How to Identify Roof Damage After a Storm Scottsdale

14 November 2026 · Roof Repairs Scottsdale

A storm has just passed over Scottsdale. The rain has stopped, the wind has dropped, and your roof looks fine from the driveway — or does it? Learning how to identify roof damage after a storm Scottsdale homeowners can rely on starts with a simple truth: most storm damage is not obvious from the ground, and the damage that matters most is often the damage you cannot see without knowing where to look. This guide takes you through the checks in the right order, from the ground up, so you can spot problems early without putting yourself at risk.

Scottsdale storms are not like steady winter rain. Monsoon storms arrive fast, with heavy rain in a short burst, strong gusts, dust and sometimes hail. That combination does different things to a roof than a long, gentle rain does. Wind lifts edges, hail cracks surfaces, and a sudden volume of water finds every weak point at once — a valley that drains slowly, a scupper half-blocked with leaves, a low spot where water ponds. The checks below are built around that reality.

Start on the ground, not on the roof

The first rule of a post-storm check is to stay on the ground. Wet roofs are slippery, tiles break underfoot, and a ladder in gusty wind is a risk that no roof check is worth. Everything in this guide can be done from the ground, from a window, or from inside the house. If something needs a closer look on the roof itself, that is a job for a professional with the right equipment.

Begin with a slow walk around your home. Look at the roofline from each side and compare it with how it looked before the storm. Look for anything that has changed: a ridge line that is no longer straight, a section of tile that looks darker or lighter than the rest, a gutter that hangs at a different angle, debris sitting on the roof. A pair of binoculars helps enormously here — from the ground with binoculars you can see slipped tiles, lifted shingle edges, dented flashings and torn coating far more clearly than with the naked eye. Take photographs of anything that looks different, even if you are not sure it matters. A photo taken today is useful later when you are describing the problem.

Signs on the roof surface

On a tile roof, the storm signs to look for are tiles that have slipped down out of line, tiles that are cracked or broken, and bare patches where the underlayment shows through. Pay attention to the ridges and hips, where the wind catches first, and to the valleys, where debris collects and water runs hardest. A single cracked tile is a repair to book soon. A run of slipped tiles, or a whole ridge that has moved, is more urgent, because the underlayment beneath them is the layer doing the waterproofing, and on an older roof that layer may already be near the end of its life — often 15 to 25 years in this climate.

On a shingle roof, look for shingles that have lifted at the edges, curled back, creased across the middle, or blown off entirely. Creasing is a useful clue: a shingle that has been bent back by wind and then settled down again often shows a horizontal crease, and that crease is a weak line where the shingle will fail next time. On a flat or foam roof, look for coating that has torn or lifted, seams that have opened, and any puncture where debris struck. On a metal roof, look for dents, lifted seams and flashing that has pulled away. In every case, compare one side of the roof with the other — storm damage is often worst on the side that faced the wind, so a difference between the two sides is itself a clue.

Signs in the gutters and around the home

Your gutters are a surprisingly honest record of what a storm did to your roof. After a storm, look at what is sitting in them. On a shingle roof, a heavy load of granules — the sand-like coating that protects shingles from the sun — means the surface was scoured by hail or heavy rain. Some granule loss is normal over a roof's life, but a sudden large amount after one storm means the shingles took a battering and have lost protection they will not get back. On any roof type, gutters full of tile fragments, shingle pieces or coating flakes mean pieces of your roof came off in the storm.

Look at the ground around the house too. Broken tiles or shingle pieces on the ground, dents in a car or in outdoor furniture, and stripped leaves and small branches scattered across the garden all tell you how strong the storm was where you live. Check the downspouts: a downspout that is dented, detached or pulling away from the wall may have been hit by debris, and a detached downspout means water from the next rain will run down the wall instead of away from the house. Check the fascia and soffits at the roof edge for dents, cracks or staining, since wind-driven rain often shows there first.

Signs inside: the attic, ceilings and walls

Some of the most important storm damage shows up inside the house, and it is worth checking there even if the roof looks fine from outside. Go into the attic or the roof void with a torch and look for daylight coming through — daylight means a hole. Look for damp patches on the decking, water stains on the rafters, insulation that is wet or compressed, and any new smell of damp. Water often travels along the decking before it drops through, so the damp patch in the attic may be some distance from the hole in the roof.

Then check the rooms below. Look at ceilings for new stains, especially around light fittings and along the line where the wall meets the ceiling. Look at the tops of walls for damp or bubbling paint, and check the corners of upper-floor rooms. On flat-roofed homes, a stain in the middle of a ceiling often points to a drainage problem — a blocked scupper or a low spot where water ponded — rather than a hole in the covering. Write down where each stain is and photograph it, because a roofer tracing the leak will want to know exactly where the water showed up inside.

Hail, wind and heavy rain: what each one does

It helps to know which part of the storm did what, because each type of damage behaves differently afterwards. Wind damage is about lifting and tearing: shingles lifted at the edges, tiles slipped or displaced, ridge caps moved, flashing peeled away from a wall or chimney. Wind damage is often worst on the side of the roof that faced the storm, and it tends to be visible from the ground if you look carefully at the edges and ridges.

Hail damage is quieter and harder to spot. Hail cracks tiles, dents metal flashings and vents, and knocks granules off shingles. A tile can be cracked by hail without moving at all, so the roof looks unchanged from the street while the cracked tile is already letting water through. On shingles, hail leaves small round marks where the granules have been knocked away, exposing the darker material beneath. If your area had hail, assume the roof needs a closer look even if nothing is leaking yet, because hail damage often shows up as a leak in the next storm rather than the one that caused it.

Heavy rain damage is about volume and drainage. A sudden downpour overwhelms valleys that drain slowly, backs water up behind debris, and ponds on flat roofs where a scupper is blocked. The signs are water stains that appear only in very heavy rain, gutters overflowing at one point, and damp patches near valleys or scuppers. If the rain was the main problem, the fix is often about drainage and details — clearing, re-sealing and re-shaping the paths water takes — rather than replacing large areas of covering.

Tile roofs after a storm

Tile is the most common roof covering in Scottsdale, and it has a particular storm story. Tiles themselves are tough, but they depend on the underlayment beneath them. When a storm slips or breaks tiles, the underlayment is exposed, and if that layer is old, water gets through quickly. After a storm, a tile roof check should focus on the valleys, where debris piles up and water backs under the tiles; the ridges and hips, where wind lifts first; and the eaves, where wind-driven rain is forced under the tile edge.

Also look for tiles that have moved only slightly. A tile that has slipped a few centimetres still looks like it belongs, but the gap it leaves is enough for wind-driven rain to get under it. From the ground with binoculars, look for tiles that sit at a slightly different angle from their neighbours, or for a line of tiles that no longer runs straight. If you find several, the roof needs a professional look before the next storm, because the next storm will move them further.

Flat and foam roofs after a storm

Flat roofs fail differently. The covering is a continuous surface, so the weak points are the seams, the edges and the drainage. After a storm, check whether water is still standing on the roof a day later — ponding that lasts more than a day after rain means the drainage is not working, and standing water will find any seam or joint. Check the scuppers, the openings in the parapet that let water off the roof: they block easily with leaves, dust and debris, and a blocked scupper turns a flat roof into a shallow pond.

On a foam roof, look for seams that have opened, coating that has lifted or torn, and any area where the foam beneath is exposed. Foam that is exposed to sun and water degrades, so a torn coating is not a cosmetic issue. Also check the parapet cap — the covering over the top of the parapet wall — because wind and rain work on it from both sides, and a failed parapet cap lets water into the wall itself. If your flat roof has a coating, note its condition: a coating that is thin, patchy or peeling before a storm will be worse after one, and the storm may be the moment to plan a recoat rather than another patch.

What to photograph and note for your records

Good records make everything that follows easier, whether that is a repair, a record of the damage for later, or a simple check that the work was done. Photograph the damage from the ground, photograph anything you find inside, and photograph the gutters and the ground around the house. Note the date of the storm, the time you first noticed the problem, and what the weather was doing — heavy rain, hail, strong wind. Write down where each stain or damp patch is inside the house, room by room.

Keep the notes and photos together in one place. If a roofer visits, walk them through what you found and show them the photos of the roof from the ground. If the damage is serious, the photos taken on the day of the storm are the most useful record you will have, because a roof that has been made safe with a tarp no longer shows the original damage. Take the photos before anything is covered up.

What can wait and what needs attention soon

Not everything you find after a storm is an emergency, and it helps to sort what you find into two groups. Needs attention soon: water coming into the house, a large area of covering missing, a sagging section, daylight visible from the attic, or a flat roof that is still ponding a day after the rain. These should be looked at promptly, because the next rain will make them worse. Can be planned: a single cracked tile, a small area of granule loss, a dented gutter, a flashing that looks worn but is still in place. These should be booked in and fixed, but they do not need a same-day response.

The sorting matters because it stops a small problem from becoming a big one without turning every finding into a panic. A single cracked tile left through monsoon season can become a leak; a dented gutter left alone usually stays a dented gutter. When in doubt, ask a professional to sort it with you — a short conversation about what you found is often enough to tell whether you need an urgent visit or a planned repair. For the urgent end of the scale, our guide to the signs you need emergency roof repair in Scottsdale explains the five signs that mean you should call straight away.

After the check: inspection and repair

Once you have done your ground-level check, the next step is a professional inspection if you found anything at all — and even if you found nothing but your area had hail or very strong wind. A professional inspection looks at the things you cannot see from the ground: the condition of the underlayment beneath slipped tiles, the state of the flashing under a lifted edge, the seams on a flat roof, the attic side of the decking. It should end with written findings and photographs, so you know what was found and what the repair plan is.

The repair itself should follow the damage, not a standard template. A tile roof may need tiles reset and a section of underlayment renewed. A shingle roof may need a run of shingles replaced and the ridge re-sealed. A flat roof may need a seam re-sealed and a scupper cleared. The right repair depends on the roof type, the age of the materials, and what the storm actually did. If you want that inspection shaped to your roof, start with roof inspection in Scottsdale and tell us what the storm did. For the repair side, storm damage repair covers the work that follows, and our roof repair in Scottsdale page covers repairs more generally. Homes in Grayhawk, where large tile roofs and nearby trees are common, have their own notes on our roof repair in Grayhawk page.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I know if my roof has storm damage? Look for missing, slipped or cracked tiles, lifted or creased shingles, debris on the roof, granules in the gutters, and new stains on ceilings or in the attic. Hail damage can be hard to see from the ground, so a professional look is wise if your area had hail.

2. Can I inspect my roof myself after a storm? Yes, from the ground, with binoculars, and from inside the house. Do not climb onto a wet roof or use a ladder in gusty wind. Anything that needs a closer look on the roof itself is a job for a professional.

3. What should I do if I find roof damage? Photograph what you found, note the date and the weather, and arrange a professional inspection. If water is coming in, move valuables away, put a container under the drip, and call for help rather than waiting.

4. What is the difference between wind damage and hail damage? Wind lifts and tears: shingles lifted at the edges, tiles slipped, flashing peeled away. Hail cracks and dents: cracked tiles, dented metal, granules knocked off shingles. Hail damage often shows up as a leak in the next storm rather than the one that caused it.

5. How often should I inspect my roof? At least once a year and after any severe storm. In Scottsdale, a check before monsoon season and another after it catches most problems while they are still small.