Heat Damage Is Not Hail: Sort It Before You File

A roof that has baked through a Missouri July can look rough for reasons that have nothing to do with a storm. The sun dries the asphalt, granules loosen and wash into the gutters, and an older three-tab roof on a south or west slope can start to look tired. Hail leaves its own marks. A homeowner who files a claim should be able to say which damage came from which event, because when the two get mixed together in the photo file, the claim describes the wrong roof and gives the insurer a reason to question the rest of it.

Insurance claim

Most homeowner policies cover sudden, direct physical loss, such as hail, wind or a falling limb. They generally exclude wear and tear, deterioration and gradual damage from weather. Your policy wording decides how those terms are defined. Missouri does not have a statute that sorts heat aging from storm damage for you, so the question of what caused what is answered by the policy and by the evidence on the roof.

Hail tends to show up as bruised mats, fractured granules and dents in soft metal, and it often lands hardest on the slopes that faced the storm. Heat and age tend to show up across the whole field of the roof, on every slope at once, with the south and west exposures usually the worst. A pattern that fits one event and not the other is what an insurer will look for first.

Start by walking the roof on the same day, from the ground and then, with a roofer, from the roof itself. Compare the south and west slopes with the north and east slopes. If the same bald patches and curling tabs appear on all four sides, age and weather exposure are the likely cause. If the bruising is concentrated on one side and the gutter and flashing dents match on that same side, the storm becomes the stronger suspect. Photograph each slope with a tape measure or a coin in frame so the scale shows, and keep the original files rather than screenshots.

Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim under RSMo 407.725, and that prohibition is the reason the conversation about storm damage belongs to you and your insurer. Keys Roofing can document what it sees, put a written scope with photos and measurements in your hands, and attend as the contractor while you handle the claim with your own insurance company. Keys can be reached at (314) 220-2333.

What the damage looks like

Sun damage on an asphalt shingle usually shows as granule loss that exposes the dark asphalt beneath, a faded or chalky surface, and tabs that curl or cup as the mat dries out. Repeated heat and cold also make shingles more brittle over the years, so a tab can crack along a nail line when someone lifts it. Hail can fracture the mat under the granules without stripping the surface completely. A hail bruise can often be felt as a soft spot when pressed, and the granules around an impact may look displaced in a round or oval pattern. An experienced roofer will look at the shape, depth and spacing of those marks before saying what caused them.

Soft metal is one of the most useful checks. Gutters, downspouts, vent hoods, ridge metal and drip edge will dent from hail, and heat does not dent them. Look at the aluminum on the north side of the house as well as the south, because a hailstorm often leaves dents on more than one side, while a sunny summer leaves none. Check the vent hoods, the chimney flashing and the air conditioner fins too. A dent that matches a hailstone's size tells you more than a faded shingle does, and it is much harder to explain away by age.

Wind adds a third pattern. Wind lifts and creases tabs, removes whole shingles in strips, and often leaves the nails pulled through the top edge of a tab. Wind damage tends to be concentrated on the edges, the ridge and the corners of a roof, where uplift is strongest. If you have wind damage, keep those photos separate from the hail photos and from the heat photos, because each one answers a different question for the insurer.

What it costs

A documented roof inspection usually costs time more than money, but the terms belong in writing before anyone climbs. Ask whether the inspection is included, whether a second visit is charged if your insurer asks for one, and whether a written scope with photos is part of the price. A roofer's photo log is worth requesting even when the roof turns out to need only a repair, because that log is the record of what was there on the day it was checked.

An older roof may need replacement for age reasons, and that is a separate decision from the storm claim. A three-tab roof that is brittle across many slopes rarely holds a spot repair well, because the surrounding shingles no longer bend enough to be lifted and re-nailed without cracking. If the inspection finds widespread brittleness, the replacement question comes up whether or not hail is also present. Ask the roofer to say so in the written scope, with the count and location of the brittle shingles, so you are not left guessing what a repair would actually hold through the next freeze.

Keep the costs of each decision separate in your file. The cost of an inspection, the cost of a repair and the cost of replacement belong on different lines, and so does any work that your insurer agrees to pay for. A single number at the bottom of a page makes it hard to see which part of the bill the storm caused and which part was simply the age of the roof.

What to ask

Bring these questions to the roofer before you schedule the walk. Ask them in writing if you can, and keep the replies with the photo file.

• Which slopes did you photograph, and from what distance?
• Did you find hail bruising, fractured mats or only granule loss? Where is each type?
• Are the soft metal dents on the gutters, vents and flashing on more than one side of the house?
• How many shingles did you find cracked or brittle when lifted, and on which slopes?
• Is the written scope itemized by slope, with measurements and photos attached?
• Will you attend the insurer's inspection as the contractor, and will the photos you show there match the ones you gave me?
• What would you repair, and what would need replacing regardless of the claim?

Before you file, write one short paragraph that says what you think happened and when you first noticed it. Attach the photos with their original dates. If the roof shows both heat aging and storm damage, keep those in separate folders. Your insurer will ask which damage is which, and having that answer ready is more useful than any argument you make later.