Most hail damage is invisible from the ground, and the clearest evidence usually **isn’t on the roof at all — it’s on your soft metals.**
Before anyone climbs up, walk the property and check:
– **Gutters, downspouts, and drip edge.** Dents in aluminum are the easiest evidence to spot and they’re at eye level.
– **AC condenser fins.** Soft aluminum fins dent readily. Damage here usually means the roof took the same impact.
– **Window screens, mailboxes, and fence caps.** Any soft metal on the property records the same storm.
– **Granules in the gutters.** A heavy line of dark sand at the downspout means shingle surface has been knocked loose.
On the roof, we’re looking for **bruising** — circular soft spots where the hailstone fractured the mat beneath the surface. They give slightly under a thumb, like a bruise on fruit. Bruises rarely leak right away; they fail 12 to 36 months later.
Two Houston specifics: it generally takes **hail around 1 inch or larger** to functionally damage asphalt shingles, and real hail damage is random, not directional. Marks in neat rows are usually foot traffic, not hail.
Don’t walk it yourself. We’ll document it with photos at no cost, and tell you honestly if there isn’t enough damage to file.