Extreme weather conditions have become more common in the last few decades. Because of this, severe storms, such as hail storms, cause more property damage every year.
In order to avoid damage to your home’s siding from hail storms, it’s important to choose the right material. You want to choose siding that will protect your home from dents and scratches from hail, even when it falls at high speeds.
For the best protection against hail storm damage, consider choosing steel for your siding material.
Hail storms generally happen during very intense thunderstorms in cold weather. The hail itself forms when the updraft of the thunderstorm pulls the rain droplets above freezing level. This updraft will continue to pull the newly formed hail ball, adding more ice layers.
Once the hail ball becomes too heavy it will fall, resulting in a hail storm. The stronger the thunderstorm, the more powerful the updraft and the larger the hail. Extremely turbulent thunderstorms that occur during a high-moisture cold front will yield heavier, more dangerous hail.
Hail storms are quite unpredictable compared to other types of storms and can occur with very little notice. It's not at all uncommon for a seemingly mild thunderstorm to quickly turn from rain to a full-blown hail storm in just moments.
The instability of hail storms, coupled with the fact that they can occur in every state in the U.S., means this weather event causes millions of dollars of damage annually nationwide.
Hail storms are not region-specific and can happen across the United States. However, certain states are more prone to hail than others.
The Great Plains and Midwest are more likely to experience hail storms as the freezing altitude often dips under 11,000 feet. Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming see more hail storms than any other state. In fact, the area where these three states meet is known as Hail Alley.
In 2017, more than 10 million properties experienced damaging hail storms with 1-inch hailstones or larger. Interestingly enough, between 2000 and 2013, Oregon experienced the most property damage from hail. The average insurance claim in Oregon was $9,100 while most other states were between $6,600 to $7,900.
Roofs naturally take the brunt of the damage during a hail storm. This leads many contractors to encourage homeowners in hail-prone areas to choose steel roofing over other materials for added protection. However, the siding on your home also plays a role in how well your home is protected against hail.
Hail can hit the side of your home either when the wind drives it at an angle or when it bounces off the ground and into your siding. The side of your home will likely be hit from both falling and bouncing hail in a heavy hailstorm.
To truly protect your home against hail, you should consider not only a steel roof but also steel siding. Steel siding is stronger and more resilient than vinyl or wood. Vinyl siding can sometimes be cracked or left with holes from a heavy barrage of hailstones, particularly if it’s older vinyl siding that has been weakened from age. If you have old vinyl that’s been cracked, it may be time to replace it with new, quality vinyl siding.
Hailstones don’t usually leave holes in wood siding, but they can certainly displace wood shake siding. They will also leave dents and cracks in the wood and can easily chip paint or stain. These damaged spots will no longer have the protection of whatever surface treatment is on the siding, leaving the wood vulnerable to moisture damage.
When considering the strength of siding, fiber cement is another material that is highly recommended. While fiber cement is a very durable material, it can still experience cracking and similar damage during a hailstorm. This is because fiber cement is made from cement, reinforced with cellulose fibers, making it a rigid product without much flexibility. Hail damage has the same effect on aluminum siding—it can be dented and occasionally will experience cracking.
While steel is rigid like fiber cement, impact damage may leave a dent, and rarely if ever is going to crack steel siding. While you will eventually need to remove any pieces of steel siding with dents, your home will still be protected, rust free, without fear of water getting in.
Rollex Steel Siding is a great choice for homeowners that want maximum protection against hail and other severe weather.
Steel siding is a durable, long-lasting siding choice for residential homeowners who want exceptionally low maintenance siding. Rollex offers a range of different styles of steel siding, all of which will protect your home from storm damage while increasing your curb appeal.
For more information on steel siding and how it can help protect your home against hail, contact Rollex.