Hail Damaged Slate Roof

A roof with a single layer of slate is more likely to develop leaks as the result of a hailstrike.

Hail damaged slate roof. As the sizes of the hail increases so does the potential for big damage. It takes a trained eye to spot hail damage to roof shingles. In deciding whether damage is from hail it s important to look at the overall pattern of damage across the roof. Unfortunately there was a massive hailstorm in evanston that has caused severe roofing damage to many of the homes in the area.

Breaks from hail impacts can be in the body of the slate or along the edge but may not be as visible if it does not totally dislodge the broken slate. Roofs with multiple shingle layers may be damaged by smaller hail stones due to a softer support surface directly under the top shingle layer. As you can see on the first image below the surface granules have been knocked off of the shingle very clearly. 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.

On june 6 2018 hailstones the size of baseballs hit parts of north texas from carrollton to coppell to arlington with significant property damage. The effect of that impact is to either break or puncture the slates and or dent metal flashings. A hail storm can severely damage or reduce the service life of a roofing system. The damaged slates should simply be replaced.

Hail is a powerful force of nature that can even damage roofs made with concrete tiles if the stones are large enough and wind speeds are high. Note the aluminum vent above. In most cases slate roof tiles are resistant to hail damage and other impact damage. Hail damage to roof shingles can be very obvious or very difficult to uncover.

As shown in this photo a combination of a larger hail and an approximately 100 year old slate roof sustained significant damage as a result. Slate that has only been on the roof a decade or two is harder than older slate which can soften over time. Smaller hail typically does little damage to slate. It has been beat to death by the hail but only a few of the slates have been damaged.

However there are some guidelines. Hail damage is primarily displayed as holes with sharp edges in the slate although it can include slates with broken corners or edges. Hail is frozen water propelled through the air by the force of wind and gravity and it can damage a slate roof upon impact. Because seamless gutters are frequently feature aluminum or copper construction the signs of hail damage include telltale denting.

Evanston slate tile and copper roofs are the finest roofs in the world and have been installed on homes in the area for many centuries. Gutters are also susceptible to hail damage. In general slates can be perforated by objects either from inside or outside a roof. However there are a number of factors that could cause damage such as.

As you can see many of these hail impacts punches holes right through the slate. External impacts are not limited to hail but may be from windborne or thrown rocks golf balls or even bullets.