What hail actually does to a roof
A hailstone hitting an asphalt shingle does three things. It knocks granules off the surface, exposing the asphalt beneath to UV. It bruises or fractures the fibreglass mat under the surface, creating a soft spot that will not shed water reliably. And at larger stone sizes, it can punch straight through the shingle and into the decking.
Only the third of those is visible from the ground. The first two are what make hail damage insidious — the roof looks broadly intact, but its effective life has been cut dramatically and it will begin leaking well before anyone expects it to.
When hail damage warrants a tarp
- Visible punctures through shingle into decking
- Shattered or split tile leaving underlayment exposed
- Dented and split metal panels where the coating has been broken
- Widespread granule loss with exposed asphalt over a large area
- Skylights or vents broken by impact
- Any active leak following a hail event
Widespread bruising without penetration usually does not need an immediate tarp — it needs an inspection and a claim. If you are unsure which situation you are in, that is a reasonable thing to ask us about on the phone.
Checking for hail damage without climbing up
Several ground-level indicators are reliable, and they are worth checking before deciding whether you have a problem:
- Gutters and downspouts. A heavy accumulation of granules where a downspout discharges is one of the clearest signs the roof surface took a beating.
- The AC condenser. Its aluminium fins dent easily and at roughly the same threshold as roofing damage. Dented fins means the stones were large enough to matter.
- Soft metals around the property — mailbox, gutter faces, vent caps, garage door panels, window screens. Dents on these are a proxy for what hit the roof.
- Fence caps and deck boards, where fresh impact marks show clearly on wood.
- Cars left outside. If the vehicles were dented, the roof was hit at least as hard.
Texas hail alley
North and Central Texas sit in one of the most hail-prone regions in the country. The DFW metro, the I-35 corridor through Waco, Temple and Austin, and the Panhandle around Lubbock and Amarillo all see multiple damaging hail events in a typical spring.
What makes hail difficult is how narrow the swaths are. A hail core can be a mile or two wide — one subdivision is destroyed while the next street over is untouched. That is why "my neighbour's roof is fine" is not evidence that yours is, and why a per-property check matters more with hail than with wind.
Hail, tarping and the claim
Hail claims are among the most commonly disputed in Texas, largely because the damage is arguable in a way that a tree through the roof is not. A few things help:
- Date the event. Carriers work from specific storm dates, and knowing which one hit you matters.
- Photograph before anything changes. Granule accumulation washes away; dents get repaired.
- Do not let anyone "test" your roof by making marks on it. This happens, and it compromises the claim.
- Keep the tarping invoice. It is evidence both of mitigation and of the damage having been severe enough to require it.
Once the roof is covered, the repair conversation can happen on a normal timescale. If that conversation looks like it will run for months — common after a large hail event — long-term tarping is the right specification rather than leaving an emergency cover to degrade.