Hail damage on an asphalt roof looks like a dark, soft bruise where the granules have been knocked away. It is usually about the size of a coin. It does not look like a hole, and it almost never leaks the week it happens.
That last part is what costs people their claim. The roof looks fine from the ground, the ceiling is dry, and nobody calls anyone. Two years later the bruises have opened up, and the storm date is long past the filing window.
What does hail damage look like up close?
Four things, and they usually appear together.
- Bruising. A dark circle where granules are gone and the mat underneath shows through. Press it and it gives slightly, like a bruise on fruit.
- Granule loss in the gutters. The granules have to go somewhere. A gutter full of what looks like coarse black sand after a storm is the roof shedding its sun protection.
- Dents in soft metal. Gutters, downspouts, vent caps, flashing, the furnace vent, the aluminium window wraps. Metal takes a visible dent when a shingle takes an invisible bruise.
- Random pattern. Hail hits from one direction and lands scattered. Damage in a neat line is usually something else, like a branch or foot traffic.
What does wind damage look like instead?
Wind works differently. It lifts shingles from the edge and breaks the seal underneath, and the shingle often falls back down looking untouched.
The sign is a crease: a horizontal line across the shingle where it folded back on itself. Once that seal is broken the shingle is loose for good, and the next storm takes it. You will also see missing tabs along the rakes and ridges, which is where wind gets under the roof first.
Why does a dry ceiling prove nothing?
Because a bruised shingle has not failed yet. It has lost the granules that protect the asphalt from the sun, and the sun does the rest over the following seasons.
The sequence goes: hail knocks granules off, sun cooks the exposed asphalt, the mat dries and cracks, water gets in. That takes months or years depending on the slope and the sun. Your ceiling tells you where the roof is today, and it says nothing about what a storm set in motion.
There is a deadline on this too. Most policies want a weather claim filed within a set window of the storm date. A bruise found three years later is often a repair you pay for yourself.
Where should I look first?
From the ground, look at the soft metal. Gutters, downspouts and vent caps dent before shingles bruise, and you can see them without a ladder.
Then look at the splash pads and the bottom of the downspouts for a pile of granules. Then check any window screens on the storm side for tears, and any painted surfaces for chips.
If any of those show up, the roof is worth a proper look. If none of them do, the roof might have come through clean, and we will tell you that too.
Does this happen much around here?
Yes. The northwest suburbs are in a part of the country that gets a hail season, and spring through summer is when it lands.
Barrington, Lake Zurich, Wauconda, Crystal Lake and Cary have all had events big enough to put a whole street into claims in the same week. Whole subdivisions here went up in the same few years. So a lot of roofs on one street are the same age and wear out together.
That is why one damaged roof on a street usually means several. If your neighbour is having a roof done after a storm, it is worth having yours looked at while the storm date is fresh.
What should I do after a hailstorm?
- Write down the date. Insurers ask for it and it is the first thing people forget.
- Check the soft metal from the ground and photograph anything dented.
- Do not climb up. Walking a hail damaged roof adds marks that an adjuster then has to separate from the storm.
- Get it inspected while the date is recent, whether or not anything is leaking.
- Do not sign a door knocker’s paperwork on the spot. Some of it assigns your claim to them.
Getting the roof looked at
A hail inspection is a photo by photo pass over every slope, the flashing and the soft metal, with a written summary at the end. It tells you whether you have a claim, a repair, or nothing to do yet.
Here is what our hail damage roof repair work covers, and how we document it for a claim. If every slope took the storm, storm damage roof repair is the wider version of the same job.
Call or text (224) 518-0278 and we will come out. It is free, and you get the photos whichever way the answer goes.
