Your Roof vs. Hail

Hail. It’s not hard to miss falling through the air, and unfortunately, it’s not hard to miss when it leaves dents on your vehicles and siding. What you might miss, however, is the damage that hail can do to your roof.

Your Roof vs. Hail: Shingle Damage

After a hailstorm, if you spot damage on your siding, and dents and dings on your downspout, that’s a sign that your roof probably received heavy damage as well. The bigger and heavier the hail, the more severe and telling the pockmarks are.

Hail can cause broken edges, bruises, punctures, and granule loss on asphalt-shingled rooftops. It can also cause the shingle’s surface to break away from the fiberglass mat entirely or fracture it. These cracks and tears in the shingles leave your roof with bare spots where the underlying layer is virtually unprotected, leading to accelerated aging and granule loss. The granule loss can be so severe that your gutters can overfill and clog with the overwhelming amount of loose granules. 

Your Roof vs. Hail: Sizes

Damage done by hail is never fun, but the extent of the damage done depends on size, wind speed, wind direction, the roof’s material, age of the roof, and slope. Even hail smaller than an inch in diameter can cause damage. ¾ an inch of hail is the smallest measured, but it can still be destructive when combined with high wind speeds. Hail this size usually poses the biggest threat to vinyl siding, window screens, metal fascia, and deck paint.

When hail starts to be one inch in diameter, you start noticing more roof damage. This is where shingle bruising becomes a problem, and significant damage to the siding, gutters, and fascia becomes apparent as well.

Hail with a diameter of 1¼ inches is severe and can cause damage even without increased wind speeds. The damage done by hail with a diameter of 1½ inches is also severe but is dependent on the amount of hail, length of time it falls, and the wind speed. 

1¾ to 2-inch diameter hail is where the hailstones start getting particularly destructive. This size hail can penetrate the roof’s softer parts, such as the ridge caps or plastic roof vents. It can tear siding entirely off the house, crack windows, and damage metal fixtures.

Your Roofs vs. Hail: Insurance

Hail damage is usually covered by standard home insurance in most states; however, this coverage is applied differently depending on your state, insurer, and policy.

This is where things start getting messy. The insurer usually covers the damage minus the deductible. However, homeowners still need to file promptly when they see hail damage to their homes and take photos of the damage. Promptly to an insurance company can mean anywhere from a few days to a year. Insurers may have different limits, so it’s important to call as soon as you know or get information from your service provider before the damage occurs. You don’t want to lose out on a rightful hail claim just because you didn’t file it in time. Paying for the damage yourself is costly!

Your Roof vs. Hail: Interesting Facts

• Dangerous hail events outpace tornadoes 5 to 1
• The largest hailstone ever recorded landed in July of 2019 in Vivian, South Dakota. It was the size of a volleyball, weighing nearly 2 pounds and measuring 8 inches in diameter
• The heaviest hailstone fell on April 14th in 1986 in Bangladesh and weighed 2.25 pounds
• Hailstones can fall at speeds between 9-110 mph
• Kericho, Kenya experiences more hailstorms than anywhere else in the world with 50 days of hail per year
• Over 20 years, hailstorms caused material damage estimated at around $29.7 billion in insurance losses
• Texas has the most hailstorms per year in the United States, with 508 hailstorms in 2018
• The U.S usually gets 5,000 hail storms each year
• The “hail alley” states (the states that receive the most severe hail) include Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming 
  

Put a Klaus on your house!

You don’t have to deal with the insurance company all by yourself; we know how to deal with them and make sure you get the best care possible. Don’t let your roof suffer any longer; schedule your FREE estimate with us today, and we can help get your roof, and your insurance claims sorted out!