What Does Hail Damage Look Like, Part One
Minneapolis hail storms leaves clear evidence behind
This is an impact mark from a .75” hail stone on a 3 year old medium hand-split cedar shake roof in Edina, Minnesota. Such hail frequently causes severe damage to cedar shake and shingle roofs. In this case the wood was resilient enough to escape with only a minor ding. Neighbors all around this home had their roofs replaced from the same hail storm. This roof sustained only cosmetic damage.
Here we see a 13 year old hand-split heavy cedar shake roof with heavy black mold and oxcidation. The direction of the hail storm resulted in glancing blows rather than perpendicular strikes. The discoloration on the surface of the cedar shake has been removed by the impact of the hail stone but no functional damaged was done that will affect the integrity of the shake.
Hail storms in Minneapolis are all quite unique and localized. One neighborhood can be hit hard while the next one over barely gets hit at all. Pictured here is a 15 year old cedar shake roof in Plymouth, Minnesota after a severe hail storm. Not only was the hail .75” in diameter, it was very concentrated. While this particular cedar shake is more or less new many repairs were needed on this roof in other areas.
This cedar roof was 22 years old and was victim of a hail storm that went through Maple Grove a few years ago. The entire roof was littered with debris from the storm. There are a few interesting things to note: First notice how the cedar that was exposed as the result of the hail damage looks ‘fresh’, with orange coloring while the surrounding material is grey and weathered. Next, the hail damage is most severe on the butt edges of the shakes.
