of their leaves

Dents in cars

Damaged air conditioner units or

Evidence of damage to other exterior furnishings

It may be difficult to spot some types of roof damage from the ground, so you’ll want SJH pros on the roof for a thorough inspection.

We recommend scheduling an inspection with SJH Roofing to safely and thoroughly inspect your roof. Roof inspections are free with SJH Roofing and we will let you know whether you actually have damage or not.

The first type of damage SJH will look for is damage to the surface of your roof. If you have an asphalt shingle roof, we 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

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 SJH Roofing to assist in this type of inspection, as we can lift up, examine and re-seal shingles as needed. SJH will also assess other roofing components for damage, such as flashing, roof vents, skylights, gutters, and chimney caps or covers.

Is It Necessary to Fix Roof Hail Damage?

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.

Is Roof Hail Damage Covered by Insurance?

Most insurance policies will cover hail damage. Some of the common stipulations associated with hail related insurance claims include:

Homeowners usually have within one year to file a claim.

Most policies require a deductible payment before the insurance company pays its share.

Since you can’t “pull your roof into the garage” when there’s a storm, you may want to install roofing materials that are designed to withstand greater levels of impact, such as Class 4, impact-resistant shingles, which may help to prevent or reduce the amount of damage from hail or other debris.

Additionally, installing Class 4 shingles on your home may qualify you for a homeowners’ insurance discount. Contact your insurance agent to learn more.

Contact us today for an inspection and we'll go over everything with you. It is a fairly straight forward process that can overwhelm homeowners not accustomed to dealing with insurance companies and adjusters but we will explain in detail the process and whether you choose SJH or another company you will at least be aware of the process!

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