hail storm damage

[Mason121]

Hello, A friend of mine had a hail storm at there house. The hail was about golf ball sized. It dented the hell out of both of their cars. Both cars were late 90` models and the insurance company decided to total both cars and give them the money. Not worth to fix via all the damage. I asked them about their roof and they seemed to think it was fine since they didn`t see any damage. I have since then heard that you can`t tell just by looking at a roof if it has been damaged by hail. The shingles on this house are the standard type..........meaning the type most people use. I can`t think of the name. Guess just the standard asphalt shingles. Anyway some one told me that the shingles can be cracked under inside where you can`t see it. Therefore reducing the life of the shingles by many years. Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks Dan.

[CMF]

I second that vote. It is in the insurance companies best interest to take care of the roof if it is damaged, because of other damage that can occur from the faulty roof. If it is damaged, they should know about it.

[JTM]

Golf ball sized hail? There's no asphaltic shingle type roof on the market that will survive a good pelting by hail this size without seriously degraged life and performance. Depending on the angle of strike golf ball sized hail will break single strength glazing. and will crack windshields.

The damage is easily detected by looking at the grit on the surface of the shingles. Hail damage is evidenced by hail sized round grit free (or significantly reduced) areas on the shingle with the underlying asphalt being exposed. Without the grit the asphalt will be exposed to sunlight and will age much faster even if no immediate leaks are evident. If the roof is nearing the end of its life you will start to find small pieces of broken shingles in the yard after any good wind or rain.

In any case get it inspected by someone with no interest in doing the work. The insurance agent will provide a company inspection but I would get my own beforehand just as a comfort check to insure they are both sing the same tune.

Regards,

John