What Should I Do After Hail or Wind Damages My Metal Building?

After hail or high wind: make the building safe, photograph everything, protect it from more weather, then sort cosmetic from structural with your insurer and a contractor. Hail dents are often cosmetic; wind damage usually needs prompt repair.

Key takeaways

• Safety first: downed lines, loose panels and unstable doors can hurt you.
• Photograph before cleanup, note the date, and keep the weather report.
• Tarp or fasten anything open to the weather right away.
• Hail dents that don't break the paint are usually cosmetic; broken paint, punctures and seam damage are not.
• Lifted panels and trim, racked doors and any frame movement need a professional.

How do I make it safe?

• Stay away from downed or sagging power lines and anything touching them.
• Don't walk under panels or trim that are hanging or flapping.
• If an overhead door is off its track or a spring has let go, don't operate it. The door can fall.
• If the building has visibly shifted, a carport has lifted at its anchors, or the roof is sagging, keep people and animals out until a professional looks at it.

What should I document?

Before you clean up or repair anything:

• Photograph every wall and the roof from the ground, then close-ups of every dent, tear, lifted panel, damaged trim, broken window, door and gutter. Put something in the frame for scale on hail dents.
• Photograph the interior: water intrusion, daylight through the roof, damaged contents.
• Note the date and time and save the local storm report.
• Keep receipts for tarps, emergency repairs and equipment rental.

How do I protect the building?

Your insurance policy expects you to prevent further damage. Tarp roof openings, temporarily re-fasten a lifted panel, board a broken window, and move vehicles and equipment out from under compromised areas. Keep the receipts.

How do I tell cosmetic damage from real damage?

Hail

Steel panels dent. What matters:

• Dents with the paint intact are cosmetic. The panel still sheds water and the coating still protects the steel. Whether to replace is between you and your insurer.
• Dents that cracked or chipped the paint will rust over time. Touch-up with manufacturer-matched paint is the minimum; badly damaged panels get replaced.
• Punctures, cracked seams, damaged ridge cap or trim need repair.
• Vents, windows and translucent panels often break and need replacing.
• Gutters, downspouts and door panels are often the most visibly damaged.

Wind

• Lifted or missing panels and trim. Repair now; water gets under neighboring panels fast.
• Backed-out or sheared fasteners across an area. Re-fasten, and have someone check why they let go.
• Doors. A large overhead or roll-up door racked or blown in is common; the door and its framed opening need inspection.
• Any movement of the structure, such as leaning walls, bent frame members, or anchors pulled or loosened, is an engineer's job. See are metal buildings good in high wind?

Who should I call?

Report the claim promptly with your photos, and ask the adjuster to meet a contractor on site so the scope is agreed in one visit. Your engineered drawings and permit records help, because they show what the building was designed for. See what are stamped drawings?

Check the manufacturer's warranty paperwork too, so you know what it covers and what it doesn't. If your building came through Rocky Mountain Metal, give us a call. He stays your point of contact after the sale and can help you sort out what to take to your insurer and what to raise with 1st Choice Metal Buildings and Carports.

Be wary of out-of-area storm crews that appear after a big hail event. Use a local contractor who'll still be around, and never sign over a claim without reading it.

How do I prepare for the next storm?

You can't stop hail, but quality panels and paint systems hold up better. For wind, what holds the building is the engineering it was designed with: the frame, bracing, anchoring and fastening for your site's loads. That's why it matters that a building is engineered for its location, not bought off the lot as a generic kit. Add a walk-around after every big storm to your maintenance routine.

Planning a new or replacement building?

Rocky Mountain Metal sells steel-framed metal buildings only. We look at your site, plan the building to its snow and wind loads, and place the order with 1st Choice Metal Buildings and Carports. The manufacturer's crew from Texas installs it, and we oversee the project. See our service area and contact us.

Frequently asked questions

Does hail damage mean my roof will leak?

Usually not. Dents don't leak; punctures, seam damage and broken vents or windows do. Inspect those first.

Will insurance replace dented panels?

Policies differ. Some cover cosmetic damage and some exclude it. Read your policy's cosmetic-damage language and talk to your agent.

How soon do I need to repair wind damage?

Right away for anything that lets water in or leaves panels loose; the next storm makes it worse. Cosmetic items can wait for the claim.

Can dented panels be fixed without replacing them?

Shallow dents are usually left alone or touched up; there's no practical way to pull dents from thin steel panels. Replacement is the fix when appearance matters.