How to Tell If Your Roof Has Hail Damage

Quick answer: from the ground, look for granule piles at downspout exits, dented gutters and vents, shredded window screens, and pockmarked AC fins — these are the proxies adjusters themselves use. The roof-level evidence (circular bruises, exposed mat) is invisible from below, which is why post-storm inspections exist. If soft metals around your home took dents, assume the shingles did too.

The ground-level checklist

Walk the house after any hail event: granule accumulation in gutters and at splash blocks (fresh granule loss looks like coarse black sand), dents in gutters, downspouts, mailboxes, and grill lids, damaged window screens and wraps, and impact marks on fences and decks. None of this proves roof damage; all of it correlates strongly. Photograph everything with dates — this becomes claim evidence.

What the inspector sees that you can't

Up close, hail bruises show as circular dark spots where granules were crushed into the asphalt mat — press one and it feels soft, like a bruised apple. Larger hail cracks the fiberglass mat outright. The insidious part: a bruised shingle keeps shedding granules at the impact point for months, exposing the mat to UV that ages it years ahead of schedule. This is why "it's not leaking" is the wrong test — hail damage is a lifespan injury before it's a leak.

Why timing matters more than urgency

Texas policies typically limit hail claims to one year from the storm date. Damage documented in week one is an easy claim; the same damage "discovered" in month eleven invites a fight about which storm caused it. The free inspection exists precisely for this window — document now, decide later. And if a neighbor's roof is being replaced from a storm, that's evidence your street took the same hail.

Frequently asked questions