A morning walk-around after a Fox Valley storm ends with a handful of shingle tabs in the yard. The instinct is to hope it's not that bad. The reality — after inspecting hundreds of St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia roofs — is that missing shingles almost always mean more damage than what's visible.
At Hammerfall Roofing, our philosophy is education first, roofing second. Here's exactly what to do when you find missing shingles after a storm — in order.
Step 1: Take Photos From the Ground
Before anything else, document what you can see. Take photos of the shingles in the yard, the affected roof slopes from the ground, and any interior water spots. Note the storm date. These photos become valuable if the damage warrants an insurance claim later.
Step 2: Don't Climb the Roof
Wet or wind-damaged roofs are dangerous, and looking at hail or wind damage without knowing what to look for often does more harm than good. Wait for a professional assessment.
Step 3: Schedule a Documented Assessment — Fast
Insurance carriers use storm date and radar data as part of claim decisions, and shingle damage becomes harder to attribute to a specific event as time passes. If you're in the Fox Valley, get a documented roof assessment within a few weeks of the storm at the latest.
Why Missing Shingles Are Only Half the Story
When wind rips a shingle off, it almost always breaks the factory seal strip on the shingles around it. Those neighboring shingles look fine from the ground — but they're no longer sealed down, and the next storm will lift them. That's why a proper repair assesses seal integrity across the whole affected slope, not just the missing tabs.
The same is true after hail. Impact damage often shows up as bruised mats and dislodged granules rather than obvious holes — and it requires a trained eye on the roof to identify.
Repair vs. Insurance Claim vs. Full Replacement
There are three real paths forward, and the right one depends on what the assessment finds:
- Small, isolated damage: match and replace the missing shingles, hand-seal the surrounding area, and move on.
- Widespread seal failure or documented hail across the roof: file an insurance claim with proper documentation.
- Aging roof with significant new storm damage: replacement is often the right call, and insurance often participates.
Dean is a licensed public adjuster in Illinois, which means we can document damage to the standard insurance carriers require — no aggression, just precision. If a claim is warranted, we advocate for what your home is actually owed. If it isn't, we'll tell you.
What to Do Next
If you found missing shingles after a recent storm, don't wait for a leak to force the decision. Request a free, documented assessment and we'll walk you through exactly what happened and what your options are.
Learn more about our missing shingle repair service, wind damage roof repair, or hail damage roof inspection service. Call Hammerfall Roofing at (630) 345-8822 or request a free roof assessment online.
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