Storm Damage Guide for Texas Homeowners
What to do after a hail or wind event. Timing, surfaces, documentation, and the boundaries around insurance and contractor decisions that protect you from costly mistakes.
Step by Step
What to do in the first 72 hours after a storm
Stay Safe First
Do not access the roof yourself after a storm. Wet shingles, displaced materials, and compromised structural elements create fall and injury risks. Ground-level documentation of visible soft metals, gutters, siding, and accessible eave edges is safe and still highly useful.
Document Ground-Level First
Photograph gutters, AC condenser tops, vent caps, painted siding, and fascia boards from safe ground-level positions. Consistent dent patterns on soft metal surfaces are reliable hail indicators. Take photos with something for scale — a ruler, coin, or hand.
Contact The Roof Shepherd
Roof-level documentation requires safe, professional access. Contact The Roof Shepherd to document all visible conditions — roof surface, penetrations, gutters, fascia, and interior stain indicators — before calling a contractor or insurance company.
What Hail Looks Like
Recognizing hail impact across surface types
Asphalt Shingles
Random circular bruising — not a regular pattern. Areas where granules are displaced, exposing the darker asphalt mat beneath. Occasional soft spots where the impact has fractured the mat. Cracked shingles are possible from large hail but bruising is more common and less obvious at ground level.
Gutters & Soft Metals
Consistent circular dents of roughly uniform diameter. AC condenser tops are one of the most reliable hail size indicators — the soft metal records impact diameter clearly. Drip edge, vent caps, and metal trim also show impact. Pattern consistency is the tell — random dings from debris look different from systematic hail impact.
Painted Siding & Trim
Impact pocking — small surface indentations with paint displaced or spalled at the impact center. Visible on painted hardboard, fiber cement, and wood siding. More visible on lighter colors. Check siding on the north and west elevations first — Texas hail typically arrives from these directions.
Interior Staining
Ceiling discoloration that appeared or grew after the storm event. A wet stain with active dripping needs emergency tarping — do not wait. A dry stain that predates the storm is a pre-existing condition. Document the condition and note clearly when it appeared or changed.
Storm Damage Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly does hail damage show up on a roof?
Impact bruising on asphalt shingles is visible immediately after the event. Granule displacement — the loosening of the protective granule layer — may not be fully apparent until days or weeks later as loose granules wash out. Interior staining from water intrusion can take days to weeks to appear depending on the damage location and weather conditions following the event.
What size hail causes roof damage?
Hail 1 inch in diameter or larger is the threshold most commonly associated with meaningful asphalt shingle damage. Sub-inch hail can damage soft metals, gutters, and painted surfaces without necessarily damaging shingles. Impact-resistant shingles significantly raise the threshold — Class 4 rated shingles are tested against 2-inch steel ball drop simulations.
How is hail size measured after an event?
Post-event hail size is estimated from storm spotter reports, weather service data, and physical impact evidence — primarily soft metal impact diameter. The consistent circular dent pattern on gutters and AC condenser tops is a more reliable field indicator than trying to measure hail that has melted.
Should I call my insurance company or a contractor first?
Neither, ideally. Independent documentation of visible conditions — before a contractor is involved and before formal claim filing — gives you a neutral baseline. Once an insurer adjuster visits or a contractor begins work, that baseline is harder to establish independently. Contact The Roof Shepherd first to document conditions, then decide on next steps with information in hand.
Can wind damage a roof without hail?
Yes. Wind speeds above 60 mph can lift and separate shingles, particularly at eave edges, ridgelines, and areas with inadequate fastener coverage. Straight-line winds from severe thunderstorms and tornadoes cause roofline separation, fascia damage, and sometimes catastrophic failure. Hail and wind often occur together in Central Texas storm events.
What is a storm chaser contractor?
A storm chaser is a roofing contractor — often from out of state — who deploys to a market following a significant hail event. They work quickly, sign contracts aggressively, and move to the next market after the storm cycle ends. Warning signs: pressure to sign immediately, vague written scope, no verifiable local address, asking you to sign over insurance rights, or claiming your deductible is covered.
Insurance-safe documentation boundary: The Roof Shepherd observes, documents, and explains visible roof and property conditions. We do not act as public adjusters, interpret insurance policy coverage, negotiate claims, guarantee claim outcomes, or waive, absorb, rebate, or pay deductibles. Coverage decisions belong to the insurer.
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