Hail and storm damage
Hail Damage, Documented Properly
The Front Range is one of the most hail-exposed places in the country, and the metro fills with out-of-state crews within days of a serious storm. The difference between a settlement that covers your roof and one that does not is almost always documentation.
What Hail Damage Actually Looks Like
Hail damage on an asphalt roof is not usually a hole. It is bruising: impact points where the granules are knocked away and the mat underneath is fractured. The shingle is still up there and still looks broadly intact from the street, which is why so many damaged roofs in this metro were never claimed at all. The failure shows up years later as accelerated deterioration in exactly the spots that were hit.
Soft metals tell the story faster. Dents in gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing and the hood of anything parked outside are corroborating evidence, and they are part of what we photograph.
Hail Damage, Material by Material
Hail does not damage every roof the same way, and knowing what to look for on yours is the difference between a documented claim and a roof that quietly fails a few years later.
- Standard asphalt shingles. Dark spots where the granules have been knocked off, soft bruises that give when pressed, and cracks in the mat underneath. From the street the roof usually looks fine.
- Impact-resistant (Class 4) shingles. Built to shrug off ordinary hail, but not hail-proof. Large stones still bruise and crack them, and the damage is subtler, so they need a closer look, not a quicker one.
- Metal roofs. Dents, sometimes chipped coating at the point of impact. Whether a dent is only cosmetic or has actually damaged the panel or its seams matters a great deal, and so does how your policy treats cosmetic damage.
- Concrete and clay tile. Cracked, chipped or broken tiles, with the underlayment beneath now exposed to sun and water.
- Wood shake. Fresh splits with clean, unweathered edges, which is how you tell a recent hail split from ordinary aging.
- Everything around the roof. Gutters, downspouts, roof vents, window screens, siding and fence tops. Soft metals dent in patterns that show the size and direction of the hail, which backs up what is on the roof.
The First 48 Hours After a Storm
- Photograph the hail if you safely can, next to a coin or a ruler, and note the date and time. Those pictures lose value by the hour as the stones melt.
- Photograph the soft metals around the house: gutters, downspouts, the air conditioner fins, and anything parked outside.
- Deal with any active leak from inside. Move belongings, put down a bucket, and call us. Do not climb onto a wet roof yourself.
- Do not sign anything on your doorstep. Storm crews knock within days. Get the roof inspected by someone local, with an office you can find, before you commit to anyone.
- Book an inspection. It is free, and it tells you whether there is damage worth claiming before you decide anything. Wondering whether it will be a repair or a new roof? Here is how that gets decided.
What We Do, and What We Do Not Do
We inspect the roof and document the condition with photographs, whether or not you end up filing anything. If there is damage, we write it up in the format your carrier expects, so what we submit is in the same line-item language your adjuster already works in. We meet your adjuster on the roof with that documentation in hand.
What we do not do is negotiate, adjust or settle your claim for you. In Colorado that is the work of a licensed public adjuster, and a roofing contractor is not permitted to do it on your behalf. Any roofer who offers to "handle your claim" or "fight your insurance company for you" is offering something they are not allowed to provide.
The distinction matters practically as well as legally. Our job is to make sure the damage is documented accurately and completely. The conversation between you and your carrier is then about the actual condition of the roof rather than about missing paperwork. How we document a claim goes through it step by step.
How a Roof Claim Usually Runs
Every policy is different, so read yours. But most replacement-cost claims on a Denver metro roof follow roughly the same path, and knowing it in advance takes a lot of the stress out:
- Inspection. We get on the roof and photograph what is there, before you file anything.
- You report the claim to your insurer, with the storm date.
- The adjuster’s visit. Your carrier sends an adjuster to inspect the roof. We meet them there with our photographs.
- The scope and the first check. The carrier sends a written scope of the damage and, on many policies, a first payment that holds back part of the value (often called depreciation) until the work is done.
- Anything found during tear-off. Damaged decking or other items that could not be seen until the old roof was off are documented and sent to the carrier as a supplement.
- The roof goes on, and once it is finished and you are satisfied, the final invoice lets the carrier release the held-back amount. Your deductible is always yours to pay.
Your Deductible Is Yours to Pay
Colorado law prohibits a roofing contractor from paying, waiving, rebating or absorbing any part of your insurance deductible, and from offering to. A contractor who offers to "eat the deductible", or to write the invoice for a higher amount to cover it, is proposing insurance fraud, with your name on the claim.
We will not do it, and we would treat the offer from anyone else as a reason to get them off your property.
Storm Chasers
After every major hail event, out-of-state crews arrive, knock every door in the affected subdivisions, sign as many contracts as they can, subcontract the work out, and are gone before anyone discovers what a workmanship warranty from a company with no local address is worth.
The practical test is simple: ask where their office is, ask for a certificate of insurance, and ask who will answer the phone in four years. We are on West Littleton Boulevard, and we were here before the storm.
Filing Deadlines
Policies limit how long after a storm you can file, and most homeowners do not discover the damage on the day it happens. If you think a storm from a previous season may have damaged your roof, that clock is already running. A free inspection now costs you nothing and settles the question.
What You Get, on Every Job
- Materials
- Limited Lifetime manufacturer warranty on shinglesManufacturer's terms and conditions apply.
- Workmanship
- 10-year written labor warrantyProvided directly by Colorado Roofing and Remodeling.
Examples of Our Work
Questions About Hail & Storm Damage
Will filing a claim raise my premium?
That is between you and your carrier and we will not pretend to know your policy. What we can do is tell you honestly whether you have damage worth claiming, so the decision is an informed one rather than a guess.
What if you inspect and there is no damage?
Then we tell you that, and you have lost nothing. We would rather give you a clean answer than talk you into a claim that gets denied.
Why did my insurer pay only part of the claim at first?
On many replacement-cost policies the first check holds back part of the value, usually described as depreciation, until the work is finished. The rest is released once the carrier receives the final invoice. Your policy and your carrier’s letter spell out exactly how yours works.
Should I replace my roof with impact-resistant shingles?
In a hail market like this one, they are worth pricing. A Class 4 shingle resists ordinary hail far better than a standard one, though no shingle is hail-proof. They cost more, and some insurers offer a discount for them, so ask your carrier. We will price both side by side.
Can hail damage show up years later?
The damage happens during the storm, but it often only becomes visible later, as bruised spots lose granules and the shingle breaks down early in exactly the places that were hit. That is why an inspection soon after a storm is worth more than one years afterward.
Will someone from your company be there when the adjuster comes out?
Yes. We meet your carrier's adjuster on the roof with our photographs and our written scope already in hand, and we are there for the city inspections as well. That is the part most homeowners are left to handle alone, and it is where a claim quietly comes up short. We document and we show up; we do not negotiate the claim on your behalf, because in Colorado that is a licensed public adjuster's job rather than a roofer's.
Hail & Storm Damage
Request a Free Inspection
We will document what we find with photographs and give you a straight answer, including when that answer is that your roof is fine and you should call us in a few years.
Other Services
- Roof ReplacementFull tear-off and replacement, with the price agreed in writing before we start.
- Roof RepairLeaks, wind-lifted shingles and failed flashing, repaired rather than upsold.
- Roof InspectionA free inspection with photographs, and a straight answer either way.
- Interior RemodelingInterior work and leak-damage repair, for customers who already know how we work.