Storm reports across the Chicago metro this summer have stacked up fast — hail and measured wind gusts through Tinley Park, Orland Park, Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, and out into Will and Kendall counties. Some of it was obvious: shredded screens, dented gutters, shingle debris in the yard. A lot of it was not.
Roof damage from hail and wind rarely announces itself. Bruised shingles, fractured mats, and lifted tabs can look fine from the driveway and still shorten a roof's life by years. The leak shows up in the next long rain, or the following spring.
The first-week checklist
- Walk the property from the ground and photograph anything dented or displaced: gutters, downspouts, window wraps, AC fins, fence caps, grill lids, mailbox.
- Note the date and time of the storm. If you're unsure, the National Weather Service local storm reports for your county will have it.
- Cover anything actively leaking and keep the receipts for tarps or emergency materials.
- Get a roof inspected by a licensed contractor and ask for a written, photo-backed report — not a verbal "yeah, you've got damage."
Why the timing matters
Most policies require prompt notice of a loss, and the further you get from the storm date, the harder it is to tie the damage to that specific event. After the next couple of storms roll through, a carrier looking at a roof in October is looking at months of overlapping weather.
We're a roofing contractor, not a public adjuster — we don't negotiate your claim and we don't take a cut of it. What we do is document the roof accurately, build a repair or replacement scope that reflects what's actually there, and hand you and your carrier the same set of facts.
If there's no damage, that's a good outcome
Plenty of the inspections we run after a storm end with "your roof is fine." That's still worth having in writing and on file, because the next storm's inspection will have something to compare against.