After a Colorado hail storm, your roof is vulnerable to hail damage. Without a proper hail damage roof inspection, you may not know your roof shingles have cracks or tears, and down the road, what seems like minor hail damage can cause a leaky roof or wet attic. Hail damage on roofs is hard to see with an untrained eye. The best way to prevent future leaks is to identify the roof hail damage right away, and that means getting a hail damage roof inspection from a professional Denver roofing contractor.
Why is hail so damaging?
You may be wondering how and why hail can cause roof hail damage. The answer comes from science. Hail is created when raindrops freeze into an ice ball. The updraft of a thunderstorm carries the raindrops upward into an extremely cold atmosphere where very cold water droplets come in contact with ice crystals. The thunderstorm keeps moving the water droplets to the top of the cloud where more ice crystals attach to the raindrops. The hail falls when the thunderstorm updraft can no longer support the weight of the ice. The stronger the updraft, the bigger the hailstones, and the bigger the hailstones, the more damage they can cause to your personal property.
Why is hail shape significant to roof hail damage?
Hailstones have layers like an onion. As they travel up and down the thunderstorm updraft, the ice crystals can melt and refreeze, and this adds more ice layers in an irregular pattern. This process produces a hailstone that is not perfectly spherical. It is estimated that hail falls anywhere from 9 miles per second to 48 miles per second, depending on the size, shape and density of each hailstone. When an irregular shaped ball of ice falls from the sky at a high rate of speed and it hits your roof shingle, the bumps and knots on the ice ball act like a sword that pierces the shingle surface. This is the reason why even small hail can cause roof hail damage.
Factors that affect hail damage on roof
When hail hits, the hail damage on roofs can be extensive because of the power in these misshapen balls of ice. There are several other factors that affect the the type and degree of damage that can occur from powerful hail storms.
Type of shingle
There are many types of roof shingles: asphalt, metal, slate, tile and wood shake. Shingles are good at hiding roof hail damage, so it’s very important that a qualified Denver roofing contractor conduct a hail damage roof inspection to protect against future leaks. The Denver roof inspector will look for lost granulation, seam damage, gaps, curling and any other irregularities on the shingle surface and other small places where moisture could seep under the shingle or mat.
Metal roofs
Hail damage on metal roofing will depend on the gauge of the metal that was used on the roof installation. It also depends on the texture of the metal roof. Metal roofing will show dents and dings, but a Denver roof inspector also needs to look for damage to the interlocking seams, the edge trim and the trip caps. Damage to these areas could allow water to leak into the substrate.
Gravel roofs
Gravel roofing is very resistant to roof hail damage, although not immune to it. One of the main problems with a gravel roof is that gravel can disguise damage really well, which means a leak could be developing without being noticed until it enters the attic. A hail damage roof inspection by a Denver roofing company will reveal an initial point of hail damage and identify any potential problems.
Modified bitumen roofs
Modified bitumen roofing is not as vulnerable to roof hail damage as other types of roofing materials. However, hail damage on roofs with modified bitumen can cause surface fractures or damage to the membrane. Hail damage to roofs with this type of roofing material is almost impossible to see from the outside, and sometimes a hail damage roof inspector has to drill into the roof to assess the extent of the hail damage.
Sprayed polyurethane foam (SPUF) roofs
Sprayed polyurethane foam has a high tolerance for hail, which is the reason this type of roofing material is becoming more popular. However, a SPUF roof should get a hail damage roof inspection after a hail storm to check for fractures. Even though SPUF roofing may take longer to reveal leaks over other roofing systems, the hail damage on roofs can be very extensive and expensive.
Peak to Peak Roofing is your local Denver roofing contractor with qualified hail damage roof inspectors to evaluate possible roof hail damage. Contact us to schedule a hail damage roof inspection today.