There’s no denying that inclement weather can really do a number on your home. You have enough to worry about with floods, errant debris blown around by wind, and even heavy snow. What people don’t always anticipate is hail – those little balls of ice that can be small as a pea or big as a marble, often big enough to cause real damage to property including roofs. In some cases, they can be much, much bigger – up to a softball in size!
It’s no wonder that hail can wreak havoc, especially on roofs! After a hail storm, roof services are always inundated with calls and requests for roof repair. So before you go ahead and call for an inspection, you may want to know what to expect. Read on to find out more about the roof damage you might end up having after a hail storm.
Surface and Exterior Damage
The most obvious and visible sign of damage caused by those ice balls falling on roofs is exterior damage.You will most likely see gutters that are dented, gutter screens with holes in them, downspouts with visible damage, and even roof vents with huge dents or chips.
You may also see your roof with dented, broken, or missing shingles. Don’t forget to look at your skylights and chimneys, if you have them. Depending on the severity of the hail storm, the damage may be minor and easy to miss, so be sure to keep your eyes open when you do your outside inspection - or have a local roof services come out to inspect your roof.
The damage could be so devastating you need to call for roof repair right away. And you may have a little of both type of damage on the same roof.
Damaged Shingles
Damaged roof shingles are what you have to look out for the most after a hail storm. This is customarily the major damage that your insurance company inspector will find.that will have you needing help from local roof services.
Spotting hail damage is difficult for the untrained eye, which makes it almost necessary to call in the professional roof services. It’s important to make sure that your shingles are all in good condition. Even something as simple as a small dent or loosened granules can develop into a leak later on, causing moisture damage and roof repair in the long run. Hail falling on your roof can crack materials or compromise their quality - and shorten their life span.
More often than not, regardless of whether you have damage to your shingles, you should call roof services anyway just to make sure everything is in working order. Roof damage is insidious and can sneak up on you, only revealing itself when the roof repair to get it fixed has greatly increased.
Damage to Different Roof Types
Not all roofs are made with shingles. You may also see damage on roofs that are made of metal, wood, slate, and clay. Wood can split down the middle, slate and clay may crack and suffer gouges, and metal will definitely have dents or even holes depending on the force of the impact. It’s best to call roof services for an inspection to make sure all is well.
Hail storms can definitely cause quite a lot of damage. Yet with the proper preparation and vigilant care in the aftermath, your roof should survive. Just remember to call roof services for an inspection afterwards. Don’t hesitate to get roof repair done – it’s better to get any damage fixed before you end up with a bigger problem!
