North Texas Real Estate and Homebuying Guide Located In "Stonebridge Ranch"

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Hail Damage -- Protect Your Home
Strengthening Your Home From Hail
In an average year, hail causes more than $1.6 billion worth of damage to residential roofs in the United States, making it, year in and year out, one of the most costly natural disasters. Hailstorms are most frequent in the southern and central plains states, where warm moist air off of the Gulf of Mexico and cold dry air from Canada collide, thereby spawning violent thunderstorms. This region, known as hail alley, lies predominantly within the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. While their domain of greatest frequency is in the plains states, hailstorms have been observed just about everywhere thunderstorms occur. The combination of gravity and a downward wind known as a downburst (a common occurrence during severe thunderstorms) can propel a hailstone at speeds upwards of 90 mph. At such excessive speeds, large hailstones have been known to penetrate straight through roof coverings and the deck to which they are attached. Although the majority of hailstorms are not quite so severe, even moderate hailstorms can damage buildings, automobiles, crops, and other personal property.
Hail and Your Roof
Hailstones hitting a roof at a 90-degree angle are more likely to cause damage than those striking a glancing blow.Factors attributed to the roof covering system itself will have a significant impact on the level of damage to a roof system during a hailstorm aside from the properties of hailstones themselves. The slope of the roof has a considerable effect on the outcome of the hailstone impacting the roof. Hailstones striking the roof at a 90-degree angle are more likely to cause damage than those striking a glancing blow. Wind effects and the nature of the thunderstorm may influence the trajectory of the hailstone, which could also change the impact angle (for better or worse) of the hailstone on the roof. For most conditions though, steeper roof slopes (6:12 and greater) will improve the impact resistance of the roof covering.Newer roof coverings are more impact resistant than older coverings. The effects of the sun and weathering often result in the covering becoming more brittle over time, and thus reducing its impact resistance. Newer coverings are more ductile and are more capable of absorbing the impact energy. Along the same lines, roof coverings on buildings in colder climates are often more brittle than those in warmer climates. The stiffness of the roof deck plays an important role in hail resistance. Too much flexibility in the system reduces the effectiveness of the system impact resistance. Solid roof decks, using tongue and groove decking or plywood on moderately spaced trusses, greatly improve the impact resistance of the roof. Re-covering over an existing roof system significantly reduces the impact resistance of the roof. A roof with two or more layers of asphalt shingles exhibits a sponge effect, resulting in the top layer being more susceptible to penetration by impacting hailstones.Implications of Hail DamageHailstones impacting a roof result in primarily two types of damage, aesthetic and functional. Aesthetic damage, which affects only the appearance of the roof, is by far the most common type of damage from hailstorms. For asphalt shingles, this is usually in the form of negligible loss of granules, which will have minimal impact on the life of the shingle. For other roof coverings, the aesthetic damage may include discolorations and/or dimples. While neither of these scenarios is very attractive to building owners, the result is minimal to no impact on the life expectancy of the roof covering.Functional damage affects the expected performance characteristics of the roof. This type of damage is defined as the loss of water-shedding ability or a reduction in the expected service life of the roof. Functional damage levels will vary from roof to roof depending on the type and age of the roof covering material.Identifying Hail Damaged RoofsThe majority of roof coverings for residential roofs are asphalt shingles, wood shingles and shakes, and roof tiles. In fact, asphalt shingles are used on more than 80% of residential roofs. Although standard asphalt shingles generally perform well under a variety of weather conditions, hailstones impacting an asphalt shingle roof covering influence the expected performance of this roof covering more than any other roof covering. Damage to asphalt shingles from hailstones is typically one of two modes, rupturing of the reinforcing mat and loss of granules that exposes the underlying bitumen. Rupturing of the reinforcing mat represents a potential loss in the shingle's water-shedding ability in that a ply of roof covering is removed by the rupture. The loss in water-shedding ability increases the potential for water to reach the roof fasteners, causing corrosion, or the butted joints in the sheathing, permitting water to enter the interior of the building. The loss of granules represents the potential for a reduction in the expected service life of the shingle.Wood Shingles and ShakesWood shingles and shakes are damaged by hailstones typically by split or puncture in the wood resulting from the impact of the hailstone. Figure 10 shows a split in a cedar shake from an impact from a hailstone. The impact mark is readily identifiable by the circle inscribed around the mark.A wood roof that has been impacted by hailstones is typically easily recognized. As the hailstones impact the surface, impact marks, where gray-colored oxidation and organic surface growths have been removed, are recognizable new features in the roof's appearance. However, impacts to wood roofs that do not split or puncture the wood are not considered to cause damage. Studies have shown that wood shingles and shakes that are impacted by a hailstone and do not split immediately upon impact are not prone to future splitting.Tests conducted on wood roofs generally demonstrate that hailstones 1 1/4 inches in diameter and larger will split wood shingles that are not in good condition. Hailstones 1 1/2 inches in diameter and larger are required to split wood shakes in good condition. [Haag Engineering]. However, older shakes and shingles, or ones that have been severely affected by weathering, are more vulnerable to damage from hailstones that are smaller.
Inspecting Your Roof for Hail Damage
When analyzing a roof for hail damage, it is important to differentiate between damage caused by hail and damage caused by natural weathering. Additionally, manufacturing defects, damage during construction, and/or damage occurring during transportation can often look much like hail damage. After a hailstorm, check the trees, shrubs and plants around your home. If they are stripped of foliage, there is a possibility your roof is damaged.Also, if patio furniture, screens or roof vents are dented, there may be roof damage.Check your roof carefully. Be sure to cover any holes in your roof or broken windows so that water cant enter your home and damage the interior and your possessions.
Impact Resistant Roofing Recommendations
Clearly, the most effective way to minimize hail damage is to use roofing materials that are resistant to hail impacts. Even though most of the common roofing systems used today can be altered or modified for increased impact resistance, the features that make a roofing product impact resistant vary depending upon its material type.RecommendationsRoof Covering: Use a roof covering that has rating of Class 3 or 4 when tested in accordance with UL 2218 or FM 4473. Be sure to look for the class rating on the product label because impact-resistant products often do not look any different than other comparable untested products.Roof slope: Use roof slopes of 6:12 (27 degrees) and greater. Particularly for new construction, the use of higher roof slopes (6:12 and greater) greatly enhances roof-system resistance to impacts from hail.Roof sheathing: Use 5/8 inch plywood roof sheathing supported by framing (trusses or rafters) spaced no more than 24 inches on center.Reroofing: When reroofing, remove the existing roof covering before installing a new roof covering.