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What Does an Adjuster Look For on a Roof?
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An adjuster is looking for fractures in the shingle mat, counted inside a 10 foot by 10 foot test square on each direction of the roof, and corroborated by what the soft metals record about the size and angle of what fell. Almost everything else is context. Arrowhead Roofing has met adjusters on Tulsa roofs since 1987, and knowing what the inspection is actually measuring is what lets a homeowner be useful during it rather than anxious about it.
Note: this is a general explanation of how a roof inspection on a claim is conducted. It is not a statement about any particular policy or claim. Arrowhead Roofing is not a licensed public adjuster and we do not negotiate insurance claims. What your policy covers is determined by your policy and your carrier.
The inspection has a shape, and it is more or less the same one every time.
| Stage | What Is Being Established |
|---|---|
| Ground and elevations | Whether a storm hit this address at all: gutters, downspouts, siding, screens, outdoor units |
| Soft metals | The size of what fell and the direction it came from |
| Test squares | Impact density, one square per roof direction |
| Hand check inside the square | Whether each mark is a fracture in the mat or only a surface effect |
| Ridge and hip caps | The most exposed course, checked separately |
| Penetrations and flashings | Vents, pipe boots, chimney and sidewall details |
| Interior and attic | Active leaks, staining, moisture readings |
The Short Answer
The whole inspection turns on one distinction: functional damage versus cosmetic effect.
Functional damage means a reduction in the water-shedding capability or the expected service life of the roofing material. On an asphalt shingle that is a puncture, a tear, or a fracture in the reinforcing mat. Everything else, a dent in a vent hood, some scattered granule loss, is real and visible and is not the same thing.
That is why an adjuster runs their hand over shingles rather than photographing from the ridge. A bruise is found by feel.
Why They Start With the Gutters
Because the roof is the hardest place to establish what actually happened, and everything else on the property is easier.
Soft metals are thin and painted and unforgiving, so they record a hailstone’s size and direction far more legibly than a shingle does. Gutters, downspouts, vent hoods, flashing, window screens, air conditioner fins and the mailbox all take the same storm the roof took, and none of them has been weathering for twenty years.
If nothing anywhere on the property shows a mark, that is information. If the north face of everything is marked and the south face of nothing is, that is better information, and it tells the inspector which slopes to work hardest.
The Test Square
The 10 foot by 10 foot square is the industry method, developed by engineers at Haag in the early 1960s, and it is 100 square feet because that is exactly one roofing square.
The protocol matters as much as the count, and it is published, in the hail damage assessment protocol carried by the National Roofing Contractors Association. One square on each direction of the roof, placed away from areas under trees and away from areas that get walked on, with every shingle inside it checked by hand. Carriers typically look for a number of impacts within that square before scoping a full replacement, and that figure is carrier practice rather than an engineering standard.
Two things worth knowing about the method’s limits. Where the square is placed changes the result, and a square that finds nothing is not proof that nothing is there.
How to Be Useful While It Happens
You do not need to follow anyone onto the roof, and you should not.
Be there, or be reachable. An inspection where somebody can answer a question about when a leak started, or which storm you remember, goes better than one where nobody is home.
Have the dates. When you noticed the damage, which storm you think caused it, and roughly when the roof was installed. If you have the paperwork for the roof, have it out.
Say what else was hit. A dented gutter, a cracked window screen, a damaged car, marks on a shed or a fence. All of it corroborates the storm and none of it is on the roof.
Ask for the photographs. Whoever is inspecting for you should be able to show you what they found, and go through it with you. If nobody can produce photographs, there is no record.
What Changes the Answer
Three things change what an inspection finds on the same roof.
The age and type of the shingle
Older shingles go thin and brittle and fracture at smaller stone sizes than new laminates. Two neighbours in the same storm are not running the same experiment.
The weather on the day of the inspection
Bruises are easier to feel when a shingle is warm and pliable than when it is cold and stiff, and glare and wet surfaces both make marks harder to see. It is a real variable and it is nobody’s fault.
Whether anyone has been on the roof since
Foot traffic leaves marks of its own, and a roof that has had several people walking it is a harder roof to read. One good inspection beats three casual ones.
What We Do
We assess using the same principles and the same estimating software as adjusters, we run a square on every direction rather than the one that makes the best case, and we go over the photographs with you right off the roof and give a straight yes or no on damage. We meet adjusters on site.
Arrowhead Roofing is not a licensed public adjuster and we do not negotiate insurance claims. Coverage questions belong with your carrier or your agent, and after that with the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s consumer assistance line on 1-800-522-0071.
Related Questions
How much damage do they need to find?
Carriers typically look for a number of impacts within the test square, though that figure is carrier practice rather than a published standard. How much hail damage does it take to replace a roof? covers where the number comes from and what it cannot settle.
What does the damage look like close up?
A bruise: a circular indentation with a fracture in the mat that feels soft. What does hail damage look like on a roof? covers what qualifies and what gets mistaken for it.
What if they find damage but decline it anyway?
There is more than one kind of denial and only one kind is about your roof. Why do insurance companies deny roof claims, and what comes next? works through the usual grounds.
How is hail separated from ordinary wear?
By direction. Hail dents inward and fractures the mat; a boot or a tool pushes asphalt outward into a ridge. How do you tell hail damage from a tear, a backed-out nail, or foot traffic? covers all four conditions that get mistaken for it.
See Also
The two answers on either side of this one are what the damage itself looks like, and what happens if the answer comes back no.
Know What Is Up There Before Anyone Else Does
We have met adjusters on northeast Oklahoma roofs since 1987, and the homeowners who find that process straightforward are the ones who already knew what was on their roof. Book a free roof inspection and we will show you.