Hail & Storm DamageBased in Fort Worth, TX

The Difference

Worth knowing before the inspection.

After every major hail or windstorm, a roof inspection is the way to find storm damage early, while it is still straightforward to document for an insurance claim. A thorough one goes slope by slope looking for hail hits and creased or missing shingles, then checks the soft metals that record a storm clearly: gutters, downspouts, roof vents and the fins on the air conditioning unit. Dents in those pieces help show how large the hail was and which way it came from. Flashing, pipe boots and ridge caps get checked too, because those are where water finds its way in first. Our inspections are free. You come away knowing whether the storm damaged the roof, and what the damage means for a repair or a claim, before you decide whether to call your carrier.

If the storm opened the roof and water is already coming in, that becomes the first problem. Punctures, missing shingles and exposed decking need to be covered before the next rain, and most homeowner policies expect you to take reasonable steps to limit further damage once you know about it. A carrier can decline to pay for water damage that spread because nothing was done. Photograph the damage inside and out before anything gets covered, keep receipts for anything you buy to protect the house, and write down the date of the storm. If you have a leak when you call us at (817) 988-9509, say so at the start, so the conversation begins with keeping the house dry and moves on to the inspection and the claim after that.

Some storms leave a handful of damaged shingles and a torn pipe boot, and a repair is the right answer. Our repair process has four steps: an inspection to assess the damage, a repair plan with a transparent estimate, the repair itself, and a final inspection once it is finished. We back our work with a satisfaction guarantee. Repairs have limits on a hail roof, though. New shingles rarely match a roof that has weathered in the Texas sun for a decade, and when hail has bruised every slope, patching one area leaves the rest of the roof aging on the same shortened clock. In that case a full replacement is usually the outcome of the claim, and the estimate will say which of the two the roof needs. Whether a policy pays when repaired shingles will not match the rest of the roof depends on its wording, so that is a fair question to put to your agent.

When the roof needs replacing, the work follows a set order. It starts with a consultation and a clear estimate, so you know what is being replaced and why. Before any shingles come off, prep work protects your property and the landscaping around the house, and once the old roof is stripped, the roof deck gets checked for soft or damaged boards. You choose the materials, and on a hail roof in Fort Worth that is the moment to consider impact-resistant shingles. We install Owens Corning, Malarkey, and GAF Class 4 systems, and many Texas carriers offer a premium discount on a Class 4 roof. Installation comes next, followed by clean-up and a final inspection of the finished roof before the job is closed out.

Most insurance policies set a window for reporting storm damage, and it varies by carrier and policy, so find the conditions section of yours and read what it says. Waiting also makes the damage harder to tie to a specific storm, especially once a second hail event has hit the same roof. The insurance side of this has its own sequence, from filing the claim through the adjuster visit, the first check and the depreciation held back until the work is done, and our insurance claims page walks through it in order. If a second storm does hit before you file, tell your carrier the dates of both, since the adjuster will want to know which damage came from which event. The simplest first step is the same either way: have the roof inspected soon after the storm. Call (817) 988-9509 or send the form, and we will set up a free inspection.