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Searching for Evidence of Hail Damage to Roof

By
Home Inspector with Harmony Home Inspection Services of GA

"Looking for Hail in all the Wrong Places"  Yeah, I feel that you have to get up on the roof (when deemed safe to do so) to know for sure.   To view worn shingles with exposed asphalt, fiberglass & loss of granules, you have to look directly down on the surface. 

Three clues to hail damage:

  1. Ample build-up of granules in gutters on an otherwise newer roof. (Pic 1)
  2. Random areas where granules are missing and asphalt and fiberglass is exposed. (Pic 2)
  3. Look at the thin metal surface of your passive roof vents to see dimples. (Pic 3)

 N. Metro Atlanta is a region where moderate to heavy hail is expected at least once every 20 years.

 

W. Michael (Mike) Chris
HouseNspect - Saint George, UT
The HouseNspect Guy

Hank, Thanks for the post, forgot all about hail damage being possible when inspecting. When I lived in Denver a few years back (about 20 years ago) we experienced a hail storm which caused $4,500 damaged to my brand new mini-van - the roof of the house held up much better than the van, but back then (and before I ever started my inspection career) never thought about getting the roof inspected.

May 19, 2008 09:46 AM