How Can I Tell If I Have Hail Damage?
If you are a homeowner that lives in the path of reoccurring severe thunder storms then you are familiar with storm reports of pea size to softball size hail and the damage they can bring. Every year millions of dollars of damage are inflicted on homes and businesses caused by these storms. Being able to detect the damage large hail does is easy, but what about small to medium size hail? How can you tell if you have enough damage to warrant calling your insurance company? There are numerous ways to tell if you have hail damage. There are obvious tell-tell signs. And we will go through a list of them for you.
The best way to determine the extent of damage to your roof is to get on it and inspect it. Be sure you use all the safety measures needed to protect yourself. If you have fear of getting on your roof, then don’t, call a professional to inspect it for you. You can roughly gauge the size of hail; pea size is ¼ inch, dime size is ¾ inch, golf ball size is 1 ½ inch, Tennis ball size is 2 ½ inch, baseball size is 2 ¾ inch and softball size is 4 inches. You should be able to see where the hail stone hit and bruised the shingle by knocking the granules off. Large hail will often tear the shingle and sometimes even penetrate the shingle, underlayment, and decking entering the structure itself.
While on the roof check out metal chimney covers for hail damage. Other hardware on the roof can tell the story of the size and extent of the hail damage such as; low profile vent covers, turtle type vent covers, turbines, and power vents. Also check out the skylight covers. They will often get completely broken out. More hardware to check on the roof are pipe boots, vent caps, and roof mounted satellites. Check inside gutters and at the bottom of downspouts for loose granules that the hail knocked off.
There are other ways of detecting hail damage without having to get on the roof. Check out your gutters and downspouts. They are usually made of lightweight metal and are easily dented when a hail stone hits them. Window and window screens are a great way to tell if you have had hail. They will show signs of breaking and denting. Also look at your wooden fence, hail will scar and blemish the fence sections. The damage is easily detected from the direction the hail came from. Inspect your garage doors for dents. Look closely at you A/C units for damage. Stained patios, pergolas, and wooden swing sets are another way to detect hail damage.
There are still a few other ways to determine if you have had hail damage. Check out any siding you may have. Look at the fascia on your house. Check out the surface of your pool decking and driveways. There are these and more. But this will give you an idea of where to start.