How Do I Pick A RooferAfter A Storm?

By Aaron Whittaker, site owner & editor. Updated October 10, 2026. How we research and rank: methodology.

How Do I Confirm The Storm Hit My Address?

Start with the public weather record, because a roofer at your door has an interest in saying your roof was hit. Three free sources answer the question, from newest to most settled.

1. National Weather Service alerts show the watches and warnings in force now for your location. They expire within hours, so they confirm a storm in progress and not last week's.
2. NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports list the hail reports for each day, with size and location. A same-day report is preliminary, meaning it can be revised, and the page says so.
3. NOAA Storm Events bulk files hold the reviewed record, published weeks to months after the storm. The hail history pages for the metros we cover are built from these files, and each prints its pull date.

A report near you is evidence that hail fell in the area. It does not prove your roof is damaged, and the roof inspection below is what settles that.

How Often Does Hail Reach An Inch Where I Live?

Hail is routine in the metro areas this site covers, and a storm report on its own is not evidence that your roof lost shingles. The table below counts the days when at least one storm report of 1 inch or larger came from a county in the metro area. A date counts once however many stones or counties it lists, and a report near the edge of a metro area can sit a long way from your address.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary local storm reports, counted by the counties in each metro area's Census 2023 delineation. The file was built on October 19, 2026 from reports dated January 1, 2021 through October 17, 2026. The counts are preliminary, because SPC publishes a report before it is reviewed and a later review can change a size or a location.

Read the table as a base rate, not as an inspection. When a roofer says a storm hit your street, the SPC report for that date is the record to open, and the National Weather Service alert archive says what was in force at the time. When a roofer says the area was hit last week, the table and the SPC report for that week are a fair question to put back. Neither shows that a roof lost shingles: two houses on one street can differ by roof age, deck condition and how the shingles were laid. The inspection below is what separates a hail day from a damaged roof.

What Does A Roof Inspection Look For?

The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety describes a sequence you can follow before any contractor arrives. Look at collateral evidence first: spatter marks or dents on air conditioner fins, gutters, metal flashing and downspouts. Those confirm a hail event happened and help separate hail from ordinary wear.

• Marks that fall in a random pattern across the shingles, not in lines or along one edge
• Bruising, which is a soft spot you can feel when you press on a shingle
• Cracks or breaks where a stone struck, with ridge caps the most exposed part of an asphalt roof
• Not hail: granule loss along shingle edges, uniform wear or discoloration, manufacturer defects and marks from tools or foot traffic

Photograph everything with the date visible, including the items that show collateral damage. A roofer's inspection should add a written scope and photos of its own. Treat a free inspection as a way to get a second set of documentation, not as a decision to hire.

What Are The Insurance Claim Steps?

The order matters because each step protects the next one. The Texas Department of Insurance and the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety describe the same sequence. The Insurance Information Institute's guide to settling a claim after a disaster starts with the same three moves: contact your agent or company, make temporary repairs to protect the property, and keep the receipts for what you spend.

1. Read your policy for the wind and hail deductible, which the Texas Department of Insurance says can differ from the deductible for other damage
2. Call your insurance agent or company to report the damage, and ask what happens next
3. Make temporary repairs, such as tarping exposed areas, to prevent further water damage, and keep the receipts
4. Let the insurer inspect, and send the photos and any written estimate you collected
5. With replacement cost coverage, expect two checks: a first, partial payment, then the rest after repairs have started, per the Texas Department of Insurance
6. Pay your deductible yourself. In Texas, Insurance Code section 707.002 says the insured shall pay it

The Texas Department of Insurance also notes that an insurer will not pay for a new roof only because the old one is worn out. Whether a claim clears your deductible is arithmetic you can do first, with the hail claim calculator. Insurance is regulated by the states, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners lists the department for each one, including the office that takes a complaint about an insurer. The rules differ by state, so ask your state insurance department where yours differ from the Texas examples here.

Which Contractor Checks Come Before A Signature?

1. Open the company's profile in the BBB business search under its exact legal name. Read the start date, the grade and the complaint history. Accreditation is voluntary and is not a license.
2. Search your city or county permit portal for permits filed under the company's own name. A real roofer normally pulls the re-roof permit, so ask for the permit number before final payment. The portals for the metros we cover are in the list below.
3. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent to you by the company's agent, with your address on it, then call the agent to confirm the policy is in force
4. Confirm a local street address and a phone that someone answers, and call two or three references about the finished roof
5. Get at least two more written bids, and compare them line by line with the guide to reading a roofing estimate
6. Ask your state whether it registers roofers, and look the company up in those records if it does. Texas issues no state roofing registration

What Warning Signs Mean Stop?

• An unsolicited offer to inspect or repair your roof, which the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety tells homeowners to avoid
• A promise that the deductible will not cost you anything, which in Texas is a crime for the seller and which the Texas Department of Insurance says can mean inflated numbers sent to your insurer
• A form you are told to sign before anyone goes on the roof, called an estimate or a release but written as a contract
• A contract with blank sections, or wording that signs over the value of your insurance proceeds
• A large or full down payment, which the Texas Department of Insurance says to be wary of
• A request for your card or bank details at the door
• Pressure to decide today because the crew is leaving the area

None of these proves fraud alone, and a local company can show one of them by mistake. The storm chaser guide goes through each tell and the law behind it.

What Should Happen Between Signing And The Final Payment?

The signature starts the job, and the paper you keep from that point is what answers a question later. A verbal promise is not part of the file unless someone writes it down. The table below lists what to ask for at each stage and the record that should show it.

Photograph the same items after the new covering is on. A before and after pair is easier to compare with the written scope than a description typed from memory. Ask for the manufacturer warranty documents in your name, and keep the product name from the invoice with them.

This sequence does not replace the inspection or the claim steps above. It keeps the job, the permit and the payments on one record, which is the record a future buyer or insurer may ask to see.

Where Do I Look Up My Own Metro?

The metros we cover each have a dated hail record, a company directory, a check-a-roofer guide and the permit portal for the city. The permit links open the city's own site.

• San Antonio:hail history, storm days, company directory, how to check a roofer, City building permit data
• Dallas-Fort Worth:hail history, storm days, company directory, how to check a roofer, Dallas permit lookup, Fort Worth permit lookup
• Houston:hail history, storm days, company directory, how to check a roofer, Houston Permitting Center
• Austin:hail history, storm days, company directory, how to check a roofer, Austin permit search

When Does This Advice Not Apply?

• Insurance rules are set by each state, and the claim steps and statutes named here are the Texas ones
• An insurer's preferred contractor can be a fine choice, and it is still a starting point to check
• A roof can have damage no photograph shows, and an adjuster and a roofer can disagree in good faith
• A company that fails one check, such as a missing BBB profile for a new business, may still be honest
• A ranking, including ours, narrows the field and does not guarantee a result

What Else Do Homeowners Ask After Hail?

Who are the best hail damage roof repair companies?

No page can name one best roofer for your roof, so narrow the field with records. Pick companies that list storm or hail restoration as a service, that have a local address and a history under the same name, and that file permits under their own name. Our hail damage lists rank companies that publish that service in the same order as every list on this site. Use the guide to the BBB, permit and insurance lookups to confirm any name before you book an inspection.

Who does the best hail damage roof repair?

The roofer whose records hold up and whose written estimate names its materials, its scope and its payment schedule. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety tells homeowners to choose a professional with a local address, to get multiple estimates and to refuse high-pressure sales. Repair quality shows on the roof after the work, so ask for two references and look at a finished job before you sign.

Who are the best hail and hurricane damage roof repair companies?

Along a coast the same checks apply with one addition: ask whether wind and hail on your policy is a separate deductible, because the Texas Department of Insurance says that deductible can differ from the one for other damage. Then confirm the roofer's address, BBB profile, permits and certificate of insurance, and keep the claim in your own name.

Which Guides Should I Read Next?

• How Do I Spot A Storm Chaser Roofer?: The door-knock, contract and deductible tells that separate a storm chaser from a local roofer.
• How Do I Read A Roofing Estimate?: The lines a roofing estimate should price separately, how to compare bids, and the contract language to refuse.
• Hail Damage Roof Repair By Metro In Texas: Hail days and insurer wind and hail losses for every Texas metro on the site, then the inspection, claim steps, contractor checks and warning signs after a storm.

Where Can I Read More Or Run The Numbers?

• Hail claim calculator: check whether a claim clears your deductible.
• Texas roof insurance claims and chapter 707: the statute text and what it means for an estimate.
• Methodology: how this site researches and sources its numbers.
• How Do I Read A Roofing Estimate?: The lines a roofing estimate should price separately, how to compare bids, and the contract language to refuse.
• Should I Repair Or Replace My Roof?: What decides between a repair and a full replacement, and what an insurer will and will not pay for.
• Metal Roof Vs Shingles: Which Holds Up To Hail?: How impact ratings work, what third-party hail testing covers, and why a dent is not always a leak.
• How Do I Spot A Storm Chaser Roofer?: The door-knock, contract and deductible tells that separate a storm chaser from a local roofer.
• How Long After Hail Do Roof Permits Rise?: The days between each hail day and the first week of unusually high re-roof permits, computed from public storm and city permit files.
• Roof Replacement Cost By Metro In Texas: Installed cost per roofing square, city permit valuations and insurer Wind losses for every Texas metro on the site, each figure with its source and date.
• Roof Permit Fees By Metro In Texas: Whether a re-roof needs a permit, the residential fee, who pulls it and the fee schedule behind it for each Texas city on the site, with Not published where a schedule states no flat fee.
• Hail Damage Roof Repair By Metro In Texas: Hail days and insurer wind and hail losses for every Texas metro on the site, then the inspection, claim steps, contractor checks and warning signs after a storm.
• What We Learned Reading BBB Files: what a BBB grade, an accreditation and a complaint count do and do not tell you about a roofer.

Where Do These Facts Come From?

1. Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, Is it hail damage?. https://ibhs.org/is-it-hail-damage/. Fetched 10 October 2026.
2. Texas Department of Insurance, Insurance and your roof. https://www.tdi.texas.gov/tips/replacing-your-roof.html. Fetched 10 October 2026. Page last updated 4/1/2026.
3. Texas Department of Insurance, Contractor scams. https://www.tdi.texas.gov/tips/contractor-scams.html. Fetched 10 October 2026. Page last updated 12/9/2025.
4. Texas Department of Insurance, Is it OK for a contractor to waive my deductible?. https://www.tdi.texas.gov/tips/can-a-contractor-waive-my-deductible.html. Fetched 10 October 2026.
5. Texas Insurance Code section 707.002, text as published by Texas.Public.Law from the Texas Legislature statutes site. https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._ins._code_section_707.002. Fetched 10 October 2026.
6. Texas Business & Commerce Code section 27.02, text as published by Texas.Public.Law from the Texas Legislature statutes site. https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._bus._and_com._code_section_27.02. Fetched 10 October 2026.
7. Roofing Contractors Association of Texas, Licensing. https://www.rcat.net/licensing.html. Fetched 10 October 2026. Used for the statement that Texas issues no state roofing license; the same page is read on each metro check-a-roofer guide.
8. National Weather Service, Alerts. https://www.weather.gov/alerts. Fetched 10 October 2026. Active watches and warnings by location. Warnings expire quickly, so the page shows only what is in force now.
9. National Weather Service, Thunderstorm and hail safety. https://www.weather.gov/safety/thunderstorm. Fetched 10 October 2026.
10. NOAA Storm Prediction Center, Storm reports. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/. Fetched 10 October 2026. Daily reports of hail, wind and tornadoes. Same-day reports are preliminary until NCEI publishes its reviewed record.
11. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events database (bulk files). https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/swdi/stormevents/csvfiles/. Fetched 10 October 2026. The reviewed record, published with a lag of weeks to months.
12. Better Business Bureau, business search. https://www.bbb.org/. Fetched 10 October 2026. A grade and complaint history for a business under its exact name. Accreditation is voluntary and is not a license.
13. Insurance Information Institute, Settling insurance claims after a disaster. https://www.iii.org/article/settling-insurance-claims-after-a-disaster. Fetched 25 October 2026. The first steps it lists are to contact your agent or company, make temporary repairs to protect the property and save the receipts. It also warns about contractors who ask for a large amount of money up front.
14. National Association of Insurance Commissioners, State insurance departments. https://content.naic.org/state-insurance-departments. Fetched 25 October 2026. The directory of state insurance departments, each of which takes a complaint about an insurer. The page describes the association as supporting state insurance commissioners who regulate the industry.
15. Best Roofers Ranked methodology. How the site researches and ranks roofers. Rates and counts on metro pages carry their own dated sources.