Author Topic: Hail Damage on Roof  (Read 2468 times)

salmp01

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Hail Damage on Roof
« on: July 04, 2015, 01:10:40 PM »
We had a hail storm come through last week and my house and car got some damage.  I had a contractor look at my roof and he said that I have enough damage to file an insurance claim.   My home was built in 2007 so my roof is fairly new.  Does anyone know how much hail damage on the roof degrades the shingles over time?  When I look up close at the shingles I see small little indentations so I can tell the hail caused some damage.  I have a 4.5k deductible but I'm willing to pay this but I'm wondering if these shingles still have lots of life left.  I tried to ask the contractor and he said something about them degrading more quickly but he didn't say how quickly. 


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Re: Hail Damage on Roof
« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2015, 07:02:17 AM »
Could you go back to the contractor and ask about the speed of deterioration?

Ask another expert for a view?  What will your neighbours be doing?

Contact your insurance company?  If they are willing to cough up for a whole new roof, it stops you worrying, it will prevent any future structural or cosmetic water damage, it puts off the date at which the roof would need renewing on a normal schedule and it will make the house easier to sell.  All that for $4.5k might well be worth it.


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Re: Hail Damage on Roof
« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2015, 09:38:21 AM »
We had a hail storm in a previous house several years back that did marginal damage.  We also had a next door neighbor that was a roofer.  This was his advice (which worked).

 Wait.  You have up to a year to file a claim.  If your roof is not leaking, there is no hurry.

As time goes by rain storms will knock the little pebbles off of the hail dents, making them more visible.
If you really had hail in the area, lots of your neighbors will also have damage.

When it comes time to file...  the damage will be more apparent and you will be able to tell the adjuster "These 8 houses on my lot successfully filed an insurance claim.  Make sure you take that into account."

Another thing that waiting does is: after a big storm a huge rush of fly-by-night roofers will drive into town and knock on every door.  We literally had 3-4 a week (with a sign that said "no soliciting" right above the doorbell.)  You don't want those guys.  You want to talk to all your neighbors and figure out which crew did a good job and which crew sucks.  In my case, we used our neighbor to do the roofing, but only after talking to 4-5 other neighbors that gave him a really good review.

salmp01

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Re: Hail Damage on Roof
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2015, 01:03:15 PM »
Thanks for the replies.   I have asked a couple contractors about the speed of deterioration and I have not gotten a satisfactory answer (no one seems to know exactly).  My insurance company is coming out on Friday and I expect them to cut me a check for the entire roof replacement minus  my deductible.   I’m just trying to figure out if I should wait a few years to have the roof replaced or if I should just get it done now. 

Thanks for the advice about waiting to get the work done until I can get some good recommendations.