The 5-Minute Roof Check That Tells You If It's Time to Call Someone
No ladder, no roof-walking, no guessing. Just the same ground-level signs a real inspector looks for first.
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You don't need to get on your roof to know if something's wrong with it. Most of the tell-tale signs show up at ground level if you know where to look. Grab a coffee and walk your property — this takes about five minutes.
Check your gutters
Look inside your gutters and downspouts for loose granules, the small gritty coating that comes off shingles. A few is normal wear. A noticeable buildup, especially after a recent storm, usually means hail or wind stripped your shingles.
Check anything metal near your house
Your AC unit, mailbox, window screens, and gutters are softer metal than your roof shingles, so they show hail damage first and more obviously. Dents, dings, or dimples on any of these are a strong sign your roof took the same hit.
Look at your shingles from the ground
You don't need to be an expert to spot the obvious signs. Look for shingles that are cracked, curling at the edges, missing entirely, or look darker/shinier in patches than the rest of the roof (a sign the protective granules are gone).
Check your siding and window screens
Dents, cracks, or tears on the side of your house that faces where the storm came from. If your siding took a hit, your roof almost certainly did too, since it took the same storm from a more exposed angle.
Ask around
If two or three of your neighbors have had roof work done recently, or you're seeing dumpsters and shingle bundles on your street, that's a real signal. Storm damage doesn't hit one house on a block, it hits the block.