Memphis sits squarely in the Mid-South hail corridor. Two or three times a year, a line of storms rolls through Shelby County dropping hail the size of quarters, golf balls, or worse. After the storm passes, the damage to your roof is often invisible from the driveway — but it's there, shortening your roof's lifespan and creating slow leaks that show up months later.
Here are the five signs we look for when we inspect a roof after a Tennessee hailstorm.
1. Dented or bruised shingles
Hail leaves circular marks where it strikes asphalt shingles. The granules get knocked off, exposing the black asphalt mat underneath. From the ground these look like dark dots. Up close, they feel soft — almost like a bruise on a piece of fruit. A roof full of these is a roof that needs to be replaced.
2. Granules in your gutters and downspouts
When hail hits shingles, the protective granules wash down with the rain. If you see piles of dark, sandy material at the bottom of your downspouts the morning after a storm, that's a strong signal of impact damage.
3. Dents on metal flashing, vents, or gutters
Look at the soft metal surfaces around your roof — chimney flashing, vent caps, the tops of gutters. Hail leaves obvious dents in aluminum. If you can see dents on the metal, you can be sure there's damage to the shingles too.
4. Cracked or split shingles
Larger hail can crack shingles outright, especially on older roofs. Cracks let water under the shingle and into your decking, which is how leaks start.
5. Damage to other parts of the property
Hail doesn't discriminate. Check your AC condenser fins (they bend on impact), your fence, your car, and any patio furniture. If those surfaces show hail damage, your roof has it too.
What to do next
Most homeowner's insurance policies in Tennessee give you one year from the date of the storm to file a hail claim — but you should file as soon as you suspect damage. The longer you wait, the harder it is to prove which storm caused it.
Call us for a free inspection. We'll climb the roof, photograph any damage, and walk you through whether it's worth filing a claim. If it is, we'll meet your insurance adjuster on-site at no cost to you — that's the single most important thing you can do to make sure you get a fair settlement.
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