7 Signs Your Roof Has Storm Damage (and What to Do Next)

Most storm damage doesn't look like a hole in the roof. It looks like a few dark spots you'd never notice from the driveway, a handful of shingles that lifted and laid back down, or a little more grit than usual at the bottom of a downspout. Then, a few months later, it looks like a brown ring on the ceiling.

West Georgia gives roofs plenty of chances to take a beating. The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, which covers our part of the state, reports that large hail falls somewhere in its forecast area about seven days a year on average, with April as the peak month. Damaging winds show up about 19 days a year, peaking in July. That's a lot of weather for one roof, and most of the damage it leaves behind is quiet.

Here are the seven signs we look for, starting with the ones you can spot from the ground.

1. Shingles in the Yard or Bare Spots on the Roof

This is the obvious one. Whole shingles, or the tabs off of them, in the grass or the gutters mean wind got under the roof. Look up for patches where the color changes or where you can see the dark underlayment or bare wood.

A missing shingle is more than a cosmetic gap. It exposes the nails and seams of the shingles around it, and the next rain finds that opening.

2. Creased or Lifted Shingles

Wind damage often leaves the shingles in place. Asphalt shingles are held down by nails and by a seal strip that bonds each one to the course below. A strong gust can break that seal and flip the shingle up. Sometimes it lays back down and looks normal, but it's no longer sealed, and it often has a crease running across it where it bent.

A creased or unsealed shingle is the one the next storm peels off. These are tough to see from the ground. On a sunny afternoon, look for shingle edges that cast a shadow or don't sit flat.

3. Dark Spots and Bruises From Hail

Hail damage on an asphalt shingle usually looks like a dark spot where the granules got knocked loose. Press on it and it can feel soft, like a bruise on an apple, because the mat underneath has been cracked. Hail hits are random. They don't line up in rows or follow the edges of the shingles.

Two things that look like damage but aren't from a storm:

• Blisters. Small raised bubbles that pop and leave pits usually come from heat, poor attic ventilation or the product itself.
• Black or green streaks. Those are algae, which grows easily in Georgia's humidity.

Neither one is storm damage, and an honest inspector will tell you so.

4. Granules Piling Up in the Gutters

Shingle granules are the sand-like coating that protects the asphalt from the sun. After a hail storm, you may find a lot of them in the gutters or washed out at the bottom of the downspouts.

Context matters here. A brand-new roof sheds extra granules for a while, and an older roof loses them slowly as it ages. A sudden pile right after a storm is the sign worth paying attention to. Once that coating is gone, Georgia's summer sun breaks down the exposed asphalt much faster.

5. Dents in Gutters, Vents and the AC Unit

Soft metal shows hail better than shingles do. Walk around the house and look for:

• Dents in gutters and downspouts
• Dings in roof vents and flashing (binoculars help)
• Pocked or flattened fins on your outdoor AC unit
• Dents on mailboxes, grills, light fixtures and car hoods

Adjusters look at these same soft-metal hits to judge how big the hail was and which direction it came from, so photograph every one you find.

6. Bent Flashing, Loose Ridge Caps and Cracked Pipe Boots

The places where the roof changes direction or something pokes through are where most leaks start. That means the metal flashing around chimneys and along walls, the ridge caps along the peak, and the rubber boots around plumbing vent pipes. Wind can lift and bend flashing and peel up ridge caps, and hail can split an aging pipe boot.

Small openings in these spots let water run down the decking for a long time before it ever shows up inside.

7. Stains, Drips or Daylight Inside

Sometimes the house tells you before the roof does. Watch for:

• Brown rings or yellow stains on ceilings, especially upstairs and in closets
• Peeling paint or bubbling drywall near the top of exterior walls
• A musty smell in the attic or upstairs rooms
• Wet or matted insulation, damp wood, or pinpoints of daylight in the attic

Water inside after a storm doesn't automatically mean storm damage. A heavy rain can expose an old flashing problem that was there all along. That's why a look at the roof itself matters more than a guess from inside.

What to Do Next

If you spotted any of these, here's the short version of what to do in the first few days after a storm:

1. 1Stay off the roof. Use binoculars or your phone's zoom from the yard.
2. 2Photograph everything you can see, and write down the date of the storm.
3. 3Save the weather alert on your phone. NOAA's Storm Events Database also archives hail and wind reports by county, though it runs a few months behind.
4. 4Get a professional inspection before you file a claim. It tells you whether there's real storm damage and whether it's likely to be more than your deductible.
5. 5Read up before you call your insurer. Our guide to how roofing insurance claims work in Georgia covers deductibles, adjusters and the mistakes that get claims denied.

Many adjusters mark a 10-by-10-foot test square on each slope and count the hail hits inside it. That's one more reason to have the whole roof documented with photos before they arrive, not just the spot that's leaking.

If the damage turns out to be limited to a few shingles or one slope, a targeted roof repair is often all it takes. If it's spread across the roof, we'll show you the photos and talk through what that means. In Douglas County, start with our page on storm damage roof repair in Douglasville. Out in Carroll County, see storm damage restoration in Carrollton.

Frequently Asked Questions