Hail season is coming, and we wanted to help explain a few things regarding hail damage and what to do when you have been hit by a storm. In Colorado, according to The Denver Channel, the Front Range sees about three or four catastrophic hailstorms. Colorado (along Nebraska and Wyoming) makes up the “hail alley” according to meteorologists. Here, hail can be anywhere from pea-sized to marble-sized but can see the occasional baseball-size hail. Colorado also had the second highest number of hail claims in the United States from 2013-2015, second only to Texas. With this amount of hail damage, there’s a few top tips on what to do when you have damage.
1) Find quick ways to notice hail damage
If you have been hit by a hailstorm, look for damaged siding, dented gutters, mailbox damage, damaged windowsills, cracked windows, hail damaged cars in the neighborhood, or door dents. Since getting up on your roof can be a challenge, and one we don’t recommend, these items are strong indicators about potential damage. Most of the time, dented cars and cracked windows are more than enough to realize you have damage. But even small marks on a gutter or your door can indicate potential damage.
Another quick way is to see if there are any shingles that have popped off from your roof during the storm. Some hailstorms bring high winds, which can easily dislodge these shingles from a roof. By inspecting those shingles, you can have a good idea of how much damage is also up on your roof.
2) If you notice hail damage, call your insurance company first
A common misconception is that you need to call a roofing or exterior company to come out and inspect the roof. However, many companies – including us at 5280 Exteriors – recommend having an insurance adjustor come out to check out the damage first. By having the insurance adjustor inspect the home initially, it will speed up the process to repair your claim.
The primary job of the adjustor is to confirm there is damage and report that you can make a claim to repair. The adjustor’s duty however, is not to report every single detail that needs replaced. Once a company like 5280 Exteriors comes out, we would have a second eye confirm the damage and report the totality of the repair needed and work with the insurance company to receive the full amount needed for the repair.
3) Find a company that specializes in more than one trade
When hail hits an area, it’s very unlikely that you only have roof damage to your home. There are roofing companies left and right in this area that are more than capable of fixing the roof. The issue that comes into play is when you have more damage to your home than just the roof. If you had contacted a roofing company specifically, they will either not be able to repair the rest of the damage, or outsource the work to another company. This can add time and money to the claim and to your bottom line. Instead, try and find a company that specializes in the full exterior of your home. This helps in a few ways:
- By having a company that does more than one trade, you can eliminate more work for you by calling other companies
- You could have a single point of contact for all of your repairs
- There would be less outsourcing to other companies
- The speed to repair the home would be faster as there are less moving pieces involved
Here at 5280 Exteriors, we not only work on the roof but we are a full windows and siding company as well. This lets you feel confident that when we are called to come out after an adjustor visits your property, we can be a one-stop-shop in your repair.
4) Be weary of storm chasers
The last major tip in hail damage is to understand what a storm chaser is compared to your local company. Storm chasers are companies that watch where hail storms occur in the United States and send sales staff out to those locations to knock on doors. These individuals don’t have as much responsibility as a local company does to do the job right. They’re just looking for repair jobs in major storms, and once the project is complete, they take off. This makes it harder to file a warranty claim, and makes it easier for the company to take the “easy way out” since they don’t have a local presence. By calling a local company – ours or another one – we live and work in Colorado and have our neighbors’ support in the work that we do. This makes our standards that much higher than the storm chasers who may leave you high and dry after a storm. We also can service warranty claims in a much easier way.
All-in-all, a hailstorm can be costly and time consuming. By having a company who is willing to go above and beyond to fix your home, and a company that can do it all, your time can be maximized to focus on more important things. If you think you have hail damage, don’t hesitate and contact the right people to get it repaired. By not repairing your roof after damage, you can have leaks that cause even more damage. It never hurts to get it looked at so you can feel safe. When you do decide to get it repaired, make sure you hire someone local and someone who can do more than just one trade.
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