After a significant storm, two things are simultaneously true: a lot of roofs have real damage, and a lot of people are told they have damage that they do not. Being able to tell the difference is worth something, because the wrong answer in either direction costs money.
Wind damage: look at the edges
Uplift pressure is highest at ridges, rakes and eaves, so that is where wind damage starts. From the ground with binoculars:
- Missing shingles - obvious, and worth photographing along with any pieces you find in the yard.
- Lifted or creased shingles. A shingle that folded back and laid down again has a horizontal crease across it. The seal is broken and it will not reseal, so it will go in the next event.
- Damaged or missing ridge caps. Frequently the first thing to fail and easy to see from the ground.
- Displaced or bent edge metal along the rakes.
- Debris impact - branches, or punctures from wind-driven material.
Hail damage: mostly invisible from the ground
This is the difficult one. Hail damage on asphalt shingles is a bruise, not a hole: the impact knocks granules away and fractures the mat underneath, leaving a soft spot that still sheds water. Nothing leaks. The roof looks intact. The damage shows up years later as premature failure in patches.
What genuine hail bruising looks like up close: roughly circular, randomly distributed across the slope, soft or spongy when pressed, with granules displaced and the mat dented. Distribution is the clearest tell - real hail is random, and it is directional, so the slopes facing the storm take more than the others.
Corroborating evidence you can check from the ground
Soft metal around the property dents at hail sizes that bruise a roof invisibly. Check gutters and downspouts, window screens, air conditioner condenser fins, the mailbox, the grill lid, and any painted metal. Dents on those surfaces are good evidence that hail of a damaging size actually fell here, and they are worth photographing.
What gets mistaken for storm damage
- Blistering. Small raised bumps where gas escaped during manufacturing or from trapped moisture. Looks superficially like hail, but the granule loss pattern is different and there is no dent in the mat.
- Foot traffic damage. Granule scuffing in lines or concentrated paths - typically from someone walking the roof, often the last person who serviced rooftop equipment.
- Normal aging. Granule loss and mild curling on a fifteen-year-old roof is the roof getting old, not the storm last Thursday.
- Manufacturing defects. Damage in repeating patterns aligned to the shingle courses is a product issue, and it may be a warranty matter rather than a claim.
What to do with what you find
Photograph everything, note the storm date, and do not get on the roof yourself - hail-damaged shingles are fragile and walking them causes damage that is difficult to distinguish from the storm later. Then get a slope-by-slope inspection from someone who will show you photographs of what they found and tell you plainly whether the damage is cosmetic, repairable or extensive.
If the roof is open and water is getting in, that comes first - see emergency roof repair. Otherwise, the storm damage process starts with documentation, and documentation is worth having whether or not you end up filing anything.
This article is general guidance for Chicago-area property owners. Roofing problems are specific to the building, so nothing here substitutes for having your own roof looked at. Request a free estimate.