Can Hail Damage Affect The Life Of My Metal Roof

Metal roofs, particularly steel, are known for their strength and durability and can outlast other roofing materials such as slate and thatch by many years. They have a distinctive and authentic look and nowadays more and more people are installing them to add value to their homes. Given the fact that steel roofing is meant to be long lasting, you probably wouldn’t think twice about a little bit of hail landing on your roof – apart from the loud noise of course! However are you right to simply pass it off as a nuisance?

Generally speaking a steel roof should stand up relatively well to hail stones, depending upon the intensity of the storm. However while the attached sheeting is usually designed to absorb the energy of a hail stone hitting your roof, if it’s been painted then you may find that you’ve lost some of your topcoat. In addition, along with the loss of topcoat, there may be some indentations.

Why be concerned about slight indentations?

If it’s a low pitched roof, you may find you have significant indentations in the pans. This can lead to an accumulation of dirt and also ponding. This is where water collects in small pools typically on roofs. Ultimately the combination of dirt build-up and water can cause corrosion over time.

In addition if the hail storm has been particularly strong, then your sheet overlaps may well have come under attack and significantly bent out of shape. As a result the anti-capillary effect – the way in which water easily flows off the roof down specified channels, may be lost. As a result any subsequent water can easily absorb underneath the sheeting and cause further corrosion.

So what should you do?

Always inspect your steel roof thoroughly after any type of hail storm and keep a close eye out for any indentations or sheet overlap damage. If ponding occurs due to indentations or any of the overlaps are badly warped, then change them as soon as practically possible. This should extend the life of your roof and will ensure that any insurance claims you make in the future are valid.

But what about the loss of paint?

Loss of paint from the roof is purely an aesthetic issue and shouldn’t have any depreciating affect on the shelf life of your roof. With this in mind, you might want to get it painted at a later date, when the climate or funds allow.

Generally speaking while hail storms can appear frightening, most pass without causing damage. However it’s always good to have this knowledge in place when you have a metal roof, because as the saying goes….’to be forewarned is to be forearmed’

Here at Metro Steel, while we can’t control the weather, we can supply the steel plates that can help fix your roof, so if you are in need of a roof repair, or any other type of steel fabrication, then give us a call on 07 3204 1000 or pop into our Deception Bay fab shop for a chat.