Hail isn't a question of if, it's when. If a storm just came through your neighborhood in Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller, or anywhere else in the DFW metroplex, here's what you need to know before you do anything else.
I've been on hundreds of roofs across North Texas after storms, and I see homeowners make the same five mistakes over and over. Let's start with the one I see the most.
Mistake 1: Signing with the first person at the door
Within a day or two of a hailstorm, the trucks show up. Some are local. A lot of them are crews chasing storms from state to state, and they're gone once the work dries up. They knock on your door, they seem friendly, and they want a signature right there on the porch.
When someone tells you the sky is falling, it feels like you have to move fast. But slow down for a second. If that company isn't from around here, who are you calling in two years when something's not right?
Before you sign anything, ask yourself: Are they local? Can you look them up? Will they still be around later?
Mistake 2: Waiting too long
A lot of people just put it off. Life's busy, the roof looks fine from the driveway, so it goes on the to-do list.
But hail damage doesn't get better with time. Small stuff turns into leaks, and leaks turn into water stains on your ceiling. There's usually a deadline to file a claim, often around a year, but it depends on your policy. Check it, or just call and ask. You don't want to find out you missed the window after the fact.
Mistake 3: Thinking no leak means no damage
This is the big one. People tell me all the time, "I don't have any leaks, so I'm fine."
Hail damage can be invisible from the ground and invisible from inside your house. The bruising on your shingles and the granules getting knocked loose show up long before you ever see a drip. No leak doesn't mean no damage.
Mistake 4: Hiring a roofer when you need a general contractor
Hail doesn't just hit the roof. It hits your gutters, your fence, your window screens, your siding, all of it. A roofing company is going to take care of the roof, and that's it. Now you're chasing everything else down on your own.
A general contractor looks at the whole property. That's how I work. My team documents every bit of storm damage properly, not just the roof, so nothing gets left out. One point of contact, one job, instead of three.
Mistake 5: Giving up after the first "no"
Sometimes a claim gets denied. It happens more than people think, and a lot of homeowners figure that's the end of it.
It's not the end. I hear this all the time. The roofer who showed up on your porch right after the storm is gone now that the claim got denied. He was never local to begin with, so once things got hard, he packed up and followed the next storm to the next town. That doesn't mean your damage isn't real. It usually just means nobody built the case right the first time.
And you don't have to wait for the next hailstorm to do something about it. Most policies have an appraisal process built in, a formal way to push back when you and your insurance company don't agree on what's covered. You don't have to figure that out alone. Ask questions, find out exactly why it got denied, and get a second set of eyes on your roof.
I've seen plenty of denied claims that should have never been denied in the first place. A second inspection is where that gets caught. Don't assume you're out of options just because one adjuster said no.
If you know a neighbor in Colleyville, Grapevine, or Keller who just got hit, send them this one.