Roof Inspection and Free Roof Evaluation in San Antonio

Start with hail. On April 12, 2016, a single storm dropped stones up to 4.5 inches on Helotes and northwest Bexar County, and it was the costliest hail event in Texas history at the time. Then in late April 2021 another cell tracked along I-10 through San Antonio toward Seguin, while Hondo set the state record at 6.4 inches. If your roof sat through both, it probably has bruised shingles you can't see from the yard.

Heat works slower. Summers over 100 degrees bake the oils out of asphalt shingles and crack pipe boots, and older homes around San Antonio, King William to Monte Vista, pile up small problems that eventually leak.

A professional roof inspection finds them while they're still small, before they turn into a hail damage roof repair your insurer wants to argue about. One tip from 2,800+ projects: get the inspection before you call your carrier. File without documentation and you're at the adjuster's mercy.

A 1950s cottage on the South Side and a two-story in Stone Oak get the same free roof evaluation. We don't sell you on a point count. We check the six spots where roofs actually fail and explain what we found in each.

Shingles

What we look for: bruises, granule loss, creased or lifted tabs, missing pieces.
What it means: round bruises point to hail and creased tabs on one slope point to wind. Granule loss over the whole roof is just age. That's a replacement conversation, not a claim.

Flashing

What we look for: rust, step flashing lifting off walls, cracked counter flashing at the chimney, split valley metal.
What it means: on older masonry homes in San Antonio, this is where most leaks begin, and it's the cheapest thing on the list to fix. Plenty of leaks that look like a whole-roof problem turn out to need a roof flashing repair and nothing more.

Penetrations and pipe boots

What we look for: cracked rubber boots, dented turbine and box vents, dried-out caulk at skylights.
What it means: dented soft metal is the clearest hail evidence on any roof. Carriers know it too. And a split boot? About a 20-minute repair, and the ceiling stain stops.

Decking

What we look for: soft spots underfoot, sags between rafters, plywood coming apart at the eaves.
What it means: rot. If the deck gives under a boot, it gets replaced before new shingles go on, and we put that in the scope from day one.

Gutters

What we look for: dents, granules piling up, seams pulling apart, downspouts emptying at the foundation.
What it means: a gutter full of granules means the shingles are losing their armor. Dents help date a hail storm. (We do gutter installation as well.)

Attic and interior signs

What we look for: daylight through the deck, damp insulation, dark streaks on rafters, stains on the ceiling.
What it means: the attic shows where water already got in, and whether bad ventilation is cutting your shingle life short. We climb up there even when the roof looks clean.

Hail crosses Bexar County fast. The roofing trucks show up faster. Before anybody gets you to sign something in the driveway, go through this in order.

1. Stay off the roof. Wet shingles and loose granules are slick. Let somebody in a harness do the walking.
2. Look at the soft metals from the ground. Mailbox, AC condenser fins, gutters, window screens. If they're dented, so is the roof.
3. Photograph a hailstone next to a coin and write down the date and time. That photo ties your claim to a specific storm.
4. Keep an eye on ceilings and the attic for 48 hours. A leak that starts Tuesday might not show up till Thursday.
5. Get a free roof evaluation before you call the carrier. You'll file with our written report, and our former adjusters bring it to the adjuster meeting.
6. Read your declarations page. Texas policies set reporting deadlines, and the wind and hail deductible is often a percentage of the dwelling value.
7. Only tarp what's open to the sky. See bare decking? Call us for roof repair. We tarp open roofs to keep the water out.

A tree through the house or water coming out of a light fixture is an emergency. Skip everything except step one.

Once a year is the usual rule for an annual roof check. We'd put it in the fall, after hail season's over. Also book a roof inspection whenever hail an inch or bigger hits your zip code, before you list the house, and the year your roof turns 15.

So what's different from the storm chaser with out-of-state plates? Our evaluators work for a San Antonio roofing company with 8 full crew teams, and our in-house former insurance adjusters have 30+ years of insurance claim experience. Texas-RRR is veteran owned, registered and insured. We install Owens Corning and GAF, and if your roof doesn't need new shingles yet, we'll say that.

Marco P. summed up the pace in his Google review: "Came out for the estimate Friday, had a guy on site the next day! 100% satisfied with the quality of work."

We cover the San Antonio metro Monday through Saturday, and the Austin line takes calls for our Austin service area. Call (210) 802-6906. It's free, you keep the report, and nobody's going to lean on you in the driveway to sign anything that same afternoon.