Hail damage roof repair helps contractor get his dream house

It’s a rare occasion when a roofing installer knows and understands everything about what the customer wants. The best chance of that happening is when the installer and the customer are the same person.

McElroy Metal’s 138T provides perfect hail damage roof repair system

Ronnie McGlothlin, president and owner of Empire Roofing in Fort Worth, Texas, purchased his dream home ten years ago. The only thing missing was the dream roof. “When I bought it, it had a heavy shingle roof and it was in good shape,” McGlothlin says. “Hail damage gave me the reason to replace it with the standing seam metal roof I always wanted.”

Empire Roofing is one of the most well-known and respected roofing companies in the county. The company installs mostly commercial and industrial roofing – residential projects are rare and only for the loyal customer who understands the benefits and value of a standing seam metal roof.

Empire had successfully installed McElroy Metal’s 2-3/8-inch 238T symmetrical standing seam panel on several commercial and industrial projects. That led McGlothlin to choose symmetrical standing seam panels for his home – the 138T system, a 1-3/8-inch high seam recommended for steeper slope, solid deck applications like residential projects.

“I like everything about this roofing panel,” he says. “What I like most is the ease of replacement if something happens to one or two panels. If a panel is damaged by weather or by someone working on the roof, I can just replace the damaged panel or panels. I don’t have to tear off panels all the way to one end or the other.”

Hail damage roof repair installation

McGlothlin chose to install almost 5,500 square feet of 16-inch wide panels in the PVDF color Slate Gray. “The roof we replaced was a slate color,” he says. “The gutters are tan, the house is tan; I just wanted to add some contrast. We looked at different colors and this was the one I liked.”

The Empire Roofing crew had to deal with two challenges on the McGlothlin home. The first was the many cuts and valleys in the roof, which the experienced installers handled easily. Scrap is greatly reduced on these types of jobs with a symmetrical panel because panel ends cut at an angle for a hip or valley condition can be flipped around and used on the same roof plane. Another challenge on the job was access … the eaves on the front of the house are 30 feet in the air, it was safer and easier to work from the back, carrying panels over the ridge to the front of the house.

He also added crystalline solar panels to the symmetrical standing seam roofing, attached with clips from S-5!. McElroy Metal is an S-5! distributor. The 14Kw system, installed by Alba Energy of Austin, Texas, is garnering almost enough electricity to cover all the home uses. McGlothlin expects a return on his solar investment in 6-8 years, depending on how much sunshine and rain central Texas gets during that time. The solar system is expected to last at least 20 years.

Metal roofs are ideal for hail damage repair

“Metal roofs are by their very nature extremely strong and durable,” said Renee Ramey, executive director of the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA). “For homeowners who need to replace their roofs due to hail damage, it’s a wise investment to go with a material that’ll better protect their home the next time a severe storm passes through.”

Hail damage to residential roofs usually happens to those materials that are not rated Class 4. What is a Class four roof? Shingles and other roofing materials are rated on a scale of 1 through 4 with Class 4 being the most impact resistant. Few shingles are impact rated. The shingles that are rated Class 4 often cost 10-20% more than those without that rating.

Most metal roofing materials are rated Class 4 by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) meaning they are impact-resistant.

If your roof is built with materials other than ones rated Class 4 and it is struck with a severe hailstorm your roof will be at a much greater risk for damage. Impact resistance is the key measure of resistance to hail and other airborne debris. Companies can’t label something as “hail proof” but the products tested and certified as Class 4 have met the strongest level of impact or hail resistance that UL and the testing has deemed appropriate.

Choosing Class 4 rated metal roofing materials will reduce the risk of damage after a hail storm or an event where debris has landed on your roof.

Replacing your roof is not the only expense you will incur when roof damage occurs. If the hail/debris causes a roof penetration and leads to a leak, additional damage is likely to occur inside.

Choosing a Class 4 rated metal system makes your roof far more likely to remain undamaged and free of leaks after hail storms.