Learning Center · Siding
Hail Damage to Siding: What to Look For and What to Do
Hail hits walls at an angle, so one side of a house can be covered in marks while the others look untouched. This guide shows what hail does to each kind of siding, what a cosmetic damage exclusion means in a policy, and how to document a wall before anyone repairs or paints it.
Updated October 12, 2026
Read This First
The short version
- Vinyl cracks and holes, fiber cement chips and cracks at edges, wood dents and splits, and soft metal dents.
- Hail marks land on the walls that faced the storm, so check all four sides and note which ones took the hit.
- Some policies carry a cosmetic damage endorsement. TWIA’s roof form, Form 420, filed with the Texas Department of Insurance, draws the line at whether water can get in.
- Photograph every wall before any repair or paint, because repairs erase the evidence.
After a storm, start with Get Help or call or text 512-575-5052.
Short version: 2 min. Full page: 7 min. Want the detail? Each section below opens with a tap, or switch to Full at the top to open them all.
Direct Answer
What does hail damage to siding look like?
Fresh cracks, holes, chips and dents on the walls that faced the storm, in a random pattern, not a line.
The pattern
Hail leaves a random spread of fresh marks on the walls that faced the storm. The marks are different sizes, they are not in a line, and the edges are fresh, with no dirt or weathering inside them. Soft metal nearby, such as the gutters, downspouts, window wraps and the air conditioner fins, usually shows round dents of about the same size, which is a quick way to confirm hail and gauge how big it was. Our hail damage atlas shows these marks up close.
What is not hail
Not every mark is from the storm. Lawn mower stones leave holes low on a wall near the grass. A ladder leaves two marks a set distance apart. Sun damage on vinyl shows up as even chalking and fading, not fresh breaks. Old damage has dirt in it. Writing down what is old and what is new is part of an honest record.
Materials
How hail damages each kind of siding
Vinyl breaks, fiber cement chips, wood dents and splits, metal dents.
Vinyl
Vinyl cracks and holes. Cold vinyl is brittle, so a winter or early spring hailstorm often leaves half moon cracks and clean holes, while the same stones on a hot day may leave only scuffs. Cracked vinyl lets water behind the panel and is replaced panel by panel, as our repair or replace guide explains.
Fiber cement
Fiber cement chips. Large hail knocks chips out of the face and cracks the bottom edges of planks, and smaller hail chips the paint. James Hardie’s warranty on its HZ10 siding for Texas treats hail damage as a product claim: notice to Hardie within 90 days of discovery, before any permanent repair, for product only.
Wood and engineered wood
Wood dents and splits. Hail crushes the surface fibers, chips paint down to bare wood and can split the edges of boards. Bare wood left open after a storm weathers fast, so a primed touch up buys time until the repair.
Metal siding and trim
Metal dents and may keep the weather out anyway. Aluminum and steel siding, window wraps and fascia covers dent without opening, which is exactly the case a cosmetic damage clause is written for.
Your Policy
What a cosmetic damage exclusion means
A cosmetic clause draws the line at whether the damage lets water in or stops the surface doing its job.
The wording that matters
The clause is about function, not looks. The cosmetic damage endorsement TWIA uses, Form 420, filed with the Texas Department of Insurance, applies to roof coverings. It defines cosmetic loss as damage that alters the appearance of the roof covering but does not allow water through it and does not stop it from keeping the elements out over time, and it says hail damage that does let water through is covered. Siding endorsements from private carriers vary, so the question to ask about any dent or chip is the same one: can water get in, or has the surface stopped doing its job?
Read your own policy
Your policy is the only one that counts. Look for the words cosmetic, roof surfacing, siding, or marring in the endorsements attached to your declarations page. If a clause is there, your photos need to show more than marks: a cracked vinyl panel with daylight behind it, a chip that exposes bare fiber cement, a split in a wood board. If the clause is not there, the standard policy language applies.
Before Repair
How to document hail damage on siding
Date stamped photos of each wall, close and wide, with a ruler for size, before anything is repaired or painted.
The photo set
Shoot each wall three ways. A wide photo of the whole wall with the house number or a landmark in it, a medium photo of the worst section, and close ups of individual marks with a ruler or a coin for scale. Do the gutters, downspouts, window wraps and the air conditioner unit too. Keep the storm date with the photos. The Texas Department of Insurance tells homeowners to take photos and video and to report the damage promptly.
Do not repair or paint first
Repairs erase evidence. A new panel, a filled chip or a fresh coat of paint removes the marks that show what the storm did. Document first, report second, and repair when the record is complete. Our hail damage to paint guide covers the painting side of that order.
The roof took the same storm
Walls are the easy part to see. If hail was big enough to crack siding or dent a downspout, the roof was in the same storm and is harder to judge from the ground. Have it looked at and recorded with the walls so the whole house is in one dated record.
Insurance
What a Texas contractor can and cannot do on a siding claim
We advise, educate, document and submit documented supplements, and we never negotiate or settle a claim.
Our role, in one paragraph
Here is our role. We advise and educate you on your options and rights, document the roof, and submit documented supplements. We are not a public adjuster and never negotiate or settle a claim for you. We document the siding as well, and we never waive, absorb or discount a deductible. Texas Insurance Code 4102.163 bars a contractor from acting as a public adjuster on property it may repair, and Texas Business and Commerce Code 27.02 makes it an offense for a seller paid from insurance proceeds to waive or help a homeowner avoid the deductible. The claim is yours, and every decision in it is yours. When you are ready to talk about the wall, our siding service page explains how we document it.
Read the claim guide
The claim process is the same for walls and roofs. Our hail damage and insurance guide walks through documenting first, replacement cost versus actual cash value, the deductible and what to do when you disagree with an estimate.
Common Questions
Questions homeowners ask
Does homeowners insurance cover hail damage to siding?
Most Texas policies cover wind and hail, subject to the deductible and any endorsements. A cosmetic damage endorsement, if your policy has one, can limit payment for dents that do not let water in. Read your policy and ask your carrier; a contractor cannot promise what will be paid.
What does hail damage look like on vinyl siding?
Half moon cracks and clean holes, usually on the walls that faced the storm, with fresh edges and no dirt inside. Cold vinyl breaks more easily than warm vinyl.
What is a cosmetic damage exclusion?
A policy clause that excludes damage which changes how a surface looks but does not let water through or stop it from doing its job. The TWIA roof version, Form 420, filed with the Texas Department of Insurance, defines it exactly that way. Siding versions from private carriers vary, so read your own endorsements.
Should I repair hail damaged siding before the adjuster comes?
No. Document it with dated photos, report it, and make only the temporary fixes needed to keep water out. Repairs and paint remove the evidence.
Can The Roof Shepherd handle my siding claim?
No contractor in Texas can. We advise and educate you on your options and rights, document the roof, and submit documented supplements. We are not a public adjuster and never negotiate or settle a claim for you. Our record covers the siding too. You own the claim and make every decision in it.
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