Reading Your Own Roof
Lesson 9. What Hail Damage Looks Like
At a Glance
- Random and round means hail. Lines and patterns mean wear
- Check gutters, vents and the AC unit first
- Soft to the thumb, like a bruised peach
- Most policies have a filing deadline. Do not wait for a leak
The Signature
A hailstone hits a shingle and does two things at once. It knocks granules off, leaving a dark circle where the black asphalt mat is exposed. And it bruises the mat underneath, which you can feel with a thumb as a soft spot, the way a bruise feels in fruit.
The key word is random. Hail falls where it falls, so the marks have no pattern and no spacing. Anything in a line, a row or a repeating shape is manufacturing or wear, not hail.
What It Is Not
| Looks Like Damage | Actually Is |
|---|---|
| Dark streaks running down the slope | Algae. Cosmetic |
| Granule loss in even lines | Normal wear along the shingle edges |
| Blisters, small round raised bumps | Manufacturing or heat, not impact |
| Cracks in a regular pattern | Age and thermal movement |
| Shiny spots with no bruise | Foot traffic from a previous worker |
Check the Soft Metal First
You do not need to see the roof to know a storm hit your house. Thin metal dents where a shingle only bruises.
- Gutters and downspouts, especially the flat faces
- The fins on the outdoor air conditioner unit
- Roof vents, the turtle vents and any metal flashing
- The garage door, the mailbox and any metal patio furniture
Dented soft metal means hail of a size that also hit the roof. Clean soft metal usually means the storm missed you.
Why the Roof Does Not Leak Yet
Granules are the sunscreen on a shingle. Strip them and ultraviolet light starts breaking down the asphalt directly. The bruise becomes a soft spot, the soft spot cracks in the next hard freeze, and water gets in through the crack.
That process takes one to five years. The storm did not fail your roof. It moved the failure date forward, and your policy will have a deadline long before the leak arrives.