How to Inspect Your Roof for Hail Damage

How can you tell if you have hail damage to your roof? Here are a three easy DIY hail damage checks that you can do from the ground before you call a roofing company or your insurance company. Warning: Don’t climb up on your roof unless you are trained to do so. Inspecting a roof for damage can be dangerous. These DIY Roof Hail Damage tips can be done from the ground level.

• Granules Piled Up in Your Gutter Downspout

The roof pictured here was a complete loss because it lost a large percentage of its granule top layer. You have a good indicator of damage if you have a pile of granules flushed out of your gutter downspouts after a hail event.  This roof took enough hits that the granule protective layer was dislodged, exposing the underlayer – which is not designed to protect your building alone – it needs the protective granule layer above it.

If enough hail strikes remove this protective granule covering, insurance will need to replace your roof. There are other issues as well that an adjuster will look for, including penetrations, which can happen with large hailstones.

• Dents and Impact Marks in the Roof Visible from the Ground

Hailstones often leave a mark. This is especially visible just after a storm. After several days of hot sun on a roof, many of these dents will lessen so it’s important to check early after the storm. On occassion,  homeowners are on vacation when a huge hail storm hits and they don’t even know their roof was damaged until months or years later.

A roof is considered a “complete loss” by an insurance adjuster if it meets several criteria based on the roof type. A roof needs to protect the inside of the building from water and other external influences. Every roofing system has various elements that work together to protect the building.  The insurance adjuster analyzes each building to determine if the roof is secure or if it needs repair or if it requires complete replacement.

• Shingle Parts and Pieces in Your Yard

Hail storms often include strong wind. As a roof is getting battered by hail, often wind is also lifting shingles from their pads, ripping off pieces and sending them down into the yard. If you find shingle parts in your yard, there is a good chance you need to have someone look at it. A missing shingle is an open hole into the underlayment or decking below it.

These are three easy tips for you to look for after the next storm. You can do all of them safely just by walking around your property.  If you find any of these telltale signs it’s worth a call to your local roofing company. Most all roofing contrators will offer a free estimate so there is no cost to you.

If you decide you need your roof inspected, give us a call at New Roof Plus to set a time to analyze the condition of your roof. We are certified roof inspectors, so you will get a licensed professional with the highest credentials for roof inspection.

Winter is Coming…Time to Prepare Your Roof

It’s hot today but soon it will be changing. Colorado winter can bring all sorts of challenges to your roofing system. It’s worth a look today to make sure the roof is secure for the winter. Most roof leaks are small holes. These small holes are usually near a “penetration” of the shingles and decking. Vent pipes and chimneys are typical areas we check first. This is where beads of old caulking are no longer secure. Or perhaps old rubber flanges have cracked or been stepped on, creating an opening for water.

New Roof Plus offers a complimentary roof inspection. Call us to schedule your inspection.

We are residential and commercial roof inspection certified by Haag. Haag is the roofing industry’s most highly regarded certification for roof inspections.  So you know you are in good hands when you call New Roof Plus.

Give us a call for a complimentary roof inspection today!

New Roof Plus New Roofing Ideas

Getting a new roof gives you an opportunity to perhaps significantly improve the look of your home.

The new roofing options are many:

• Do you stay with the same material same color?
• Same material, new color scheme?
• New Material completely?
• Metal roofing?
• Composite material – looks like slate but it is a plastic/wood blend?
• DECRA stone coated steel shingles?
• Euroshield Hail Proof Roofing that looks like slate but is made from recycled tires?

There is a lot to consider. And all of these options have different price points, different benefits and considerations. The New Roof Plus website has a bunch of different pages on different roof types.  We will summarize a couple here but an in-depth dive can be found there.

The cheapest answer starts with the question, “How much did I get from insurance?” All you have to pay to get the cheapest solution is your deductible and insurance covers the rest. You can change colors with this option at no extra cost – and you have a new roof! This is fine for most people. A new roof  is a new roof and this always looks better than the old roof.

Asphalt shingles make up a vast majority of the shingle market because it’s cheap. But here in Denver, replacing your roof every three years is a pain in the you know what!  For this reason and also for aesthetic reasons, some folks want to look at upgraded options.

Upgrade Options

First up on the upgrade option list is to pay a little more and get an upgraded “Hail Resistant” Class 4 Asphalt Shingle. These shingles have a slightly thicker look to them, because they are. It gives the roof a little more

dimensional look to it. See this picture from the Owens Corning website of their “Duration Storm” “Hail Resistant” shingle system. Hail Resistant shingles are designed to withstand more impacts and wind than standard shingles. They can come in different color combinations also. They are not “Hail Proof” however. A few big hail stones will ruin these in about the same amont of time as regular shingles.

The next level up are materials other than asphalt shingles. This usually begins with composite materials or other combination material shingles. This would include polmer mixes (plastic) and manufacturers include   DaVinci, EcoStar and Certainteed.  These can look like the material they are designed to copy – slate or wood shake usually. Price points are all over the board on these.

Metal roofing options can dramatically change the look of your home. This option requires careful consideration and planning. There are a couple choices here too. DECRA manufacturers the aforementioned Stone Coated Steel. Hail tough (but still not hailPROOF). This is a sophisticated look and gives the high definition many people like. It can copy tile or slate or shake.

Then the standard metal standing seam look is timeless and durable also.

Finally there is the new “rubber roof”. It sounds bad when posed this way but it looks awesome and it can with stand a 4″ hail stone – that’s a “sky bomb” by the way but they back it with a huge 50 year warranty. The cost is more than asphalt, like the others, but it could be the last roof you ever buy.

Check out the New Roof Pus website for more details on all these – or better yet, give us a call we can help you get your planning underway!