How To Tell If Your Roof Has Hail Damage

You might think it’s easy to tell if your asphalt shingle roof needs a repair after a nasty hail storm. But, considering that architectural shingles are now common, with the added depth that gives them their unique character, spotting signs of hail damage isn’t as easy as it used to be. 

Unless you know what to look for to determine if your roof has hail damage. 

3 Things to Look for to Tell If Your Roof Has Hail Damage

First of all, if you’re concerned about hail damage, one of two things are likely to be true. Either you’re a proactive homeowner who knows that hailstones can severely damage roofing materials. Or you’ve already spotted a roof leak and are wondering if it’s due to hail storm damage.

In either case, you can take a closer look at your shingles for the following signs that hail impact has damaged your roof.

1. Look for Spots of Missing Granules on Shingles – The tiny stone granules on the surface of asphalt shingles are there to protect the shingle against damage from things like hailstones, branches and other flying debris.
   
   But the sustained damage the roof can endure during a hailstorm, or simply the size of the hail, can knock off the granules or at least cause then to separate from each other. Look for black spots of the shingles where the granules are no longer in place and the black substrate has been exposed. Or check the eavestrough as they collect there when water flows down the roof.
2. Check for Shingle Bruising – Hail hits can ‘dent’ a shingle, which can lead to worse damage later on. Dents may be difficult to spot by eye so you might need to run your hand over areas suspected of suffering damage. You may also spot a small circular crack where a larger hailstone has caused more than denting.
3. Inspect Your Roof Accessories – In addition to the shingles, hail can damage metal components of your roofing system, including roof vents and flashing, which should be inspected for damage following a hailstorm. If you have a skylight, pay extra attention to any hairline cracks that appear.

Spotting damage from hail can be tricky, and not spotting in all can be costly. A professional roof inspection from a reliable roofing contractor will tell you for certain whether your roof is damaged and the extent of the damage.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article about comparing ridge vents to other types of roof vents.