Imagine: a big storm just rolled through and there was decent sized hail. How do you know if your home has suffered from hail damage? There’s a couple of different solutions – consider damage to other parts of your house, try to spot damage from the ground, climb up there yourself, or hire a professional to do an inspection. No matter if you are willing to take out the ladder and climb up on the roof or not, you can still determine basic hail damage yourself.

Quick DIY:

If you have access to your roof and you’re comfortable being on it, you can do a quick check for damage fairly easily. Climb up on the roof and check the metal features: vent pipes, attic vents, gutters, drip edges, fascia. Also check for cracked, loose, or uplifted shingles. Keep in mind that not all hail damage can be easily spotted, but if you see these common signs of roof hail damage, call in a professional to get an accurate inspection.

Thorough DIY:

If you want to do a little bit more yourself or if damage isn’t obvious you can do a more thorough inspection. When you’re on the roof look for marks that are bigger than a dime. Also check for cracked, loose, or uplifted shingles. If there are more than 10 within an 100 square-foot area, you’re looking at significant damage. Also keep in mind that not all “bruises” are visible, run your hand over the shingles to check for divots. Even if you’re actively looking for damage, it can be hard to find all of the damage. But if after this test, your roof has a significant amount of bruises, call a professional to get an estimate and contact your insurance company.

Get Help:

If you’re the type of homeowner who would prefer to keep both feet firmly on the ground over climbing up on the roof, no problem! You can still take a look at the exteriors of your house to determine possible roof hail damage. If there is damage to other parts of your house it is likely that the roof is damaged as well. Walk around your house and look for any obvious damage to exterior light fixtures, cracked windows and siding, along with dents in your A/C unit or garage door.

If you think you’re dealing with extensive damage that may be covered by your insurance hire a professional hail damage contractor to do an inspection. When you hire a company that specializes in hail damage restoration, like ARC, the project managers will be insurance experts and can help you handle the insurance claim.