Hail verdicts turn on one distinction: functional versus cosmetic. On shingles, functional hail fractures or bruises the mat under the granules, felt as a soft, crushed spot, and it shortens the roof's life whether or not it leaks today. On metal, dents that do not breach seams, fasteners, or coating are usually cosmetic, however dramatic they look from the ladder.
Hail is the junior partner in Orange County's storm record; wind and water do the heavy damage here. The guide's test still applies to the hail that arrives inside tropical systems: fractures in the mat, randomly distributed, are functional; surface marking is cosmetic. But the local chapter of this guide is really about sequence: in this county, hail findings ride along inside a hurricane file, and the documentation discipline, slope by slope, dated, is one discipline for both.
Adjusters evaluate hail in test squares: a marked 10 by 10 foot area per slope, hits counted and photographed, with soft metal damage (vents, flashing, gutters) as supporting evidence. A roofer's inspection that follows the same method produces a record your insurer can actually use.
Timing matters twice: policies set windows for reporting storm damage, and bruised mats weather faster after the hit. An inspection within days of a named storm, with dated photos, is the difference between a documented claim and an argument about an old roof.
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