Problems
What that stain or storm usually means
Start with hail: do you need a new roof or a repair? The other pages cover ice dams, flashing leaks, and wear. Your insurance company decides coverage if you file a claim.
In short
When does hail mean a new roof?
Hail that marks most of the roof usually means replacement, not three new shingles. Isolated hits on a sound roof can stay a repair. The inspection tells you which one you have. Your insurance company decides coverage.
These problem pages sit in topic clusters with the matching service and guide.
Hail that needs a new roof
A hail storm can mark every side of the house in twenty minutes. Bruised, bald, or cracked shingles across the roof are not a three-shingle repair. A few isolated hits on an otherwise sound roof can still be a repair. The inspection tells you which one you have.
Ice dams at the eaves
An ice dam is a ridge of ice at the gutter. Heat in the attic melts snow higher on the roof; that water refreezes at the cold eave and backs up under the shingles. Rooms under those eaves stain even when the rest of the roof looks fine.
Leaking skylight
Water under a skylight usually got in at the curb, the flashing, or the cricket above the unit—not through the glass. Caulk on the pane does not fix a flashing gap, and it can hide the real path until the next rain.
Wind-lifted or missing shingles
Wind does not always tear a whole side of the roof off. It creases shingles, lifts nails, and peels the starter row at the edges. Those openings leak on the next rain—or they sit dry until the underlayment wears through. You can often see the damage from the ground.
Black algae streaks
Dark streaks on the north or shaded side are usually algae that feeds on the limestone in asphalt shingles. It is not indoor mold, and it is not automatically a leak. It becomes a roofing problem when it comes with missing granules, lifted shingles, or a roof that is already worn out.
Commercial roof leak
On a flat roof, water does not run to a gutter. It sits, finds a seam, a failed drain, or an HVAC curb, and shows up two rooms away. Property managers need a mapped leak and a written job they can send to ownership—not a bucket and a guess.
Overflowing gutters
A gutter that sheets water over the front in ordinary rain is too small, has too few downspouts, is pitched the wrong way, or is packed with debris. The water then sits against the fascia, soaks the eave, or lands next to the foundation. Cleaning helps only when the layout itself is still correct.
Flashing leak
Water rarely comes in through the middle of healthy shingles. It comes in at the flashing against a wall, chimney, or skylight. Stains then show up on a wall or in a closet, so the leak looks mysterious until someone inspects that joint.
Hail damage without a leak
Bruises, cracked shingles, and missing granules do not always open a hole the same afternoon. The house can stay dry for months while the roof’s remaining life drops. In Kansas and Missouri that is often when we write a replacement estimate—not when the ceiling finally stains.
Valley leak
A roof valley is a channel. It sees more water than any other shingle, plus pine needles, granules, and ice. When the metal or woven shingles in that channel wear through, the stain shows up in a hallway or closet under the intersection—not under the peak.
Ice-backed gutters
A gutter that freezes solid becomes a dam of its own. Meltwater has nowhere to go, hangers bend, and water is forced under the drip edge. This is common on north eaves in Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, and Naperville after a wet snow followed by a hard freeze.
Granule loss
Asphalt shingles shed granules as they age. A storm can knock many more off in an hour. Bald spots cook faster, the shingle dries, and cracks follow. Granules after a quiet month are different from a pile the morning after hail—but both belong in a written inspection.
Chimney flashing leak
A stain next to a fireplace is often roof water that followed the flashing or a cracked chimney crown into the chase. The flue can be fine. Wide chimneys also need a cricket so water does not sit against the masonry on the high side.
Next step
See this on your roof? Ask us to look.
Send the address, the storm date if you have it, and what you have noticed. We inspect, then give you a replacement or repair price. Your insurance company decides what they pay.