Signs of Hail Damage: Minnesota Edition
A hailstorm just rolled through your neighborhood. The lawn is covered with leaves, your deck is wet, and everyone on the neighborhood Facebook group is talking about the size of the hailstones.
Now you’re wondering: Did it damage my roof?
Some of the most common signs of hail damage are surprisingly difficult to see from the ground. Others may show up on gutters, siding, window screens, air-conditioning equipment, vehicles, and other surfaces around your home.
The good news is that you don’t need to climb onto your roof to start looking for evidence. In fact, we recommend that you don’t.
Here’s what Minnesota homeowners can safely look for after a hailstorm and when it makes sense to have the roof professionally inspected.
Start With the Ground Around Your House
Before looking at the roof, look around the property.
A severe hailstorm often leaves evidence everywhere. You may find leaves and small branches scattered around the yard, damaged plants, pieces of roofing material, or granules washed out of downspouts.
If you were home during the storm, you may also have a good idea of how severe it was simply from the sound of hail hitting the house.
If hail was large enough to damage other objects around your property, there’s a good reason to take a closer look at the roof.
Look at Your Gutters and Downspouts
Gutters are one of the easiest places to find evidence of a significant hailstorm.
Metal gutters and downspouts may show dents or impact marks where hailstones struck them.
These dents don’t necessarily prove that your roofing material was damaged, but they can provide useful evidence about the size and intensity of the hail that hit the property.
Also look around the bottom of your downspouts for excessive amounts of asphalt shingle granules.
Some granule loss is normal, particularly on an older roof, but a sudden increase following a hailstorm deserves attention.
Check Your Siding
Siding can also provide clues about what happened during a storm.
Depending on the material, hail may leave dents, cracks, chips, holes, or other impact marks.
Pay particular attention to the side of the house that faced the storm.
Wind-driven hail rarely falls perfectly straight down. One side of the house may experience significantly more impact than another, which is also why different slopes of the roof can sustain different amounts of damage.
Look at Window Screens and Exterior Trim
Window screens can be surprisingly useful indicators of hail severity.
Look for tears, holes, dents, or areas where screens have been stretched or damaged.
Exterior trim, fascia, metal window wrapping, garage doors, and other surfaces may also show impact marks.
Again, none of these automatically means your roof needs replacement. They simply tell us that the storm had enough energy to damage exterior components of the home.
Check Your Air Conditioner
If your outdoor air-conditioning unit was exposed during the storm, look at the thin metal fins around the outside of the condenser.
Hail can bend or flatten those fins.
Significant damage to an air-conditioning unit is another indication that the property experienced substantial hail impacts.
If the unit appears badly damaged or isn’t operating correctly after a storm, an HVAC professional should evaluate it.
Look at Your Vehicles
This one is pretty obvious.
If cars sitting outside during the storm have hail dents, the roof experienced the same storm.
Vehicle damage doesn’t guarantee roof damage because automotive sheet metal and roofing materials behave very differently when struck by hail.
But widespread vehicle damage in your neighborhood is a good reason to have your roof inspected.
What Does Hail Damage Look Like on Asphalt Shingles?
This is where things become more difficult for a homeowner to evaluate from the ground.
Depending on the storm and condition of the shingles, hail damage may appear as:
- Dark impact marks
- Areas where protective granules have been knocked away
- Exposed asphalt beneath the granules
- Bruised or softened areas
- Cracks in the shingle surface
- Damage along shingle edges
- Damage to ridge and hip shingles
These marks can be subtle. A roof can look perfectly normal from the driveway while showing clear evidence of hail impacts when inspected up close.
Why Does Granule Loss Matter?
The granules covering asphalt shingles aren’t there just for appearance.
They help protect the underlying asphalt from ultraviolet exposure and weather.
When hail knocks away enough granules in concentrated impact areas, it can expose the asphalt underneath and potentially accelerate deterioration.
Severe impacts may also damage the shingle mat beneath the surface.
That’s one reason a hail-damaged roof doesn’t necessarily start leaking immediately. The concern may be how the damage affects the roofing material’s ability to perform over time.
Not Every Dark Spot Is Hail Damage
This is important, particularly after a large storm when roofing companies suddenly seem to appear on every street.
Roofs naturally develop marks and imperfections.
Normal aging, granule loss, blistering, foot traffic, tree branches, manufacturing characteristics, previous repairs, and mechanical damage can sometimes resemble storm damage.
A professional inspection should distinguish legitimate signs of hail damage from conditions that existed before the storm.
The objective shouldn’t be to find an excuse to replace the roof. It should be to determine what actually happened.
Can Hail Damage a Roof Without Causing a Leak?
Absolutely.
A roof does not need to leak immediately after a storm to have sustained hail damage.
Hail may damage the protective surface or structure of roofing materials without creating an immediate path for water into the house.
That’s why waiting for a ceiling stain isn’t a particularly good method for determining whether your roof survived a major hailstorm.
What Does Hail Damage Look Like on a Metal Roof?
Metal roofing reacts differently to hail than asphalt shingles.
Hail can potentially leave dents or other visible impact marks on metal panels. Depending on the roofing system and severity of the storm, those marks may be cosmetic rather than functional.
More significant storms can potentially affect seams, flashing, penetrations, coatings, trim, or other components.
A metal roof therefore needs to be evaluated as an entire roofing system rather than judged solely by whether you can see a few dents.
What Size Hail Damages a Roof?
There isn’t a single hailstone size at which roof damage suddenly begins.
Hail size is important, but so are wind speed, impact angle, hail density, roofing material, roof age, and the condition of the roof before the storm.
Wind-driven hail can strike a roof with considerably different force than hail falling in calmer conditions.
An older asphalt roof that has already lost some flexibility may also respond differently than a relatively new roof during the same storm.
That’s why hail size alone shouldn’t be used to decide whether your roof was damaged.
Why One Side of Your Roof May Be Damaged More Than Another
Hailstorms are rarely uniform.
Strong winds can drive hail toward one side of a house, causing significantly more damage to one roof slope than another.
Trees and nearby buildings may also provide some protection to portions of the roof.
As a result, finding little damage on one section doesn’t necessarily tell you what happened everywhere else.
A proper hail inspection should evaluate the different slopes and exposures of the roofing system.
Should You Climb Onto the Roof Yourself?
No.
There isn’t much benefit to taking the risk.
Roofs can be steep and slippery, particularly immediately after a storm. Hail, rain, leaves, and loose roofing material can make conditions even more dangerous.
Walking on an older or damaged asphalt roof can also cause additional granule loss or damage.
Most homeowners aren’t trained to distinguish hail impacts from normal roof wear anyway.
Inspect what you can safely see from the ground and leave the roof itself to someone with the proper equipment and experience.
Should You Call Your Insurance Company Immediately?
Not necessarily.
There is an important difference between suspecting hail damage and knowing that meaningful roof damage actually occurred.
Before opening an insurance claim, it can make sense to have the roof professionally inspected.
If the roof is fine, you may discover there’s no reason to begin a claim at all.
If significant storm damage is found, you’ll have a much better understanding of the situation before contacting your insurance company.
Insurance policies and reporting requirements vary, however, so homeowners should review their own policy and be aware of any applicable deadlines or notification requirements.
Be Careful Who You Let Onto Your Roof
Major hailstorms attract roofing contractors, including companies that may have traveled considerable distances specifically to work the storm.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with a contractor coming from another area, but homeowners should know who they’re dealing with before signing anything.
Ask whether the company is properly licensed, how long it has been operating locally, who will actually perform the installation, and who will handle warranty issues years after the storm.
Most importantly, don’t let anyone pressure you into signing a roofing contract simply because hail fell in your neighborhood.
Schedule a Free Roof Inspection After a Hailstorm
If your neighborhood was recently hit by hail, Minnesota Metal Exteriors offers a free roof inspection to help determine whether your roofing system was actually damaged.
We’ll look at the roofing material, flashing, vents, penetrations, gutters, and other exterior components for evidence of the storm.
If the roof is fine, we’ll tell you.
If there’s minor damage that can be repaired, we’ll explain your options.
If we find significant hail damage that may justify an insurance claim, we’ll document what we’re seeing so you can make an informed decision about what to do next.
At Minnesota Metal Exteriors, we’re a local roofing company and licensed general contractor. We’re also directly involved in the work we perform, rather than simply selling roofing projects and handing them off to someone else.
After a Minnesota hailstorm, don’t guess and don’t climb onto the roof yourself. Look for the warning signs you can safely see from the ground, then let us take a closer look at the roof for free.
