Hail is nothing new in Colorado, however, what happens when these hail storms strike your area or, worse yet, your house? Yes, hail damage can quickly add up, and many homeowners want to call and get someone out fast to assess the damage. But where problems arise is when you trust the wrong people to look over these damages. In this blog post, we will examine precisely what steps you need to take after a hail storm and the mistakes you need to avoid.
What Should I Do if it Hails Again?
Sometimes bad weather is the furthest thing from your mind. Yet, when bad weather strikes, it is vital to understand what exactly you should and should not do. First, let us focus on what you should NOT do after a hail storm:
- Calling the Insurance Company: First, if you can physically see hail damage on your roof—or hail has penetrated it—you should call your insurance company. But, many people make the mistake of calling the insurance company right after a hail storm to verify if there is any damage to their roof. However, this is a mistake because as soon as you called the insurance company to check for damage, you have filed a claim. When you call to send an adjuster to inspect your roof, they are coming out not to verify for roofing damage specifically but rather to assess the costs of the damage that you know that you have on your property. What does this mean? If they come out and there is no damage, you still have a claim on your record, and it can count against you.
- Letting a Door-to-Door Roofer on Your Roof: The Colorado Attorney General and the Department of Regulatory Agencies both recommend that nobody should be in or on your roof that has come knocking on your door. Why is this an issue? Because these roofers have one objective and that is to get you to file a claim so that they can sell you a roof or to file a claim so that they can set an appointment to sell you a roof.
So, what SHOULD you do, if you think you have hail damage?
- Get a Recommendation: First, ask around to your family and friends for a roofing contractor recommendation. You can also call the insurance agent and ask them for a roofing contractor recommendation. Call these contractors and have them inspect your roof and provide you with their evaluation and recommendation about filing a claim.
What Does Hail Damage Look Like?
There are a couple of reasons why this is an important question:
- Sale Tactics: One tactic that phone solicitors and door-to-door roofers like to use after a hail storm is contacting you and letting you know that they can see damage on your roof from the hail storm, and then they will offer you a free inspection. However, this is usually a scheme for them to get to do work on your house. For the most part, unless the storm is massive, you cannot see hail damage from the street.
- Granule Loss: Many homeowners will get concerned if they see a bunch of granules at the bottom of their downspout, wondering if this indicates hail damage. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes granule loss can be because of poor installation. Right after a storm, the hail damage will look pretty fresh, depending on the size of the hail, it may be dime-sized, quarter size, or sometimes even the size of a tennis ball. Regardless, if there is hail damage, it will be an apparent circular mark, that will be black if it is fresh. A lot of times, it may even look like a splatter shape. Older hail damage that occurred from a few years ago will be gray, or you will be able to see the fibers in the fiberglass matting on the shingle. So, where do these granules come from? The hailstones hit your roof, and it softens the mat. As this happens, the impact causes the granules to get knocked out or washed out by the storm. That is why if you see granules, it does not always indicate roof damage.
- Blistering: Do not confuse hail damage with blistering. Blistering is not caused by storm damage. In fact, it is most likely a thermal problem. This is important to understand because if you call an adjuster thinking it is storm damage, they will usually deny your claim.
If we have a terrible hail storm that beat up your siding, chances are really good you may have roof damage. However, it may or may not be visible from the street. For these reasons, If you have any more questions about your roofing damage or would like us to inspect your roof for hail damage, contact us today. Let our team get you the roofing help that you need.
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