Slate Roof Hail Damage

Wood shingles will split right down the middle after being struck by hail.

Slate roof hail damage.

Metal roofing is one of the easiest to spot for hail damage. Gutters are also susceptible to hail damage. Hail is frozen water propelled through the air by the force of wind and gravity and it can damage a slate roof upon impact. Shingles might be the trickiest type of roof to assess for hail damage.

Note the aluminum vent above. This condition would be considered functional damage only if it were severe. We shot ice at four roof samples. Slate tiles may be punctured cracked or broken by hail.

Because seamless gutters are frequently feature aluminum or copper construction the signs of hail damage include telltale denting. In general slates can be perforated by objects either from inside or outside a roof. But metal clay and slate roofing can also be difficult. Later when the building sagged settled or moved the framing pulls away from the chimney causing damage to the roofing slates and flashing and leading to leaks in this area.

Hail damage is primarily displayed as holes with sharp edges in the slate although it can include slates with broken corners or edges. Original slate was poor quality the installation was a side lap single layer of slate and the size of the hailstones. If your roof contains one layer of common asphalt shingles it usually takes a 1 or above diameter hail stoneto cause damage roof hail damage. The effect of that impact is to either break or puncture the slates and or dent metal flashings.

Clay slate roofing will have cracks and or gouges and metal roofing will have impact dents like we saw on the gutters at the beginning. In most cases slate roof tiles are resistant to hail damage and other impact damage. Any of these conditions could be deemed functional damage if the damage is serious enough. Here are some examples of hail damage on a metal roof.

Roofs with multiple shingle layers may be damaged by smaller hail stones due to a softer support surface directly under the top shingle layer. In this episode of the build show we made an ice cannon to simulate hail hitting a roof. Another common source of slate roof damage around a chimney is wear and movement caused by flashing leaks and in freezing climates frost. Because slate is a sedimentary stone composed of layers hail damage may appear as a slate with a portion of layers missing.

Clay and slate roofs will usually have cracks or gouges when the stones hit while metal roof repair will show dents from the impact of the hailstones. On june 6 2018 hailstones the size of baseballs hit parts of north texas from carrollton to coppell to arlington with significant property damage. 30 year asphalt shingles 15 year. However there are some guidelines.