Storm

Storm Damage Roof Checklist for Schaumburg Homeowners

By Schaumburg Roof Repair · September 8, 2026 · 5 min read

Schaumburg's storm season is not one season. Hail comes April through June, straight-line wind from thunderstorms and the occasional derecho runs through September, and ice dams start in January. Each does different damage and leaves different clues. This is the list we use after any of them, written for mid-September, when the summer wind season is closing and the roof has to be sound before snow.

In the first hour

1. Stay off the roof. Wet shingles are slick, hail-damaged shingles are worse, and a wind-damaged roof may have loose decking. Everything on this list can be done from the ground, a window, and the attic.
2. If water is coming in, put a bucket under it, poke a small hole in a bulging ceiling to let the water out before it collapses the drywall, and move what is under it.
3. Photograph the storm itself, if you still can: hail on the deck next to a coin or a tape measure, the time, and the sky. Adjusters like a date and a size.
4. Note the date and time. Insurers match claims to weather records; the National Weather Service Chicago office logs hail and wind reports by town.

From the ground

Hail

Hail damage on shingles is hard to see from the ground and easy to see on soft metal. Check:

• Gutters and downspouts for dents. Aluminum dents at about 1-inch hail.
• The AC condenser fins for a pattern of flattened spots.
• Window screens for tears, and painted wood trim for chips.
• Granules in the gutters and at the downspout outlets — a pile the size of a cup after one storm is a sign.
• The deck, the car, the mailbox. If those are dinged, the roof is.

Hail bruises are dark, roughly round spots where the granules were knocked off, soft to the touch. They do not leak now. They crack a year or two later, which is why a roof inspection within a few weeks of the storm matters — the claim has to be tied to the date.

Wind

Wind is the easier one to see. Walk the yard and the neighbor's yard for shingles and tabs. Look up at each slope, especially the ones facing west and south, for tabs standing up, missing shingles, and a horizontal crease line a few inches above the bottom edge where a tab folded back and lay down again. Creased shingles are broken even though they look fine from the street. Check the ridge cap, which goes first, and any satellite dish or turbine vent that may have moved.

Ice dams

A thick band of ice along the eave with icicles behind the gutter, water staining on the siding or soffit below, and a stain on the ceiling above an exterior wall. Ice dam damage is usually a covered loss on Illinois policies when it causes sudden interior damage, but the underlying cause — a warm attic — is not.

From the attic

Within a day of the storm, take a flashlight into the attic. Wet insulation, water trails on the rafters, daylight through the deck where a shingle is gone. Photograph all of it. The find-the-leak-from-inside post walks through the tracing.

Emergency measures

If water is coming in, a tarp is the right call and most policies reimburse it as a reasonable step to prevent further damage. Keep the receipt. A proper tarp on a Schaumburg roof runs $300–$700 and should be nailed through furring strips at the top and sides, not just weighted with bricks. Do not let anyone do a permanent repair before the adjuster has seen the roof, unless the damage is photographed thoroughly first.

Before you call the insurer

Get a licensed roofer to inspect and document. A roofer who works claims regularly will chalk test squares on each slope, count hail hits, photograph creases and produce a written scope with measurements. Then decide whether it is a claim. Three creased shingles on one slope is a $400 repair and not worth the claim. Hail on every slope is a replacement and exactly what the policy is for. See storm damage and insurance claims for the process.

The people who will knock on your door

Within 48 hours of a hailstorm, Weathersfield, Lexington Fields and the Hoffman Estates parcels fill with trucks offering free inspections. Some are fine. Ask every one of them for their Illinois roofing license number, which state law requires on their contract and their advertising, and look it up on the IDFPR site before you sign anything. Anyone who offers to cover your deductible is offering something that is illegal in Illinois. The contractor questions post has the rest of the list.

The checklist, short version

• Off the roof. Bucket under the drip. Photos of hail with a coin.
• Date and time.
• Gutters, AC fins, screens, trim, granules.
• Shingles in the yard, creases, ridge cap.
• Attic: wet spots, daylight, trails.
• Tarp if water is coming in. Keep the receipt.
• Licensed inspection and written scope before the claim.
• License number on paper. No deductible deals.