Hail Damage: Repair or Replace the Roof?

It Depends on How Widespread the Damage Is

Hail rarely hits one spot. When damage is scattered across every slope of the roof, patching it means replacing shingles all over, and at that point a repair is a replacement done badly. When the damage is limited, such as one exposed slope, a few cracked shingles, or dented vents and flashing, a repair can be the right answer.

The judgment comes from getting on the roof and looking at each slope: the number of impact points, whether the mat under the granules is fractured, and whether the hits are on one face or all of them. That is why a real inspection matters more than a look from the driveway.

Why the Age of the Roof Matters

Old shingles are brittle. Lifting them to slide in replacements often cracks the ones around them, so a repair can do more damage than it fixes. A roof near the end of its life with hail damage on top is usually a replacement, even if the hail damage alone would have been repairable on a newer roof.

The Matching Problem

A repair is only as good as the match. Shingle lines and colors are discontinued, and even the same product fades differently after years of Colorado sun. A patch of new shingles on an older roof can stand out clearly from the street. How matching is handled on a claim depends on your policy, so read it, and raise the question with your insurance company if an exact match is not available.

Where Insurance Fits In

If you file a claim, your insurance company decides what the policy covers, based on its adjuster's inspection. What we do is inspect the roof, photograph and document the damage slope by slope in the format your carrier works with, and meet the adjuster on the roof so what gets recorded is what is actually up there. We do not negotiate or settle claims; in Colorado that is the work of a licensed public adjuster. Our insurance claims page explains the line.

Whatever the claim says, the repair-or-replace question still deserves a straight answer from someone who has been on the roof. Sometimes the honest answer is that a repair is fine. Sometimes it is that there is no claimable damage at all, and we will tell you that too.

What Not to Do

• Do not sign anything on your doorstep in the days after a storm. Get a local inspection first.
• Do not accept an offer to "cover your deductible." Colorado law does not allow a roofer to pay, waive or absorb it.
• Do not wait too long. Policies limit how long after a storm you can file.
• Do not climb onto the roof yourself to look. Binoculars from the ground, and the dents in your gutters and vents, tell you enough to call.

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