Roofing Services
Storm and Hail Damage Roof Repair
At a Glance
- Hail bruises a roof long before it leaks
- Soft metal like gutters and vents shows it first
- Most policies have a time limit on storm claims
- We will tell you if you do not have a claim
Eastern Iowa and western Illinois sit in a part of the country that gets real hail. A storm can put a quarter sized stone through this county, do nothing visible from the street, and take five years off every asphalt roof it touched. The damage is genuine and it is also invisible to most homeowners.
What Hail Actually Does
A hailstone hitting asphalt does two things. It knocks granules off, and it bruises the mat underneath, the way a thumb bruises a peach. The granules are the sunscreen. Without them, ultraviolet light starts eating the asphalt directly, and the bruise becomes a soft spot that cracks in the next freeze.
That is why a hail roof fails years later and not that night. Nothing leaks. The clock just got moved forward.
- Round dark spots where the black mat shows through
- Granules piling up at the bottom of the downspouts
- Dents in gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing and the top of the AC unit
- Splits in an older roof, which look like cracks with no pattern
- Bruises you can feel with a thumb but barely see
Check the Soft Metal First
You do not need to get on the roof to know whether hail hit your house. Look at the things made of thin metal at ground level. Gutters, downspouts, the fins on the air conditioner, the mailbox, the garage door.
If those are dented, the roof was hit by the same stones. If they are clean, the storm probably passed you. This is the same first check an adjuster does, and it costs you a walk around the house.
Wind Is the Other Half
Straight line wind is more common here than tornado damage and does most of the work. It lifts the tabs on older shingles and breaks the seal strip underneath. The shingle falls back down and looks normal. It is no longer attached.
After the seal breaks, the next ordinary storm takes the shingle off entirely. A roof can be wind damaged across a whole slope and look completely untouched from the driveway.
The Claim Clock Is Real
Most policies require a storm claim to be filed within a set window after the date of loss, often one year, sometimes two. Waiting to see if it leaks is how people end up paying for a hail roof themselves.
If we inspect and find nothing, we will tell you there is no claim. That answer is worth having. A company that finds damage on every roof it looks at is not inspecting, it is selling.
Questions About Storm and Hail Damage
How big does hail have to be to damage a roof?
On an older asphalt roof, one inch stones can do it. On a newer roof it usually takes more. Age matters as much as size, because an old shingle has less granule left to lose.
Can I see hail damage from the ground?
Not on the roof itself. You can see it on gutters, downspouts, vents and the air conditioner, and that tells you enough to get a proper look.
Will filing a claim raise my rates?
That is between you and your insurer and we will not pretend to know. A wide area weather event is treated differently by most carriers than a claim caused by one house. Ask your agent directly before you file.
Somebody knocked on my door and said I have hail damage. Should I let them up?
Get a second opinion from a company that was here before the storm. Door knocking after hail is legal and normal, and it is also how the worst work in this trade gets sold.
Get It Looked At First
No sales call. A roofer looks at the roof and tells you what it needs.