Central Texas sits in one of the most hail-prone parts of the country. However, the damage that matters most is rarely the damage you can see from the ground. In fact, severe weather here peaks in spring: May is the busiest month for severe storm reports in Central Texas, and hail is the most common type. The same storm cell can drop pea-sized hail on one side of a neighborhood and golf-ball-sized hail a few streets over, so two homes on the same block can come out of one storm in completely different condition.
For that reason, a roof that “looks fine” after a storm isn't evidence that it is fine. For example, hail bruises the mat beneath the granules without necessarily cracking the surface. As a result, the shingle keeps its shape and keeps shedding water — for a while. The failure shows up months later as a leak with no obvious cause, long after anyone would connect it to the storm that caused it.
From the ground, after any significant storm, look for:
Granules in the gutters or at the downspout outlets. In fact, a heavy scattering of sand-like grit is the clearest early signal that the shingle surface was struck hard enough to shed its protective layer.
Dents in soft metal. Gutters, downspouts, vents, flashing and the garage door take hail the same way the roof does. However, they show it more obviously. So if the gutters are dimpled, the roof was hit too.
Shingles that are cracked, split, or lifted at the edge. Wind damage, on the other hand, tends to show along ridges and eaves, where uplift is strongest.
Bruising. A dark, soft spot that gives slightly under pressure. Still, this is the one that needs someone on the roof to find, and the one that most often gets missed.
Interior staining. Ceiling or wall discoloration means water is already getting in. In other words, the roof is leaking now,, so the problem is no longer just the roof.
If your roof is actively leaking, stop here and get it covered first — we offer emergency tarping to stabilize the property before restoration begins.
However, storm damage doesn't stay the same size. For example, a bruised shingle that has lost its granule layer is exposed to UV directly, and it degrades faster from that point on. Water that gets past a lifted shingle reaches the decking, and decking repairs cost considerably more than shingle repairs. As a result, what was a straightforward restoration in April can be a partial deck replacement by August.
Meanwhile, the second clock is the record. Damage is easiest to tie to a particular storm while it's fresh and dated. If you wait a year, however, the picture gets muddier: the roof has been through more weather, and what was one clear event becomes general wear.
In any case, getting an assessment costs nothing. Also, it puts a dated record of your roof's condition in your hands.
Central Texas storms aren't hypothetical. For example, these are the National Weather Service's own storm reports for towns in our service area:
Austin (Camp Mabry): 2.5″ hail, 9 April 2024 · 74 mph gust, 28 May 2025
North / northeast Austin: 2.5″ hail, 24 Sept 2023
Leander: 3″ hail, 16 May 2025 — the largest in the area in four years
Kyle: 2.5″ hail, 22 May 2025
Georgetown: 2.5″ hail, 24 Sept 2023 · 2.5″ hail, 22 April 2025
Dripping Springs: 1.75″ hail, 26 April 2023
Bee Cave: 1.5″ hail, 1 April 2024
Lakeway: 1″ hail, 27 March 2024 · 61 mph gust, 3 June 2023
Manchaca: 1.25″ hail, 9 April 2024
Oak Hill: 0.88″ hail, 30 April 2026
Buda: 61 mph gust, 9 May 2026
The September 2023 storm was the costly one locally: hail over three inches fell in Williamson County, and a single Round Rock dealership reported more than 750 damaged vehicles. Then Georgetown took 2.5-inch stones again in April 2025. And in February 2023 an ice storm brought limbs down across the city and cut power to about 265,000 Austin Energy customers, roughly half the utility's customers. Falling limbs puncture roofs too, and that damage belongs in the same assessment.
Finally, one caution about the hail maps you'll see advertised online: most are radar estimates, not measured stones. In contrast, the reports above are ground observations logged by the National Weather Service.
To begin with, we get on the roof and inspect the whole system — field shingles, ridges, valleys, flashing, penetrations, gutters, and decking where accessible. A storm assessment is different from a routine inspection: we're looking specifically for impact evidence and documenting where it is.
After that, we photograph and record what we find, tied to its location on the roof, and give you that record in writing. After all, “the roof looked fine from the driveway” is an impression, while a dated photo of a bruised shingle is a fact.
We build the repair scope from the damage, not from a template — what has to be replaced, what can stay, and what the manufacturer requires when part of a system is replaced.
Then we do the work itself, with the property protected and the site cleaned each day.
Finally, we walk the finished roof, confirm the scope was completed as written, and leave you the documentation.
In short, you get the whole record of what we found: photographs tied to their location on the roof, the measurements, and a written scope setting out what has to be replaced and what can stay. Also, it's yours to keep and yours to share with whoever you choose.
However, what we don't do is guess. So if a section of the roof is sound, the report says so.
After a major hail event, out-of-town roofing crews arrive in Austin within days. Of course, some of them are worth hiring. Many will be gone by the time your roof needs a warranty honored — and because Texas doesn't license roofing contractors at the state level, the fact that someone is working in your neighborhood tells you nothing about whether they're qualified.
In contrast, we're based at 13284 Pond Springs Rd in Austin, we work this market year-round, and we know the local rules. In the City of Austin, replacing asphalt shingles with asphalt shingles doesn't normally need a building permit — but in the Wildland-Urban Interface it does once half or more of the roof is being replaced, and at that threshold the whole roof has to meet the standard set for new construction. That distinction changes both the scope and the price of the work, so it belongs in the documentation from the start. In addition, many HOA communities add their own approval step on top of that.
A storm damage assessment isn't the same as a routine roof check, and there's no cost to have us look. And if we find nothing, we tell you that too.
For scheduled, annual or pre-purchase inspections rather than post-storm assessment, see roof inspections.
Storm Guard restores storm-damaged roofs across Austin and the surrounding communities, such as Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills, Steiner Ranch, Circle C, Manchaca, Dripping Springs, Buda, Kyle, Leander, Georgetown, Lago Vista and Spicewood.
See all Austin service areas.
If a storm has come through, don't wait for a leak to confirm it. Instead, call (512) 843-0078 or request a free storm damage assessment, and we'll tell you what your roof actually needs.
Yes, because bruising and granule loss are usually invisible from the yard. However, dented gutters, vents or AC fins are the best ground-level clue that the roof was hit too.
A written report with photographs tied to where on the roof we found each item, and a plain description of what the roof needs. And if it needs nothing, the report says that too.
Sooner is better, for two reasons: damage left open gets worse, and a record taken close to the storm is a clearer record. Also, there's no cost and no obligation.
Unless otherwise noted, each use of "Storm Guard," “us,” “we,” or “our” throughout Stormguardrc.com collectively refers to both the Storm Guard brand and the Storm Guard Franchise System, which is made up almost exclusively of independently owned and operated franchise locations.
