Zachary Project: Rebuilding a Roof After Lightning and Hail

Rebuilding a Zachary Roof After Lightning and Hail

This Zachary home did not come to us after a single event. Lightning struck the house directly, and the roof was already carrying hail damage from earlier storms. The homeowner noticed a problem inside before they ever saw one outside, and by the time we got on the roof there was already a tarp holding back the weather. Roof Rescue LLC documented the damage in the spring and replaced the roof over three days that July.

Lightning does not stop at the shingles

A direct strike travels. On this home the damage ran past the roof and into the structure: wiring in the attic, outlets that stopped working in the master bedroom, a GFI in the garage, a cracked copper line running to the HVAC coil, and sheetrock that had to come out of the ceiling and the pantry.

That is worth understanding if it happens to you. Lightning damage is rarely just roof damage, and a look at only the roof misses the rest. We documented the full scope and handled the repairs alongside the replacement rather than leaving the homeowner to chase four trades.

Hail bruising underneath it

The roof was not new to damage when the lightning hit. Our inspection found hail bruising and granule loss across the field, along with damaged flashing details, and the ridge was already tarped. Those are two separate kinds of damage on the same roof, and both were documented.

The damage was real, and it was documented properly

Our first visit was an inspection, not a sales call. The crew photographed the tarped ridge, the bruising and granule loss across the field, the damaged flashing details, and the water staining that had reached the ceiling inside. That photo record shows exactly what happened to the roof and when.

This is the part homeowners tend to underestimate. Damage that is not photographed early is hard to show later, after weather and patching have changed the roof. We document first, before anyone talks about shingle colors.

Tarp first, then a planned replacement

An emergency tarp is not a repair. It buys time so water stops entering the home, and it protects the homeowner from further loss in the meantime. The tarp on this roof did its job through spring storms until the replacement was scheduled.

Full tear-off, then a look at the deck

The crew stripped the old shingles down to the deck, inspected the decking, and dried the roof in with synthetic underlayment before any new shingles went down. Landscaping around the house was tarped off first, which is cheaper than replacing a homeowner shrub bed later.

Decking condition is not something you can judge from the ground. Getting the old roof off and looking is the only honest way to price and build a replacement.

CertainTeed Landmark shingles, new details

The finished roof is a CertainTeed Landmark architectural shingle system, with a dimensional profile suited to the steep hip lines on this elevation. Every vent pipe, flue and roof vent was re-flashed rather than reused, and ridge venting was run to let the attic exhaust heat.

Penetrations are where most roofs fail. Reusing tired flashing on a brand new roof is a short-term saving that turns into a leak.

Three days on site

Tear-off, dry-in, installation and cleanup ran across three consecutive days. For a residential replacement at this size and roof complexity, that is a realistic schedule, and it is the one we quote instead of an optimistic one we cannot hold.

Storm or lightning damage on your roof?

If lightning or a hailstorm has been through and you are not sure what you are looking at, get it documented early, and get the whole property looked at rather than just the roof. Schedule a free roof inspection and we will tell you plainly what your roof needs, including if the answer is that it can wait. We also handle storm damage repair across the Zachary area.