Whats the big deal?

Damage caused from a hail storm can easily go unseen.  Although hail damage can oftentimes be overlooked, it is important to the longevity of your home that the potential damages are carefully inspected and repaired.  In most cases the hail falling from the sky will be making contact with your home with the help of strong wind conditions which greatly increases the damage suffered by the exterior components of your home.

The majority of the homes that ATR Exteriors has worked with have asphalt roofing shingles and almost all of them have granule loss.  Granted granule loss is a natural occurrence over time with these types of shingles, but combining a mixture of bad weather and some pre existing problems, the results can be more severe than what you had expected.  When hail stones make contact with your roof, they will loosen the granules.  Once the granules are loosened, they become easier to fall or roll off your roof.  With the help of wind and rain from future storms, your roof will slowly start to lose more and more granules causing the life expectancy of your shingles to decrease significantly.

Hail and how it impacts your home.

Hail forms when frozen water drops are lifted in turbulent winds during thunderstorms. The frozen drops of water increase in size and eventually fall to earth as hail having been drive by a combination of gravity and wind forces. Hail stones vary in sizes, from a 1/4 in pea size to 3 inches in baseball size. Hail size distributions tend to be localized with some roofs damaged. Wind direction plays an important role, as well as a roof’s pitch (angle of the roof).

Figure 1A

Figure 1A illustrates the dynamics of hail impact on two different roof pitches. The home on the left would sustain more roof damage than the one on the right, because of the more direct impact on the left as opposed to the less damaging, glancing blows to the right.

Figure 1B

Wind conditions can distort damage to a home as illustrated in Figure 1B.
The one on the left has more glancing blows to the roof from the wind, while the windward wall comes under attack from direct hail impact. The right wall is protected and undamaged from the hail.  The home on the right will most likely sustain roof damage on the windward side because of the more direct impact.

Figure 3A

Assessing hail damage is often accomplished by a roof inspection, which usually occurs several days to several months after the hail event. Determination of whether hail actually fell at a site can be made through statements and weather reports. Examining the thin aluminum fixtures help verify the impact of hail which can be see in figure 3A.

Images from damages caused by Hail

Granule Loss

Indents/Dings on Aluminum Siding

Granule Loss

Granule Loss

Granule Loss

Indents/Dings on Aluminum Siding