Damage Repair

Hail Damage Roof Repair

Atlanta's spring and summer thunderstorm pattern produces hail events that bruise and puncture single-ply membranes in ways that are not visible from the ground. Our field assessments document the actual damage in writing and photographs so the repair scope — and the cost — are defensible.

Atlanta sits in a hail corridor that runs through the Southeast Piedmont from late March through early June. Most years the metro sees at least two events with golf-ball-size or larger hail — enough to crack surface coatings, bruise TPO and EPDM membranes, and in severe cases puncture the membrane body directly. The March thunderstorm pattern that produces Atlanta's highest hail frequency also coincides with the period when building operators are least likely to be looking at their roofs, which means hail damage often goes unreported until a leak appears weeks or months later.

We assess hail damage on commercial flat and low-slope roofs by walking a systematic grid pattern, documenting every identifiable impact point with GPS-tagged photos, and pulling sounding tests at suspected bruise points to identify subsurface membrane separation that does not penetrate visually. The output is a written damage inventory — not a verbal walkthrough, not a handshake estimate — that identifies every impact location, classifies it by severity, and specifies the repair approach for each.

The documentation we produce is purpose-built for building owners managing their own repair programs. We are not performing this assessment as a step toward representing your interests to an insurer — that is a public adjuster function and we do not provide it. What we provide is an accurate, photographed, written record of actual roof conditions following a hail event, which you or your facility team can use however the situation requires.

How Hail Affects Atlanta Commercial Roof Systems

TPO and PVC membranes: Large hail impacts create circular bruise marks on single-ply membranes that may not immediately puncture the surface but weaken the membrane at the impact point. Bruised TPO will crack at those points within 12 to 24 months of UV exposure. In the Atlanta summer heat — Midtown and Downtown Atlanta run 5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than surrounding suburbs due to the urban heat island — this degradation accelerates. We probe every visible impact point and report on both confirmed punctures and suspected bruise failures.

EPDM membranes: EPDM handles hail impact better than TPO due to its higher elasticity, but large hail — 1.5 inches and above — can cause impact-related seam stress and damage at penetration flashings where the membrane transitions from a flat field to a vertical surface. These transition points concentrate impact stress and are the most likely failure locations following a severe hail event on an EPDM roof.

Modified bitumen: SBS modified bitumen has reasonable hail resistance due to its rubber-modified asphalt composition, but the granule surface on cap sheets masks impact bruising well — damage is often invisible from a normal walking inspection. We conduct systematic sounding and probe testing on modified bitumen roofs following hail events to identify subsurface delamination that would not be apparent visually.

Roof-mounted equipment and penetrations: HVAC unit sheet metal, condenser fins, and pipe boot flashings suffer visible damage from hail that the membrane inspection may miss. We include equipment condition in our hail damage assessments because flashing damage at HVAC units is a common leak source following hail events even when the field membrane is intact.

What Our Hail Damage Assessment Produces

The field documentation package includes GPS-tagged photographs of every identified impact point, a roof zone diagram with impact locations marked and classified, a written narrative describing the distribution and severity of impacts, sounding test results at suspected subsurface damage points, and a repair scope specifying the approach for each damage category — patch, section replacement, or full membrane replacement if damage density exceeds the threshold where repair is not the right answer.

The written scope identifies repair quantities in square footage, not a lump sum. This matters if you are coordinating with a property manager, a facility director, or anyone else who needs to understand what the repair covers and why it costs what it costs. We do not produce a single-number bid with a vague description; we produce a scope that tells you exactly what is being repaired and what the repair method is.

For Atlanta buildings that experienced hail in the spring storm season and are entering the summer heat period without repairs completed, we document the urgency of each identified damage point. A minor surface bruise that can wait 60 days is documented differently from an active puncture that will pass water in the next rain event. Prioritization is part of the report.

Repair Methods for Hail-Damaged Atlanta Commercial Roofs

Single-ply patch repairs: Isolated punctures and confirmed bruise failures on TPO, PVC, and EPDM membranes are repaired with manufacturer-approved patch material — heat-welded on TPO and PVC, seam adhesive on EPDM. Patch dimensions are specified to manufacturer minimums: typically a 6-inch minimum radius around the damage point on TPO, with the patch material matching the installed membrane manufacturer and formulation. We do not patch TPO with generic membrane material that cannot be warranty-consistent.

Section replacement for high-density damage: When hail impacts exceed a threshold density — typically more than 5 confirmed or suspected failures per 100 square feet — patching becomes less efficient than section replacement. We specify the section boundaries, the replacement membrane specification, and the integration detail at the existing membrane edge. Section replacement avoids the risk of missed impact points that will fail between inspection cycles.

Flashing and penetration repair: Damaged pipe boots, curb flashings, and HVAC unit transition flashings are replaced with new manufacturer-specified flashing material integrated into the field membrane. This is the most common post-hail leak source on Atlanta commercial roofs, and it is addressed as part of every hail damage repair scope we produce.

Atlanta Storm Season Timing and Roof Response

Atlanta's highest hail frequency runs from March through May, coinciding with the Piedmont region's peak severe weather window. A second, lower-intensity severe weather period runs from August through early October as Gulf moisture combines with late-summer frontal boundaries over North Georgia. The 2008 tornado that tracked through Downtown Atlanta — damaging the CNN Center and several Midtown commercial buildings — came in March, consistent with this pattern.

The practical consequence for commercial building operators is that post-storm roof assessment should happen quickly after any severe hail event, before Atlanta's summer rain pattern begins. Membrane damage from April hail that goes undocumented and unrepaired will pass water in every one of the 50-plus annual inches of rainfall Atlanta receives — and the cumulative moisture infiltration into the insulation stack compounds the repair cost every month it remains open.

Our crews can mobilize for post-storm assessments across the Atlanta metro within 48 hours of a major hail event. We service buildings from the Perimeter Center corridor and Sandy Springs south through Midtown and Downtown to College Park and along the I-20 east and west corridors. Call 404-424-9759 after any significant hail event to schedule a post-storm assessment.

Frequently asked questions