How to Spot Hail & Wind Damage on Your Roof

Why hail damage is easy to miss

After a big storm rolls through the Peoria area, most homeowners glance up at the roof, see shingles still in place, and assume they're fine. The problem is that the most costly hail damage doesn't look like a hole — it looks like nothing at all from the driveway. Hail bruises the shingle and knocks off the protective granules that shield the asphalt from the sun. The shingle stays put, but its lifespan is now cut short, and the bare spots will start leaking months or even a year later — long after you'd connect it to the storm.

Signs of hail damage on the roof itself

• Bruising or dents — round soft spots on the shingle that feel like a bruise on an apple when you press them.
• Granule loss — bare black or shiny asphalt spots where the protective surface has been knocked off.
• Cracked or split shingles from larger hail or wind flexing.
• Damaged shingle edges and exposed fiberglass mat.

Signs you can check from the ground (safely)

You don't need to climb up — and you shouldn't. A lot of storm damage shows up in places you can see from the yard:

• Granules in the gutters and downspouts — a pile of black grit at the base of a downspout after a storm is a classic hail sign.
• Dents on metal surfaces — check gutters, downspouts, flashing, vents, the AC unit, and any metal on the house. If hail dented those, it hit the roof too.
• Dings on the fence, deck, or mailbox — soft materials show impacts clearly.
• Wind damage — lifted, curled, or missing shingles, especially along ridges and edges.

Why the storm date matters for insurance

Illinois homeowner's policies give you a limited window to file a storm-damage claim — often one year from the date of the storm, sometimes less. Every month you wait makes it harder to tie the damage to a specific event, and easier for an insurer to deny the claim as "wear and tear." That's why a free inspection soon after a major storm is worth it even if the roof looks fine. If there's real damage, insurance may cover most of a repair or replacement and you'd pay only your deductible. See our Illinois roof insurance claim guide for the full process.

Don't climb up — get a free inspection

Roofs are dangerous, and hail damage is subtle enough that even careful homeowners miss it. A licensed roofer knows exactly what bruising and granule loss look like, documents it with dated photos, and can tell you honestly whether you have a claim worth filing. We do that inspection free across the Peoria metro — and if your roof is fine, we'll tell you that too. See our storm damage roofing service →

Frequently Asked Questions

How big does hail have to be to damage a roof?

It varies, but hail around one inch (about quarter-size) and up can start bruising asphalt shingles, and larger hail causes more obvious cracking. Wind-driven smaller hail can also do damage. The only way to know for sure is an inspection.

How soon after a storm should I get my roof checked?

As soon as reasonably possible — within days to a few weeks. Illinois insurance claims have a filing deadline, and prompt documentation makes a legitimate claim much harder to dispute.