What Happens if I Don’t Get a Roof Inspection?

Let’s play out the scenario of you not getting a roof inspection after a storm.

Hail is a common occurrence in Dallas – in fact, our area often gets two or three major hail storms every year. Hail happens so often it’s no surprise most homeowners don’t think twice about them, let alone roof damage.

But what most homeowners don’t know is they absolutely NEED to get a roof inspection after every major storm – not just hail!

A storm damage inspection will not only ensure your home is protected, it will document “preventative maintenance”. Most insurance companies require it and most importantly, saves you from paying for expensive repairs out of pocket.

Not convinced? Read on to learn what happens if you don’t get an inspection after a storm to check for roof damage (what happens months later might surprise you!).

A Hail Storm Hits

The biggest mistake homeowners make after a storm is assuming there is no damage to their roof – and that’s simply because they can’t see it from the ground. Seems reasonable, right? If you have also made this same assumption in the past – keep reading!

Hard hail impacts can cause cracks in shingles. This will leave your roof with bare spots and exposure to the elements! This means your roof is no longer protecting your roof from the weather.

Hail can be as small as a pea or as large as a softball. Hail damage usually comes in the form of dings in aluminum siding, gutters, or asphalt shingles. Large hailstones are known to be dense and strong enough to puncture a roof!

When hail hits a roof shingle, it knocks the protective layer of granules off. This causes immediate damage to your roof – but it is small and can only be seen if you are really, really close, and on the roof itself. Over time, these small hail hits get larger. This allows more water to enter into your roof system, causing leaks and expensive repairs.

The storm is over and you continue with your day, week, life, etc. Suddenly, your ceiling isn’t looking good. Maybe it looks like this.

Here’s a common example of what we typically see from local Lewisville homeowners who have been impacted by hail storms:

We get a call to inspect a roof leak and find that it is due to missing shingles. While we are up on the roof, we complete a thorough roof inspection and find that hail has damaged MANY shingles on the roof and there is also wind damage in other areas, but no leaks have formed yet. The active roof leak has allowed water to spread along the roof deck and now the wood is weak from the water damage.

The Cost

The average cost of replacing 1,500 square feet of roof with asphalt shingles on a 2 story with a chimney is close to $8,000. Now let’s break down why that is.

Most of the time costs from underlayment and flashing are included with the cost of a new roof. But if you need new decking (in the said scenario), this can increase the cost of the projects by an additional $2 per square foot.

A full replacement could cost up to $4.50, so roofing a 1,500 square foot root can cost up to $3000 to $4000.

Labor accounts for most of the cost of getting a new roof. In the example of our 1,500 square foot roof with asphalt shingles, labor could be up to $4,000.

Now all of these are estimations and national averages from Fixr, so it could be more if you have a specialty roof or a home larger than 1,500 square feet.

Now imagine you got a roof inspection right after the storm. If there was any hail or wind damage, it could have easily been repaired. The repair would have avoided this whole scenario and saved you literally thousands of dollars! That money could be used on a fun road trip for the family or maybe remodeling part of your home.

If you have been hit by severe weather this year, get a roof inspection now! Don’t let this season’s storms (link to summer damage blog) turn into costly and expensive repairs. Contact us or schedule an inspection!