How to Identify Hail Damage to Your Fort Worth Roofing

With some of your properties, like your car or patio furniture, it's pretty simple to determine whether they've been damaged by hail. It's much easier to spot the damage that hail leaves on metal than it is to spot it on roofing shingles. Determining whether your Fort Worth roofing has been damaged by hail can be relatively difficult. It's not uncommon to need the help of a professional roofer.

Remember: any damage to your roof can result in serious problems. Even seemingly small amounts of damage quickly accelerate and lead to leaks and slouches in your roofing, which themselves will get worse with time. Having a professional inspection of your Fort Worth roofing once every three years can prevent these problems. And you should also have a roofing inspection any time you suspect significant damages may have occurred. Catching any problems as soon as possible will save you time and money.

A lot of insurance companies will at least consider paying for a roof that's been damaged by hail, but you'll need to have it assessed. Insurance adjusters will require you have a professional give them their opinion before they'll pay for the work to be done. Often, though, you can check to see if there's hail damage on your own before you call in a professional.

1. Look at the metal parts of your roofing.

Any metal parts of your roofing will more visibly display damage by hail. If you have any metal roof vents, metal flashing, or metal valleys, check to see if you can find any dents made by hail there first.

2. Get a ladder and check the top of your roof.

The ridge cap at the top of your Fort Worth roofing is flat, so during a storm it will take directs hits from hail. If you have hail damage on your roof, this is where it will be most prominent. Also check the shingles and the edges of the shingles for signs of damage.

3. Major signs of hail damage.

The three major signs of hail damage are bruising, cracking, and missing granules from asphalt. If you find any missing pieces of asphalt on the roof, or any shingles that have exposed, black substrate, they have been hit and damaged by something. Bruising in the shingles occurs when the hail doesn't leave a dent that's fully visible. Run your hands over the shingles to find any small indentations. If you find any, press down to see if it has any give. These can often be the early stages roofing deterioration. Large hail, if it hits our Fort Worth roofing hard enough, can even create a circular crack in the shingles.