Heavy rains, high winds, hail, and other calamities are a reasonably regular occurrence here in the Houston area, and they can all leave your home’s exterior worse for wear. To say nothing of hurricanes and the aftermath they leave behind!
While you will need a professional craftsman and an insurance adjuster to inspect your property so any damage found can be covered by your insurance company, it never hurts to do at least a cursory inspection yourself.
It is essential to inspect all of the roof surfaces of your property, including any backyard patio cover, attached garage, and any other outbuildings.
Here are a few tips on how to perform your damage inspection after your area has been hit by inclement weather.
Looking for Wind Damage
Wind damage can leave cracked windows, lifted roof shingles, damaged tree limbs that can pose a fall hazard, and many other problems in its wake.
Make sure you carefully inspect the shingles on your home’s roof for signs of damage, as well your backyard patio cover and other areas likely to be impacted by the high winds.
You also want to make sure to take a look at your home’s siding, exterior AC/Heating units, windows, and any fencing on your property for signs of damage from winds or the debris they can carry with them.
Hail Damage and How to Find It
Hail damage accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claim roof work each year, but you don’t have to be an adjuster to spot it if you know what to look for. Hail damage on a roof can be detected by searching across multiple planes of a roof for places where the composite material on your shingles has been knocked off partially.
Typically you will find the plane of a roof facing the direction the weather passed overhead from to be more affected by hail than other areas, so look at weather reports before climbing the ladder to get an idea of where to start your inspection.
How to Spot Water Damage from a Leaky Roof
When the integrity of a roof is compromised by wind or hail damage, you can be sure that you will have a leaky roof at some point.
The apparent signs of a roof leak, whether it is on the main roof of your home, your backyard patio cover, or other area need little explanation.
Water spots on ceilings, actual dripping water, or the appearance of the scent of mold all speak for themselves!
Inspecting the insulation of your attic, particularly where beams meet at any point, is an excellent way to spot any trouble areas before they soak through and become much more expensive to repair or replace.
Finding a Professional for an Official Inspection
Finding a local roofing company to perform an inspection of the roof of your home, backyard patio cover, attached garage, and other roofed areas is not hard; one of the methods we suggest is to contact your insurance company for a list of preferred providers they work with.
As always, we strongly advise you to check references, read multiple reviews, and get multiple quotes before moving ahead when you are in need of repairs.
