What hail damage actually looks like on a roof

Hail damage is not a hole. That is the single most useful thing to understand about it. A roof can be comprehensively damaged and look completely ordinary from the driveway, which is why this trade has both a genuine inspection business and a door-knocking problem.

What we look for on the roof

Bruising. Press a thumb on a hail strike and it gives slightly, like a bruise on fruit. The granules are gone and the asphalt mat underneath is exposed. It is not leaking today. Ultraviolet light on a bare mat is what makes it leak in two or three years.

Random distribution. Real hail damage is scattered. Damage in neat rows is foot traffic, and damage only at the edges is usually wind. Adjusters check the pattern before anything else.

Granule loss into the gutters. A handful of grit at the downspout supports the case but does not make it. Every roof sheds granules; the question is how much and how recently.

What we look for off the roof

This is the part a ladder-less inspection cannot do and the part that decides claims.

• Dents in the aluminium fins of the air conditioner
• Dents in gutters, downspouts, vents and flashing
• Splatter marks on the deck rail and the driveway
• Damage to fence caps and mailbox tops

Soft metals record the storm. They tell the adjuster the hail was real, roughly how large it was, and which direction it came from. An inspection that skips them has skipped the evidence.

Wind damage looks different

A wind-damaged shingle has been folded back and laid down again. It has a crease across the face and it has lost its seal even when it looks flat. Run a hand under the tab: if it lifts without resistance, the seal is gone and the next storm takes it.

When the answer is no

Plenty of roofs come through a hail storm intact, and plenty of roofs that look terrible are simply old, which is not a covered peril. A company that tells every homeowner on the street that their roof is totalled is not inspecting anything.

If we do not think the damage supports a claim we say so and put it in writing, and you keep the photographs. Next time there is a storm, you will have a dated record of exactly what the roof looked like before it.