Hail Damage- Have Patience
With all the strong storms that we have recently experienced or heard about in the Midwest and South lately it seems an appropriate time to talk about roof hail damage. As a life-long roofing contractor, I have experienced and worked through several hail storms. One of the key things to understand is that typically roofs are not damaged to the point where they are going to leak water the next time it rains or for that matter for years afterward.
What happens much more often is that hail just decreases the useful life of the roof. Many homeowners feel anxious about getting their roof replaced quickly and because local contractors quickly get full schedules they opt to have a “storm chaser” install the roof on their home. Often this is a poor decision.
Hopefully you will be living with this new roof for many years. If you have a problem with you new roof a year or so down the line the “storm chaser” that installed your roof is off working another storm. Most insurance companies will give you a year to replace your roof and some will extend beyond that. My advice is to have patience. Wait for a local contractor, one that has good references, and preferably one that your neighbors were pleased with.
Another thing to consider when replacing a roof because of hail damage is to use this opportunity to upgrade to a beautiful DaVinci composite shake or slate roof. DaVinci lightweight roofing systems not only increase the value of your home but have a class 4 impact rating and are Class A fire rated as well.