What a HAAG Certified Inspector Actually Looks For After Hail Hits Livingston County

Every summer, a storm cell tracks along I-96 or up M-59 and drops hail on some part of Livingston County. Within 48 hours, out-of-state trucks appear in the subdivisions with signs that say free roof inspection. Some of those inspectors know what they are doing. Many do not. HAAG certification is how you tell the difference. ON TOP ROOFING holds it, and this post explains what a HAAG trained inspector is trained to see that an untrained one is not.

What HAAG is

HAAG Engineering is a forensic engineering firm that has studied roof damage for decades. Their certification program teaches roofers and adjusters to identify real storm damage, distinguish it from wear and manufacturing defects, and document it the way an insurance carrier expects. The inspector has to pass an exam and renew the certification. Insurance adjusters respect it because many of them trained on the same material.

Hail damage versus everything that looks like hail damage

This is the whole job. A shingle roof has a lot of marks on it that are not hail, and calling them hail is how homeowners end up with denied claims and a bad taste about roofers.

• A true hail bruise has a soft spot under the granule loss. Press it with your thumb and it gives, like a bruise on an apple. The mat under the asphalt is fractured. The mark is random in size and location because hail falls randomly.
• Blistering looks like small pits with granules missing, but it is caused by heat and moisture in the shingle during manufacturing or from a hot, poorly ventilated attic. Blisters are usually uniform and there is no soft spot.
• Mechanical damage is from foot traffic, a satellite installer, a tree branch, or somebody dragging a ladder. It has direction and pattern. Hail does not.
• Granule loss from age is even, follows water flow, and shows up in the gutters. It is the roof wearing out, not a storm.
• Nail pops and sealant failure are installation and age issues that a storm can make worse but did not cause.

An untrained inspector circles all of it with chalk. A HAAG certified inspector circles the hail and leaves the rest alone. When the adjuster shows up and the circles match what they see, the claim moves. When half the circles are blisters, the adjuster stops trusting the whole report.

The test square

The standard is a ten-foot by ten-foot square marked out on each roof slope. The inspector counts hail hits inside that square. Carriers generally have a threshold of hits per square that qualifies a slope for replacement. We mark the squares, count, photograph each hit with a chalk circle and a scale reference, and record it slope by slope. On a Howell colonial with four slopes and a garage, that is five or six squares and a lot of photos.

Collateral damage tells the story

Hail does not only hit shingles. A HAAG trained inspector checks everything soft on the property because it confirms the size and direction of the hail.

• Metal roof vents, turtle vents and the tops of furnace and plumbing stacks. Soft aluminum dents easily and holds the dent.
• Gutters and downspouts, especially the top edge of the gutter facing the storm.
• Window screens, air conditioning condenser fins, mailboxes, and painted deck rails.
• Siding on the side of the house that faced the storm.

If a roof shows forty hits per square but the vents, gutters and AC unit are untouched, something does not add up. If everything on the north side of the house is dented and the north slope is bruised, the story is consistent and the claim is strong.

Wind damage is a different inspection

The same storm that drops hail usually brings straight-line wind, and Howell has recorded gusts around 70 miles per hour in recent summers. Wind damage looks like creased shingles where the tab lifted and folded back, torn tabs, missing shingles, and broken seal strips you can find by gently lifting tabs. The inspector checks the seal on the windward slopes and photographs every crease. A creased shingle that is still in place is still damaged. The seal is broken and it will go in the next storm.

What you get from us

After a HAAG certified inspection you get a photo report organized by slope, with the test square counts, the collateral damage, and a plain statement of what qualifies and what does not. If the roof does not qualify, we tell you that too. Filing a claim on a roof that will not pass adjustment wastes your time and can affect your policy.

If hail just came through your neighborhood

Do not sign anything with the first truck that knocks. Ask for the HAAG certification, ask for a Michigan license number, and ask to see the photo report before you call your carrier. We inspect roofs across Howell, Brighton, Hartland, Fowlerville, Pinckney and the surrounding townships after every significant storm. Request a free inspection and we will document your roof the right way.