After hail: what to photograph and what to leave alone
Storms
4 min read
A short list for the first hour, written for your insurer as much as for you.
The hour after a hailstorm is when most claims are won or lost, and it has very little to do with the roof itself.
Photograph the ground first
Hailstones beside a coin or a tape measure, dents in gutters and downpipes, and anything soft that took a hit: window screens, the mailbox, the grill cover.
Stay off the roof
Bruised shingles are slippery and easy to damage further. An adjuster will discount anything that looks like it was caused by a boot.
Then call
Your insurer first, for a claim number. Then a roofer who will document every slope, so the adjuster is looking at evidence rather than opinion.
Next note
Slate, shingle or steel: what each one costs over forty years
Twenty minutes in the air.
$180 survey
Taken off the bill if we do the work.
Report in two working days
Photographs, measurements and one fixed price.
Yours to keep
Use it with us, another roofer or your insurer.