What to Do After a Hail or Wind Storm

Document before cleanup. Call your insurance before a contractor. And be wary of storm chasers offering 'free' inspections - they often use your claim to fund substandard work. Here's the safe process.

Middle Tennessee is hard on roofs. Nashville sits in a hail corridor, summer attic temperatures routinely pass 140°F, and the freeze-thaw swings between December and March work every seam and fastener on the deck. Ironclad has inspected more than 4,000 roofs across Davidson, Williamson and Rutherford counties since 2003, and the failures we find are remarkably consistent - which is why we write these guides instead of leaving homeowners to guess.

When homeowners ask us about storm damage, the honest answer usually starts with a question of our own: how was the roof installed, and how has it been ventilated since? A premium shingle on an under-ventilated deck will fail years before a mid-grade shingle on a properly vented one. Material choice matters, but installation detail and airflow matter more, and they are the two things a drive-by estimate never accounts for.

For "What to Do After a Hail or Wind Storm," the decision comes down to four things we check on every inspection: the condition of the field shingles, the flashing at every penetration and valley, the intake-to-exhaust ventilation balance in the attic, and the integrity of the decking underneath. Our inspectors photograph all four and hand you the photos whether or not you hire us.

We do not use storm-chase sales tactics, we do not ask for a deposit before materials are ordered, and we do not sell a full replacement when a repair will hold. If your roof has eight good years left, we will tell you that and put it in writing. Roughly a third of our inspections end with "you do not need us yet," and those homeowners are where most of our referrals come from.

If you want the Ironclad crew to look at your roof, book the free inspection from this page or call the office. Most Nashville-metro inspections happen within 48 hours, and you get the full photo report and a line-item estimate by email the same week.