Flagstaff Hail Damaged Roof

roof damage inspection Flagstaff AZ

• Wind – During a hailstorm, wind direction and wind speed can vary. Changes in wind conditions can affect the location and severity of hail impacts.
• Size and density – The size of the hailstones can affect the degree of damage, if any, to your property. A hailstone can be as small as a pea, or as large as a softball. Most hailstones do not have smooth edges, which can impact the type of damage they cause.
• Building materials – Building materials absorb hail impacts differently. For example, hail can cause dings in aluminum siding, gutters or asphalt shingles, whereas it can crack vinyl siding or wood shakes. Alternatively, softball-sized hailstones can be dense enough and strong enough to puncture a roof. Additionally, the age and condition of a roof could affect the degree of damage.
• Barriers – The position of neighboring structures and natural barriers, like tree cover, landscaping, fences or adjacent homes can reduce the ability of hail to cause damage.

What Does Hail Damage to Your Roof Look Like?

Shingles can react differently when struck by hail. As an example, hail damage to asphalt and composition shingles can look very different than hail damage to wood shingles. It is important to know the different effects of the damage to properly identify whether or not you have roof damage from hail.

Asphalt and Composition Shingles Hail Damage in Flagstaff

• Random damage with no discernable pattern.
• Hail hits that are black in color.
• Loss of granules, which may expose the roof felt.
• Asphalt and/or mat that appears shiny.
• Hail hits that are soft to the touch, like the bruise on an apple.

Wood Shingles Hail Damage in Sedona

• Random damage with no discernable pattern.
• A split in the shingle that is brown/orange in color.
• A split in the shingle that has sharp corners and edges.
• A split in the shingle that has little to no deterioration at the edges.
• Impact marks or dents along the splits.

There are many other types of damage to shingles that can be mistaken for hail damage. For example, exposure to inclement weather and sunlight makes shingles brittle and gives them an aged appearance. This type of damage is normal wear and tear of shingles, which is sometimes misidentified as hail damage. Other types of normal wear and tear may include blistering, cracking, granule loss, flaking and algae. Manufacturing defects and mechanical imperfections in shingles can also be mistaken for hail damage.

If you believe your home has sustained damage from hail, call us for your free roof hail damage inspection to discuss possible next steps. We work closely with your insurance company, and can often get your insurance to cover much of the cost of replacing your roof due to hail damage.

Before restoration is even considered, the extent of the damage needs to be determined. Damage from hail to a roof can be stealthy and invisible from the ground. With golf ball sized hail or larger, you’ll see noticeable signs of destruction to siding, gutters, or windows. In that situation, it’s probably a given that the roof also has some extent of damage.

Did you know? When hail is closer to quarter size, and up to golf ball sized hail, detection of damage on your hail damaged roof from the ground level is difficult to assess.

While it is obvious that climbing onto the roof is the way to assess the damage, it is not advisable for you to do so, particularly with any type of tiled or shingled roof. Loosened tiles can be dangerous to walk on, not to mention if the damage to the roof deck also exists but is covered by the damaged tiles.

Flagstaff Hail Damage

If you suspect any sort of damage to your roof, the first step is to contact your insurance company. Most homeowner’s insurance covers hail damage to roofs. They’ll likely schedule an inspector to climb on your roof to assess the problem. Either way, it is in your best interest to hire a roofing contractor to diagnose the extent of the problem. They’ll know what to look for, what can be saved, what needs restoration, and be able to estimate the costs.

Keep in mind that if your roof has any vents or other fixtures, these too will likely require repair or replacement along with your hail damaged roof. What may not seem like much damage to a roof (may not be apparent to you), may actually be significant, and that’s why a trained professional is necessary for proper assessment of your Flagstaff hail damage.