How I Inspect a Roof for Hail Damage

I start at the street, not the roof

Before I look at the roof, I read the area around it. I check the ground for tree debris, look at the cars, and inspect every data point leading up to the house, including hail spatter on the concrete driveway and walkways. Those clues tell me whether a storm hit hard enough to matter before I ever reach the front door.

A full ground walk of the house

At the house I do a complete 360 walk at ground level. I look at the windows and the accessories around them, the fencing, and the stone or walls for hail impacts. I check the soft metals: the electrical service, the air conditioning unit, the downspouts and the gutters. I photograph everything at this stage before I set a ladder.

What I am confident of at this point. When I see hail damage across the windows, the fencing, and the air conditioning unit together, in my experience I am about 80% confident the roof took damage too. That is my field judgment, not a guarantee.

Reading the roof from the ladder

Once the ladder is up, I start assessing before I step onto the roof. I check the top of the gutters for hail impacts, look at the nearest shingles for indicators, and check the gutters for loose granules. I take photos here too. The assessment is continuous; I am reading the roof from the moment I start climbing.

The walk-around and the soft metals

On the roof, I do an overall walk of the entire surface and look at every penetration without deep-diving the shingles yet. Soft-metal damage is my key indicator: vents, stove pipes, wind turbines or whirlybirds. Dents there point to a higher probability of shingle damage. I also check any satellite dishes, where hail spatter shows up easily because of how the surface oxidizes. I photograph these initial findings.

Chalking the test squares

When the evidence points to shingle damage, I bring out my blue chalk and assess the shingles directly. I mark a 10 foot by 10 foot test square on each elevation and read it line by line, left to right, top to bottom. I work the elevations in a fixed order, front, then right, then rear, then left, always oriented from facing the house from the street, so my documentation stays directionally consistent for anyone who reads it. I use a different marker shape for each elevation, circles on the front and triangles, squares, and half circles on the others, so every mark is traceable to its side. I mark thoroughly, well beyond a minimum review, so the record holds up even if individual marks are questioned later. I chalk the soft-metal damage and circle the hail spatter on the satellite dishes as well.

I photograph every section twice

For every section I take two photographs: a before photo of the damage as I first see it, and an after photo of the same spot chalked. The pair matters because it shows the mark did not create the damage; it documents damage that was already there.

How I decide what to advise

My rule is simple. When three of the four roof planes meet criteria, I advise the homeowner to report the damage to their insurer. When the fourth plane meets criteria as well, my confidence rises further.

Where I land. By the time I have chalked and photographed a complete record, in my experience I am about 95% confident I can help the homeowner. I am always straight about the boundary: I cannot guarantee what an insurance company will decide. What I can do is make sure the true condition of the roof is documented and on the record.

The walkthrough and the written report

Finally, I go over everything with the homeowner in person, educate them on what to consider, and hand them the photographs along with a written roofing report. That report is more than the damage. It includes the weather reporting for the area and any prior weather events, the age of the roof, and any deficiencies I found, such as poor ventilation or bad installation from a previous roofer.