Hail Damage Dents in Vinyl Siding

Cause

• Hail gets its start as drops of water that freeze during thunderstorms. The frozen drops fall to Earth, increasing in size as they descend. Small hail that’s up to 0.25-inch diameter does little to no damage to siding. Marble-sized hail at 0.5 inch in diameter or golf-ball sized hail about 0.75 inch in diameter is likelier to cause damage to your vinyl siding. Hail the size of baseballs causes the most harm. Another damage factor is the direction and strength of the wind.

Results

• The more common result of hail damage on vinyl siding, unlike metal or wood siding, consists of cracks, especially on old siding that has lost its pliability. The angle at which the hail hit the siding makes a difference. Hail that strikes the siding from a flat angle, perhaps due to strong wind, may produce dents that look circular. Old vinyl siding may sustain damage with even the smallest of hailstones as vinyl becomes inflexible and brittle as it ages. Vinyl siding ranges in size from 0.35 mm to 0.55 mm in thickness. If you live in a hail-prone area, consider using the thickest vinyl siding since it holds up better and sees less damage during a hailstorm than thinner siding.

Looking for Damage

• An insurance inspector looks for hail damage in a couple of ways, checking for cracks or splits that appear parallel to the siding. Hail damage typically occurs midway between the valley and ridges of the siding panels since these areas offer the most inward flex. The damage may also appear as half-circle shapes. Another sign of hail damage is chipping near the inflexible bottom section of the panel ridge. Look for chipping by looking upward from below a section of siding. Since hail rarely damages siding below waist-level or under the eaves, any damage seen in these areas may be the result of other causes, such as rocks thrown from a lawnmower.

Replacement

• If your homeowner’s insurance policy covers hail damage, your insurance company should replace the dented or cracked siding with new pieces. Unfortunately, the insurance companies may not pay to apply new siding to the entire house. You may end up with siding that looks somewhat uneven due to the shine and newness of the replacement siding compared with the faded, older looking siding that did not need replacing. Once the new siding is installed, consider using a vinyl siding cleaning product to bring back the shine on the old panels so it better matches the new material.