When you see dark clouds on the horizon, going inside to avoid serious injury by lightning or hail is the smart choice. However, while you may be safe indoors, your home’s roof could be at risk of sustaining serious damage from hail. Therefore, we typically advise our clients to schedule a roof inspection after a severe weather event. Doing so can make detecting and fixing damage easier while still being relatively affordable.
How Hail Can Damage a Roof
Primarily, hail damages a roof by making holes or dents in the shingles that protect it. The larger the hailstone, the larger the hole or the dent will be, and the more likely it is to age or physically damage a shingle to the point where it can’t do its job anymore.
A defective shingle is more likely to curl up or be stripped from the roof, leaving the roof deck and home vulnerable to water damage. Any exposed underlayment or decking could sustain puncture wounds or other direct forms of damage if it is hit by hail. This can, in turn, leave your entire home more vulnerable to damage, including damage from weather-related events.
Hailstones that are larger than an inch in diameter have the potential to cause damage to gutters or downspouts. In especially severe storms, hail could be large or strong enough to take gutters right off the house. If that happens, your home’s basement and foundation could be at risk of water damage. Water will simply spill off the roof and back toward the house instead of being funneled away from your property.
Signs of Hail Damage
After a significant weather event, you may walk outside to find the gutters on the lawn and half of the shingles blown into the neighbor’s yard. In such a scenario, you can assume that hail has caused serious damage to your roof that needs to be replaced immediately.
However, in most cases, hail damage will be too subtle to notice on your own. This is why it often goes unrepaired until it is too late to do anything about it. If you see granules in the gutter or downspout after a severe weather event, you should consider hail damage as a possible culprit.
If you notice dents or grooves in the shingles, you can also consider hail to be the culprit. As you may imagine, the size of the hailstone will determine the size of the hole or dent. Typically, stones less than a half-inch in diameter won’t cause serious harm to a roof in good condition. Stones less than a quarter of an inch in diameter can leave holes barely noticeable to the naked eye.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t schedule a roof inspection from the team at Protek Roofing, Heating, Air & Solar in Tampa. Our team will take a close look at shingles to find signs of damage that might be missed from the ground or that an average homeowner might miss. We can then repair or replace roof components in a timely, professional, and affordable manner.
Why You Need To Be Proactive After a Storm
If shingles are missing from your roof, moisture and pests will have a direct path inside your house. Moisture will take the path of least resistance to your home’s foundation, and it could cause damage to walls, insulation, and anything else that comes into contact with it along the way.
Pests may start new colonies inside your home and may also be interested in eating away at insulation, wood, and other materials. They may also make their way into air ducts and any other location where they have food, water, and protection from predators.
Damaged shingles can also allow moisture to get into your home as they may not be able to provide a quality barrier between themselves and the underlayment. Even if a shingle isn’t completely defective, granules lost after a storm could significantly reduce its useful life. Therefore, repairing or replacing them could still be a good idea in the long run.
Don’t Risk a Rejected Insurance or Warranty Claim
Failing to fix roof damage promptly could result in the denial of a future warranty claim. This is because determining whether a defective product or homeowner negligence caused the issue could be difficult or impossible. Ideally, you will have a professional check the roof’s condition as soon as possible to determine if any damage is covered per the manufacturer’s warranty or if you need to file an insurance claim.
In most cases, you would need to file an insurance claim because a typical warranty tends to cover issues related to the installation or performance of an object under normal conditions. Of course, if you don’t file a claim with your insurance provider on time, you may have to pay for roof repairs as well as any secondary issues that develop.
For instance, let’s say that water leaks into your home months after a storm because you never got around to fixing the roof. In such a scenario, your insurance provider may say that any damage resulted from homeowner negligence because you failed to perform necessary maintenance on the roof.
Ultimately, you could end up paying thousands of dollars out of your pocket for something that your homeowner’s insurance might cover. It’s also worth noting that filing a timely claim may entitle you to some or all of the other costs incurred while the roof is being fixed, such as staying at a hotel.
A Damaged Roof Harms Your Home’s Market Value
Another critical reason to get your roof inspected and fixed as quickly as possible is that a defective roof reduces your home’s market value. A home with missing shingles loses a lot of its curb appeal, and in some cases, it can also reduce the property values of the homes near yours.
Additionally, a defective roof is not something a future buyer will want to deal with when your property goes on the market. Also, a buyer isn’t going to want to pay full price for a house that could have mold, pest, or other issues to remedy because the roof is defective.
Therefore, the upfront cost of having your roof repaired or replaced will likely pale in comparison to the expense that you might incur by not doing so. Remember, our team offers storm damage services, so we can work with you to answer any questions or handle any concerns you might have. With our comprehensive services, we can ensure your roof is as good as new in minimal time.
If your home’s roof has been damaged in a storm, the skilled professionals at Protek Roofing, Heating, Air & Solar are ready to help with roof repair services. In addition, we offer heating and air conditioner repair, maintenance, and installation services. Our team can also assist with indoor air quality and solar needs. Our ultimate goal is to ensure your home comfort year-round. Contact us today to learn more about our services in Tampa.
