Roofing Shingles

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

     Asphalt is damaged by hail extremely easily. It only take a small hailstone to cause damage. You may not see it from the ground but when you inspect the shingle it will now have a dent and that's where it will deteriorate from. Metal no biggie it just bounces off unless it's really big. And if it does anything it's not visible. 26ga steel is pretty dent resistant especially when it also has ribs bent into it and few flat areas. Also rated at 140mph wind loads which is good as houses here have had brick blown off the walls in storms.

     Roofing and other contractors have no shortage of cheap labor here. Working in the trades here doesn't pay much unless you own the company.


           Oh yeah car insurance is also higher here because of hail. Funny all the people that move here thinking it's cheaper since housing *was* cheaper before the influx from CA. Once they get here they see all the other costs...  
       Every spring the car dealers get hit by hail storms and that's when you can snag good deals on cars from the dealers that don't have those covers over the lots. I will bring her car around back and park it under the porch out back during hail storms (not enough garage space). I always worry about her car in the spring when she is on a trip and her car is sitting at the airport as that lot gets hit hard every year. Luckily she has missed the storms by hours. She will show up and there is broken glass in cars and all over the parking lot. If it looks like there is going to be hail when she is going out I have her park in the public parking and just pay the $25 a day as it's cheaper than dealing with insurance to fix the car.

Ouch!! I worry when we get pee size hail here. I always thought about looking into one of those car covers.

[Robert Adams]

Ouch!! I worry when we get pee size hail here. I always thought about looking into one of those car covers.

      I was over at my parents house yesterday afternoon and he is going to dig up the paperwork for the roof and see what actual shingles were used. I was going to take a picture of the roof but forgot to. It was 104* and I melt fast outside... 

 
         Oh and here is a pic of the hail we get. This was from when the Zoo was hit and they had a number of animals killed. Fort Worth has a very nice zoo usually in the top 5 in the country.

             

[Bit_Fiddler]

2 years ago had 39 square of GAF timberline shingles installed by one of their premium contractors. Used GAF underlayment so it has a lifetime transferable (1x)warranty. Shingles are a little springier to walk on than others, but all is good so far. 13k total.

[R Clark]

I missed this thread when it was fresh last week (fishing in Canada...stealth gloat).

Interesting topic that I've wondered about.  Maybe Snipe Hunter can weigh in since I think he's in the home inspection business.

We live in an area that is prone to large hail, perhaps not like Fort Worth but some place in the area will get nailed just about every year.  I've been wondering about replacing our roof with one of those "hail resistant" products or a metal roof.  I had some spots of wind damage last year, and got a local roofer to come out and make repairs and inspect the rest of the roofs (same roof on house and shop building.)  I asked the roofer about his opinion of the hail resistant products.  He said he thought that the products actually work, but they do suffer cosmetic damage in some storms.  The roofer said that cosmetic damage is difficult for home inspectors to get around, and even though the roof is just fine, that home sale inspections can get hung up on the cosmetic nature of the damage.

Snipe....have you heard of this?

[Snipe Hunter]

I missed this thread when it was fresh last week (fishing in Canada...stealth gloat).

Interesting topic that I've wondered about.  Maybe Snipe Hunter can weigh in since I think he's in the home inspection business.

We live in an area that is prone to large hail, perhaps not like Fort Worth but some place in the area will get nailed just about every year.  I've been wondering about replacing our roof with one of those "hail resistant" products or a metal roof.  I had some spots of wind damage last year, and got a local roofer to come out and make repairs and inspect the rest of the roofs (same roof on house and shop building.)  I asked the roofer about his opinion of the hail resistant products.  He said he thought that the products actually work, but they do suffer cosmetic damage in some storms.  The roofer said that cosmetic damage is difficult for home inspectors to get around, and even though the roof is just fine, that home sale inspections can get hung up on the cosmetic nature of the damage.

Snipe....have you heard of this?

In Maryland, Inspectors are supposed to use "The National Standard" which was written by the National Association of Home Inspectors (NASHI). Basically we don't report "aesthetics" unless it is part of a greater issue (Peeling interior paint from a leaking roof for example). A component is either performing as intended or not. It is either near the end of it's life expectancy or it's not. "Damage" from hail is still damage and not an aesthetic issue.. A hail damaged asphalt roof has a shorter life expectancy than a non damaged roof because the shingle has been altered from it's original state. The shingles rated performance is based on it's original condition. A hail damaged steel roof does not have a shorter life expectancy. I might make a note that it's dinged up from hail just so it doesn't look like I ignored it. So even if an asphalt roof isn't leaking and it is still performing as intended, it will be reported as a defect because it's life "may" be shortened. So in the report, those comments would go into the "Items to monitor" section of the report. Not "Items to repair or replace".

I try real hard to put everything I see in a report without alarming the buyer needlessly. One thing I don't want to do is "guess" or draw conclusions from my own biases. So I word things carefully. If I'm stumped or uncertain, I'll recommend further evaluation by a specialist in the that particular field but try not to do that too much because it slows down the purchasing process and costs the buyer more $$. I also have to cover my butt.