Flower Mound Home › Roof & Wall Work › Impact-Rated Shingles
Impact-Rated Shingles for Flower Mound Roofs
After a baseball-size hail report, the obvious question about the next roof is whether it can take a hit. An impact rating is part of the answer.
In Brief
Impact ratings run from Class 1 to Class 4. Class 4 is the highest.
The rating comes from a laboratory test with steel balls. It is a comparison between products, not a promise that a roof will survive a particular storm.
Some insurers treat Class 4 roofs differently. Ask your own agent what changes on your policy, in both directions, before you choose.
What the Test Is
The standard test for roofing impact resistance drops steel balls of increasing size onto installed shingles from set heights. To earn Class 4, the product must take two hits in the same spot from the largest ball, two inches across, without cracking through. Smaller balls correspond to Classes 1 through 3.
A steel ball is not a hailstone. Real hail is irregular, can be softer or harder, arrives at an angle and comes with wind. A two-inch test also says nothing certain about a four-inch stone. Class 4 shingles tend to come through moderate hail better than standard ones; they are not hail-proof and nobody should tell you they are.
The class system and the two-inch figure are from the industry's standard impact test for roofing. This page was written from general trade knowledge of that standard, not from a page fetched for the purpose.
What Makes a Shingle Class 4
Usually one of two things: a thicker, heavier build, or asphalt blended with a rubber-like polymer so the shingle flexes under a blow. The flexible kind also tends to stay pliable in cold snaps and seal well, which contractors like. They cost more than standard architectural shingles. Ask for the price difference as a line on the quote, not folded into a total.
Questions for the Contractor
- Which exact product is quoted, and can I see its impact classification in the manufacturer's literature?
- Are the hip and ridge caps also impact-rated, or only the field shingles?
- What does the manufacturer's warranty say about hail? Many exclude it.
- Will you give me the paperwork an insurer typically asks for to show a Class 4 roof was installed?
Questions for Your Insurance Agent
This site gives no insurance advice and takes no part in claims. These are questions to put to your own agent, in writing if you can:
Does my policy price a Class 4 roof differently? Does it change how cosmetic damage to the roof is treated? What documentation do you need, and by when?
The answers vary by company and by policy. Get them before the shingles are ordered.
Questions on This Page
Are impact-rated shingles required in Flower Mound?
This site found no source saying the town requires them, and it could not read the town's own code pages. Ask Building Inspections if it matters to your decision.
Do they look different?
Most are architectural shingles that look like any other from the street. Color ranges can be narrower.
Is metal roofing a better answer to hail?
Metal sheds hail without leaking in most cases but dents, and dents are permanent. Whether dents count as damage is an insurance question to ask before choosing it.
Ask for a Quote Both Ways
Standard and Class 4, as separate lines, so the difference is in front of you.
Call (469) 933-1247 Use the Form