Shepherd AI
What You Can Find Out Free
Most roofing sites put a form in front of every useful number. This one does not. Here is exactly what you can learn about your own roof without giving anyone your phone number.
Updated July 26, 2026
Short answer: Shepherd AI can size your roof from a public building-outline dataset, tell you what hail NOAA recorded near your address and when, work out a preliminary price range from that measurement, and size an exterior paint job from the same lookup. All of it without a phone number, an email address, or a form.
No gate
How big your roof is, what hail hit it, and what it would cost
How big your roof is
Give a street address and it looks up your building’s outline in a public dataset built from satellite imagery, then works out roof area from that footprint. It draws on a dataset of 7.4 million Texas building outlines covering the Central Texas, DFW and Houston corridors.
You get a range, not a single number, because pitch and overhang cannot be seen from above. Good enough to plan with. Not a substitute for a measurement.
Whether it hailed at your address
It checks NOAA Storm Prediction Center reports, refreshed every night, for hail and damaging wind near your city, with dates and sizes.
A report near a property confirms hail fell nearby. It does not confirm your roof was damaged, and it is not a coverage determination. Knowing what was recorded is still worth having before anyone knocks on your door.
Roughly what it would cost
From the measured roof size and a dated pricing register, it produces a preliminary planning range with the waste factor and system tier shown, so you can see how the figure was built.
It is not a quote. An actual price needs an inspection, measurements and a written scope. It is enough to know whether you are looking at twelve thousand or twenty-five.
What painting would cost
The same address lookup returns the building outline length, which is what exterior painting is actually priced from. So it can size paintable wall area as well as roof area.
What satellite cannot see is prep: chalking, failed caulk, bare wood. Those move the labour more than square footage does.
Answers to about a hundred common questions
Roofing, painting, gutters, drywall, insurance process, warranties, and how to check out a contractor before you sign anything. Written in plain language, and it will tell you when it does not know.
A copy of the conversation
Emailed to you, and to a spouse or co-owner if you want. Personal details such as street addresses are removed automatically before it sends.
The reasoning
Why none of it is behind a form
Because a homeowner who understands what is on their roof asks better questions, spots a bad contractor faster, and does not get talked into work they do not need.
The trade norm is the opposite. Enter your details to see the number. The details go to a call list, the number arrives with a salesperson attached, and the homeowner has paid for information with their afternoon.
The trade-off is deliberate. Fewer captured leads, and the people who do call have already decided we are worth calling. It means fewer enquiries, and the ones that come are from people who already know what they are dealing with.
Contact details are optional throughout. If you give them, someone follows up. If you do not, nothing happens. There is no list.
Where it is weakest
Where it is least reliable
Every part of this has a failure mode worth knowing before you rely on it.
Roof sizing is worst on complicated roofs. A simple gable comes out close. A cut-up roof with dormers, multiple hips and dead valleys has far more surface than its outline suggests, and the estimate will read low. Detached garages and additions are sometimes separate outlines in the dataset and sometimes not.
Building outlines go stale. The dataset is a snapshot. A house built or extended recently may be missing or the wrong shape, and there is no way for the assistant to know that it is looking at old data.
NOAA reports are preliminary and get revised. They are also reports of what was observed and phoned in, so a storm can pass over an area with nobody reporting it. No report near you does not mean no hail fell.
Prices move. The planning range comes from a dated register. Material costs and labour availability shift, particularly in the months after a large hail event, which is exactly when most people are asking.
It is a language model, and it can be confidently wrong. The answers are grounded in written material and checked against compliance rules before they reach you, but that reduces mistakes rather than eliminating them. If something it says matters to a decision you are about to make, confirm it with a person.
Honest limits
What it cannot do
It cannot get on your roof. Everything above is measurement and record, not inspection. Satellite imagery shows an outline; it does not show a cracked pipe boot, lifted flashing, or soft decking.
It cannot tell you whether your insurance will cover something. In Texas a roofing contractor may not act as your public insurance adjuster, and that limit applies to software as much as to people.
It cannot diagnose damage from a photograph, promise a price, or guarantee a claim outcome. Anything it says is general guidance to be confirmed by someone who has been on the roof.
The full disclosure, including what is stored and for how long, is on the AI assistant page.
Common questions
Questions about Shepherd AI
Do I have to give my phone number to use it?
No. Roof sizing, hail history and a planning range all work without a phone number, an email address, or a form. You can give contact details if you want a follow-up, and nothing happens if you do not.
How does it know how big my roof is?
It looks your building up in a public dataset of 7.4 million Texas building outlines derived from satellite imagery, then works out roof area from that footprint and a typical pitch. It is a lookup, not a measurement of your specific roof, so it returns a range rather than a single number.
Where does the hail information come from?
NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports, refreshed every night. A report near your address confirms hail fell nearby on a specific date. It does not confirm that your roof was damaged, and it is not a coverage determination.
Is the price it gives me a quote?
No. It is a preliminary planning range, calculated from measured roof size and a dated pricing register. An actual price requires an in-person inspection, measurements and a written scope of work.
Can it help with painting as well as roofing?
Yes. The same address lookup gives the building outline length, which is what exterior painting is priced from, so it can size paintable wall area as well as roof area.
Will someone call me afterwards?
No. Nobody is contacted unless you ask to be. There is no list, no drip sequence, and no follow-up three months later because you once typed an address.
Still don’t see your question?
Get a straight answer and your real options, no obligation, never a hard sell. Most messages get a same-day reply, often within the hour.
Get HelpTry it. The assistant is on every page of this site, bottom right. Give it a street address and ask how big your roof is, or ask what hail has been recorded near you.
If you would rather talk to a person, call or text 512-575-5052 or use Get Help.