Colorado's Front Range sits in the middle of Hail Alley. Most of our hail falls between May and August, and one storm can damage thousands of roofs in an afternoon. The hard part: hail damage often can't be seen from the ground, and small hits can take years off a roof.
Here's how to tell if your roof took a hit, and what to do next.
Start With What You Can See From the Ground
You don't need a ladder to find the first clues. After a storm, walk around the house and look for:
- Dents in gutters and downspouts. Soft aluminum shows hail hits clearly. If the gutters are dented, the shingles took the same beating.
- Dings on roof vents, flashing, and chimney caps. Damage to metal parts on the roof is a strong sign the shingles were hit too.
- Dented A/C condenser fins, mailboxes, or car hoods. These show how big and hard the hail was.
- Granules at the bottom of downspouts. A sudden pile of sand-like grit means the shingles are losing their protective layer.
- Cracked siding, torn window screens, or damaged window wraps, usually on the side that faced the storm.
Stay off the roof. Wet or damaged shingles are slippery, and a fall costs far more than any repair.
What Hail Damage Looks Like on Shingles
A trained inspector looks for four things:
- Bruising: dark spots where granules were knocked loose. They can feel soft, like a bruise on an apple.
- Exposed mat: once granules are gone, the fiberglass mat underneath is open to the sun and starts breaking down.
- Cracks and splits: hail cracks shingles, especially older, brittle ones.
- Broken seals: impacts can break the adhesive strip that holds shingles down, which leaves them open to wind.
Hail hits land at random, with no pattern. They usually cluster on the slopes that faced the storm.
Why Small Hits Matter
Hail rarely causes a leak right away. It speeds up aging. Once granules are gone, sun and freeze-thaw cycles wear down the exposed spots, and leaks can show up months or a year later. By then, it's harder to tie the damage to one storm.
That's why you want an inspection soon after the storm, even if nothing is dripping.
How a Condor Hail Inspection Works
Our inspections follow Haag Engineering's hail-damage assessment standards, the benchmark used across roofing and insurance. Our roofers mark each suspected hit with washable chalk and photograph it. You get clear, slope-by-slope documentation of what we found.
If there's damage, we'll walk you through it and help document it. Whether to file a claim is always your call.
Protect Your Roof From the Next Storm
If your roof needs replacing, upgrade to Class 4 impact-resistant shingles, the top rating under the UL 2218 impact test. Every roof Condor installs includes IKO Nordic Class 4 shingles as a free standard upgrade, plus Ice & Water Shield in the valleys and along the eaves. Many insurers offer premium discounts for Class 4 roofs, so ask your agent.
Get Your Roof Checked
We're helping homeowners recover from recent storms in Aurora, Parker, Bennett, Berthoud, Lyons, Wiggins, and Fort Morgan. If a storm came through your area, call 303-900-2184 and we'll get someone on your roof.