Fort Worth commercial roofs take hail harder than almost any market in the country. We walk the roof after every significant event, distinguish cosmetic bruising from functional damage, and build a photo-documented scope package that gives your adjuster a clear picture of what's on the building.

The 1995 Mayfest hail storm is still the reference event for Tarrant County commercial roofing — $2B+ in damage, stones up to 4 inches in diameter, and a claims wave that set the local insurance industry's baseline for how it prices and adjusts commercial hail losses. That event predates most of the TPO and EPDM inventory that now covers the majority of Fort Worth's commercial square footage, which means the current roof stock hasn't been tested against a direct repeat. We have, however, worked through the 2016 and 2019 spring hail patterns that deposited 2-inch stones across the Cultural District and West 7th corridors, and we know exactly what those sizes do to 60-mil TPO, modified bitumen cap sheets, and standing-seam metal on the museum buildings.

Hail damage on commercial roofs breaks into three categories: cosmetic, functional, and hidden. Cosmetic damage — surface scuffs, granule removal on cap sheets, minor dimpling — doesn't affect the membrane's ability to shed water but can matter for warranty coverage and insurance purposes. Functional damage — cracked field membrane, split seams, punctures through the waterproofing layer — is what causes leaks and deterioration. Hidden damage — fractured insulation board beneath an intact membrane surface, displaced deck fasteners — only shows up on probe testing or after a hard rain. We document all three categories on every post-event walk.

We do not represent building owners in insurance negotiations, and we are not public adjusters. What we do is produce the building scope package — zone-mapped aerial or roof-walk photos with impact documentation, membrane test probe results, insulation core data, and a written repair-versus-replace analysis — that your adjuster or public adjuster can use to build the claim. Accurate documentation protects your claim from scope disputes that emerge when the damage gets reassessed months later.

What We Document on a Fort Worth Hail Walk

Stone size matters because it changes what's damaged and how. Sub-inch stones on 60-mil TPO typically produce cosmetic granule removal and minor surface deformation. One-to-two-inch stones at typical storm velocities will crack aged EPDM, fracture polyiso cover board, and displace drain clamping rings. Two-inch-plus stones — which Fort Worth saw in the 2017 Cultural District event — can split field membrane, crater metal deck, and shatter ridge caps. We document the actual damage pattern rather than working from storm reports, because impact density, wind direction, and membrane age all affect outcome differently than the raw stone size suggests.

Our post-hail walk covers: GPS-mapped impact grid (we divide the roof into 10x10-foot zones and document damage density per zone), membrane probe testing at every suspected breach, drain and flashing condition, parapet cap status, and rooftop equipment documentation (RTUs, skylights, plumbing vents, solar arrays all fail at different stone sizes than the field membrane). Every photo is tagged with roof zone and GPS coordinates so the adjuster can cross-reference field conditions against the aerial and the claim maps.

We distinguish between damage caused by hail and damage that predated the storm. Adjusters and insurance carriers look hard at pre-existing conditions. Our documentation notes any repair patches, evidence of prior ponding, failed flashing work, or deferred maintenance that was present before the event. Clean documentation protects both the building owner and the claim.

Repair Scope After Hail — What Goes in the Package

Most hail claims on commercial buildings end up being partial or full replacement rather than patch repair, because impact damage that leaves the membrane intact still compromises the insulation board beneath. Fractured polyiso loses R-value and creates a compression point that will fail under thermal cycling — the board needs to come out even if the membrane surface looks unharmed. We document which zones warrant repair, which warrant insulation replacement under recovered membrane, and which warrant full tear-off with replacement, and we write each scope section separately so the claim can be structured accurately.

For buildings where partial replacement is the right scope, we specify membrane match (manufacturer, formulation, and mil thickness) and the tie-in method for joining new and existing. Improper tie-ins at the repair boundary are the most common source of hail-repair callbacks — we use manufacturer-specified termination bar and flashing sequences and photograph every tie-in before the next work day.

Schedule a post-hail roof walk for your Fort Worth building.

We'll document impact damage by roof zone, pull probe tests at suspected breaches, and produce a photo-documented scope package your adjuster can work from. No insurance representation — just accurate documentation.