What should you do after hail hits an Austin roof?

What is the first thing to do after the storm passes?

Make the area safe before anything else. Keep children and pets indoors, avoid the area under the roof edge where debris can fall, and do not climb a roof to look for damage.

Hail often leaves loose granules on the roof and in the yard, and the shingles can be bruised enough to crack under foot. A roof that looks whole from the street can give way at a soft spot, so the first step is to stay on the ground. If a tree or a limb has come onto the roof, keep people clear of the area until a crew has checked it.

Check the house from the outside for obvious problems: a window broken by hail, a downspout pulled away from the wall or a fence panel down. Those points are worth photographing, because they show the storm's force on the property and they are part of the same record as the roof.

How should you photograph the damage before it is cleaned up?

Photograph the damage from the ground, with a date and a clear view of each item. Metal vents, gutters, downspouts, window screens and the hail itself on the ground are the most useful subjects.

Take a wide shot of each side of the house first, then close shots of each dent or split. A coin or a tape measure in the frame helps show the size of a dent, and the phone's date stamp should be on. Do not clean the gutters or the yard before the photographs are taken, because the debris and the dents are the evidence.

Keep the original files. Editing a photograph or sending it through an app that strips its data can make it harder to use later, so store the originals in a folder with a clear name and the storm date.

Before the photographs, write a short note on the day's timing: when the storm was heard, when the first damage was seen and whether any rain has fallen since. The note is part of the record, and it helps the technician place the damage against the storm when the inspection is written up.

When does an open roof need a temporary cover?

An open roof, a torn section of shingles or a ceiling that is leaking needs a temporary cover before the next rain. A tarp or a temporary seal keeps the water out until the permanent repair is planned.

The line for emergency work is answered around the clock on (833) 751-2102, and a crew is sent as soon as one is free. If the damage is not yet leaking, the temporary cover can wait for a planned visit, but the homeowner should check the ceilings after each rain until the visit is made.

A tarp should be fixed by a crew that can reach the roof safely. A tarp that is pinned badly can lift in wind and do more harm than no cover at all, so the homeowner should not attempt to put one on from a ladder.

What does the attic show that the roof surface does not?

The attic shows daylight through the decking, wet insulation and staining on the rafters, which all point to water getting past the covering. These signs often appear before a ceiling stain does.

A hail bruise can crack the shingle mat without a visible hole. Water seeps through the crack during a heavy rain and runs along the decking until it finds a gap, so the attic may show the leak before the ceiling does. An inspection that includes the attic is the most reliable way to find that kind of damage.

Look only from the access hatch, with a light, and do not step off the joists. Note any wet insulation or dark wood, and photograph it with the date. That note is part of the record and should be given to the technician at the visit.

What does the National Weather Service record add to the picture?

The National Weather Service's warnings give the date and the area a storm was forecast to cover, which helps place a roof's damage in time. A warning is a radar-based estimate and not a damage survey, so it is a reason to inspect rather than proof of damage.

The Austin/San Antonio office of the National Weather Service issued a severe weather statement on 28 May 2025 that warned of 3-inch hail and 60 mph gusts for southwestern Williamson and central Travis counties. It named Anderson Mill and Jollyville in the path. The statement was a radar-indicated maximum, not a confirmed damage survey.

The inspection should name the warning that covered the address and say whether the roof shows marks from that storm. Where the record does not confirm the storm reached the house, the report says so, and it does not treat the warning as a finding about the roof.

What does a hail inspection actually measure?

A hail inspection counts the hits inside a marked test square on each slope, records the metal parts and separates hail marks from wear. The count is written so a reader who was not on the roof can follow it.

A test square is a marked area on each slope, usually about ten feet on a side. Every hit inside it is counted and photographed, and the same square is used on each slope so the counts can be compared across the roof. The metal parts are checked for round dents, which are the clearest evidence of hail.

The inspector separates hail from blistering, age cracking, foot traffic and tree debris, which can look similar. Where the technician cannot tell them apart, the report says so. That honesty is what makes the record useful to an insurer.

Ask the technician for the count sheet as well as the report. A count sheet lists each slope with its test square, its hits and the photograph number, so anyone reading the file can follow the numbers without needing the roof in front of them.

How should you talk to your insurer about hail damage?

Tell the insurer about the storm, send the inspection record and the photographs, and ask what the policy requires next. The insurer decides what the policy covers and what it pays.

Most homeowners contact their insurer after a storm to open a claim, and the insurer then arranges its own inspection. The homeowner's record does not replace that visit. It gives the homeowner a clear account to show the adjuster, and it helps the homeowner check that the adjuster's findings match what was seen.

Keep your questions in writing where you can, and ask for the reasons behind any decision on the claim. If you disagree with a decision, the Texas Department of Insurance handles complaints about insurers, and its website at tdi.texas.gov explains how to file one.

How should the record be kept after the repair?

Keep the inspection report, the photographs, the repair invoice and the warranty papers in one place, with the storm date written on the file. A complete record is what makes a later claim, a repair or a sale easier to handle.

Store the original photographs in a folder with the storm date, and keep a second copy in a cloud folder or on a drive. A printed copy in the house file is useful too, because a record that cannot be found when it is needed is of no use.

When the permanent repair is done, add the repair record to the file. It should name what was replaced and what was left, and it should be dated. The next inspection can then compare the roof with this record and show what is new.