What hail damage actually looks like on an asphalt roof

Homeowners look for holes. Hail almost never makes holes in an asphalt roof, which is why so much real damage goes unclaimed until the roof starts leaking two winters later.

What hail does is knock the granules off and bruise the mat underneath. Run a thumb over an impact point and it gives slightly, like a bruise on fruit. From the ground you cannot see any of this. What you can sometimes see is granule accumulation at the bottom of your downspouts after a storm — that is the roof telling you something.

The other place to look is everything that is not the roof. Soft metal shows hail before shingles do. Check the gutters, the downspout elbows, any aluminium window wrapping, the top of the AC condenser, and the mailbox. If those are dimpled, the roof took the same hit.

One thing worth knowing about timing: most carriers in Georgia have a window for filing a storm claim, and it is shorter than people assume. If a storm came through and you have not looked, it is worth having somebody look.