Spotting Hail Damage on Your Siding and Shingles

Here in Calgary, summer brings long days and warm evenings, and it also brings the threat of hail. A storm will roll through your neighbourhood sooner or later. Once the noise has stopped and the sky has cleared, it is natural to wonder what sort of damage your home might have taken. A slow, methodical walk around your property is a good first step. There is no need for alarm. The job is to observe and to write down or photograph what you see, so you can make a calm decision about what to do next.

Safety First, Always

Before you start looking for dings and dents, your first priority is to make sure the area around your home is safe. Storms can bring down tree limbs or power lines. Have a look from your doorway first. If you see any downed wires, do not go outside. Stay well away and call your utility provider. Once you are sure there are no immediate electrical hazards, you can continue with your inspection. Do this inspection from the ground. A wet roof is slick and there is no reason to climb up on one right after a storm. You can see more than you might expect with your feet on the lawn or patio, especially if you have a pair of binoculars.

Inspecting Your Shingles

Your roof takes the full hit from hail. For most homes in the Calgary area with asphalt shingles, you are looking for specific signs of impact. Hail strikes knock off the ceramic-coated granules that cover the shingle's surface. This exposes the underlying asphalt mat. From the ground, these spots can look like dark or black dots on the roof in a random pattern. They can also look like bruises. This is what an insurance adjuster will look for, because those granules are the shingle's main defence against sun and water. Once they are gone, the shingle's lifespan is shortened. It can be hard to tell the difference between hail damage and other conditions like blistering or normal aging. Blisters are usually more uniform in appearance and feel, while hail hits will often have a soft or spongy feel and a visible impact mark at the center.

What to Look for on Siding

The type of siding on your house will shape what kind of damage you find. Vinyl is the most common siding material in many communities, and it reacts to hail in a particular way. You are looking for cracks, chips, or clean, round holes. The impact from a hailstone can make the vinyl brittle, so it shatters instead of denting. I once inspected a home in Airdrie where one entire wall looked fine from a distance, but up close it was covered in a spiderweb of fine cracks running out from hundreds of small impact points. Aluminum siding will dent. It is usually very obvious, like someone has hit it with a small hammer again and again. The paint might not even be broken. For harder materials like fibre cement or wood siding, it takes a large hailstone to cause damage. On these, you would be looking for chips in the paint or finish, or gouges in the siding material itself.

Don't Forget the Details

Hail does not just hit the big flat surfaces of your roof and walls. A thorough inspection includes the other parts of your home's exterior. Soft metals are good witnesses to the size and intensity of the hail.

• Eavestroughs and Downspouts: Being made of thin aluminum, these will show dents clearly. Check them all the way around the house.
• Window and Door Trim: Metal cladding around windows and doors will also show dents easily.
• Roof Vents and Flashing: Any metal hardware on your roof, like turbine vents or plumbing stack flashings, will be dented. These are useful indicators for a roofer or adjuster.
• Garage Doors: As large, flat surfaces, garage doors collect hail damage. Dents on metal doors are usually easy to spot in the right light. Keeping your garage door working properly is a year-round task, and this is a good time for a visual check.

You can find more ideas on how to keep your garage door working in cold weather in an older post on this blog.

When to Call for Help

After your inspection, you will have a sense of the situation. It helps to take plenty of photos. The best time to photograph dents on siding or cars is in the early morning or late afternoon when the low-angle sunlight casts shadows inside the dents, making them easier to see. With your photos and notes, you can decide if a call to your insurance provider makes sense.

I used to tell my clients that cosmetic damage might annoy you, but functional damage can lead to a leak. Leaks are never just leaks; they are the start of bigger problems.

Functional damage means the component is no longer doing its job. A shingle with its granules knocked off has lost its protection. A vinyl siding panel that is cracked can now let water in behind it. These are issues that need attention. Cosmetic damage, like a few dents in an aluminum downspout, may not be urgent. If you see widespread damage, especially on the roof, your next step is likely to contact your insurance company to understand your policy and your options. They can explain how to move ahead with getting estimates from qualified contractors.

Living in Alberta means being ready for severe weather events. It is part of the environment here. A calm and organized approach after a storm helps you deal with the aftermath. For more information on what to do before, during, and after a severe storm, the Government of Alberta keeps the Alberta emergency preparedness pages up to date, and they are a good resource for every homeowner to have on hand. Documenting what happened to your home is the first step toward putting things right again.