On Saturday, May 24th, 2014, between 3:30pm and 4pm, East Ottawa (more precisely Orleans) was hit with a hail storm the size of marbles. From the Facebook posts and newspaper articles, it looks like a big area of Orleans was affected. Please refer to the bottom of this blog for the confirmed affected areas. Obviously, different neighbourhoods sustained different degrees of severity. Some people reported the hail falling for over 20 minutes. This storm caused less damage than the one near Montfort Hospital back in 2012. During that storm, not only roofs were damaged but also cars, siding, windows and lawn furniture.
From a roofing standpoint, hail can cause shingles to age prematurely. The reason is simple. As explained in my first hail blog back in 2012, when the hail hits the shingles directly, it causes chunks of the small stones to break off the shingles leaving the mat of the shingle (made of tar) exposed directly to the sun. The resulting effect is that your shingles` life expectancy will be greatly diminished. From our visits so far, it looks like shingles sustained damages during the hail storm but the siding, metal and vehicles escaped damages.
If you are unsure whether or not your roof sustained damages, I recommend you have it checked. Don’t go up on the roof yourself as it can be dangerous, but rather contact someone who is experienced and equipped to do a safe and proper inspection. A visual inspection from the ground is not enough as many things can be missed. Rancourt Roofing will gladly visit your house and inspect your roof free of charge. Once we confirm whether or not your roof has sustained hail damage, you can decide to contact your insurance company. If they request it, we can write up an insurance report for a nominal fee.
You can also contact your home insurance company if you suspect the damages warrant a claim. Either way, document the date of the hail storm for future reference with your insurance.
Don’t hesitate to contact Rancourt Roofing should you need assistance or simply have questions. Call our office at 613-292-6859 or click this link: http://rancourtroofing.com/estimate.html
———————————
AFFECTED NEIGHBOURHOODS: Avalon, Cardinal Creek, Chapel Hill, Chaperal, Fallingbrook, Mer Bleu, Notting Gate, Orleans Village, Queenswood Heights
———————————–
View some pictures at the following links:
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/watch-out-for-hail-strong-winds-environment-canada-warns