Hail storms can be scary situations with the potential for severe damage to your property. Hail can break windows and damage your home’s roof, especially the flashing. While hailstorms have the potential to be very destructive, how much damage they can do varies a lot. After a hailstorm, you need a professional roof inspection to assess any damage.
Spotting Hail Damage on a Roof
When different types of shingles are hit by hail, they react differently. For instance, hail damage to composition or asphalt shingles will look quite different than wood shingles. If you suspect there might be damage to your home after it has hailed, you need to get it inspected as soon as possible. Rather than spot damage, your presence up there might create more damage.
Many homes have either asphalt or composition shingles. With these types of roofing materials, your roofing professional will look for random damage. One major warning sign they will look for is exposed roof felt. Also, they look out for a mat or asphalt that looks shiny. That can indicate a soft spot from the force of the hail, almost like a bruise on an apple.
If your roofing material is wood shingles, then your roofer has a slightly different set of clues to look for. They’ll still watch out for random damage. However, they will also look for splits in the wood shingles. Splits that are brown or orange in color might be from hail damage, and these splits can also have sharp edges or corners. Such breaks might have impact marks or dents.
Unfortunately, other kinds of damage can easily be mistaken for hail damage. For instance, prolonged exposure to sunlight and inclement weather might make shingles brittle over time. They can also have an aged appearance. This routine wear and tear can easily be misidentified as hail damage. For insurance, you’ll need a qualified roofer to make the determination that it was caused by a storm. Regardless of the cause of the roof damage, you can count on Axis Roofing for reliable roofing repair and replacement.
During an inspection, your roofer might also see algae, flaking, granule loss, cracking, and blistering. In some cases, mechanical imperfections and manufacturing defects in shingles might also be mistaken as hail damage. This is why having a roofing professional with significant experience in your local weather patterns and what they do to roofing is important.
Factors That Influence the Severity of Damage
You never want hail damage to happen, but the severity of it can vary. When a hailstorm happens, wind speed and direction both matter regarding the final impact. Another factor impacting the severity of hail damage is the size and density of the actual hailstones. Hail can range from as small as a single pea to as big as a baseball.
You should also know that hail might ding your gutters and aluminum siding, and it can crack vinyl siding. If the hailstones are big enough and have enough density, they might completely puncture a roof. Adjacent homes and large trees might reduce the number of hailstones hitting your own residence, and you might enjoy some protection from landscaping and fences. Whether the damage is minimal or severe, it’s critical to make immediate repairs to avoid further damage from water and pests entering the home.
It’s Not Just Your Roof
Hail damage can hurt much more than your home’s roof, although this is particularly vulnerable. Damage to your roof can mean two issues, one acute and the other chronic. In an immediate sense, hail damage to your roof can cause leaks into your attic and home. But in the long run, even minor hail damage expedites your roof’s normal wear and tear, meaning you might need repairs, new shingles, or even a replacement faster than you might otherwise expect.
Your home’s siding and windows are at risk, too. Adjusting for current dollar value, hail has created over $50 billion in property damage across America going back to 1949. That’s over half a billion every single year.
Why Professional Roofers Should Handle This
You take great pride in being a homeowner and do all you can to care for your residence. Independent thinking and action are often things to celebrate, but inspecting and repairing your roof isn’t one of them. Professionals are available for a reason.
First of all, it’s just a safety matter. Roofing professionals know how to climb on roofs and operate up there safely. The vast majority of injuries from falling off a roof is from homeowners falling off their own roofs. Many get injured, and some die. It’s also safer for your home. Roofers know how to move around and work on a roof without causing further damage.
Second, professional roofers are experienced. They’ve learned the theory, and they’ve put in time mastering practical application. Their training and time on the job are hundreds of times more valuable than what you might pick up through online tutorials or a weekend seminar at the home improvement store. That’s not to say such resources aren’t valuable because they help you understand your home and what the roofer is doing for you. However, they should also give you enough appreciation about roofing, so you understand the need to trust the experts.
The quality of work you’ll get from a professional is a huge benefit to calling them in. Many roofing contractors have factory or brand training in many different products, possibly including the roofing your home has. Insured or bonded roofers mean you aren’t liable for anything that goes wrong with a project. Using the right roofers also means you won’t void any warranties or insurance policies regarding your home or roof.
Time might be the most important reason to hire a roofer. If your roof has been damaged by hail, you need an accurate diagnosis of the problem as quickly as possible. Roofers can make a solid determination faster than you might. Also, they can start fixing things right away. Even minor hail damage might mean you have roof leaks right away, and they can get worse the longer the damage is left unrepaired.
Keep Yourself and Your Home Safe
Identifying hail damage will require someone to get up on your roof. That can be a hazardous place to be, especially after a storm. You need to have hail damage fixed quickly to protect your home. And, you also need to protect yourself by letting qualified professionals get up on your roof.
We are happy to provide a free estimate. You can also turn to us for roof coating and regular roof maintenance. For homes, we suggest having a roofing inspection performed twice a year. For commercial buildings, we suggest three or four times annually.
Homes and businesses in Mesa, AZ and the surrounding communities can turn to us at Axis Roofing for residential and commercial roofing services. We are experienced in navigating insurance claims relating to storm damage. Contact Axis Roofing right away for any questions about potential hail damage or repairs you need.
