When a storm rolls through the Four-State Area, one of the first steps many homeowners take is filing an insurance claim. But when the adjuster shows up, how do you know if they’re doing a thorough inspection? In this recent video from Oronogo, Missouri, Tim Yates of Ridgeline Roofing & Solar breaks down exactly what a proper roof inspection by an insurance adjuster should look like, from the ground up.

What a Proper Insurance Inspection Includes

A good adjuster should inspect everything on the property—not just the roof. Here’s what they should be checking:

• Front, right, back, and left elevations of the home
• Garage doors and metal wraps (paint chipping, dents, etc.)
• Windows and screens, including cracks or frame damage
• Downspouts and guttering
• AC units—while full replacements are rare, combing out damaged fins is often covered
• Decks and fences, especially if stained or painted in the last 1–2 years
• Roof components: shingles, box vents, ridge caps, pipe flashings

In this Oronogo inspection, Tim marked a 10’x10′ test square on the roof—an industry-standard method to document hail hits. Most insurance companies require 8 or more hits within that square for approval. This roof had 14+ confirmed hail strikes, making the case for full replacement crystal clear.

Beyond the Roof: Hidden Damage That Matters

What sets a great roofing contractor apart is attention to the full building envelope. At this job, the box vents were caved in, pipe flashing boots were cracked, and the gutters showed visible aluminum denting. The hailstorm clearly came from the west, leaving the left elevation of the building severely damaged.

These details are critical for insurance reports—and many homeowners miss them unless they’re working with a contractor who understands the full scope of storm-related damage.

Let Ridgeline Help You Navigate the Insurance Process

Our team works closely with adjusters to ensure nothing is overlooked. We provide:

• Pre-inspections to document all existing damage
• On-site representation during adjuster visits
• Test square markings and photo documentation
• Professional guidance through the claims process
• Industry-leading materials like Tamko Titan XT and Polyglass silicone coatings

Whether your roof needs a simple repair or qualifies for full replacement, we help you understand your options and advocate for your investment.

Hear Tim’s Thoughts

Video Transcript: "Hey, Tim Yates, Ridgeline Roofing and Solar. We're in Orinogo this afternoon. It's Friday, end of the week, and we're looking forward to a rainy weekend. So we were talking a little bit about what to look for when your insurance company sends an adjuster out to your home
to inspect your home. What should they actually be doing? So they get out of their car, they knock on their door, they introduce themselves, they tell you they're going to be inspecting everything. So at that point, what they should be doing is inspecting everything on your property.
And it starts with maybe the front of your home. They usually go front, right, back, left. And they kind of, if they know what they're doing, they kind of keep it in that sequence. So front elevation, garage door, you know, go up to see if your garage door has damage, your garage door wraps.
If they're metal, a lot of times they have damage if they're painted. Sometimes they're chipped.
Gable end vents, windows, window screens. On your windows, you want to make sure that the plastic that your windows made of the framing isn't broken or cracked. And then the window screens themselves, they're damaged pretty easy. And from the ground, they also do the downspouts for your gutters. And AC units, typically, that's not something the insurance companies replace, but they pay to comb the fins out when fins get damaged.
get damaged. We do see that a lot. So also if you have fresh staining on your deck and it's damaged you know within a couple of years and also fences within a couple of years if you've got them stained or painted or anything of that nature. So then coming up on the roof, gutters. Gutters definitely need to be inspected. We'll kind of show you a little bit of gutter damage and then we also made a test square on this roof to show some of the hill damage. So test squares are 10 foot by 10 foot.
Most companies require eight viable hits in a 10 foot by 10 foot section. This one has way more than that. So what I did, Ed, if you want to kind of get a little zoom in on some of these dark spots, this is where the bruising is from the hail. I circled about 14 of them. So on this is front equals 14 and I put a plus because I didn't, once you get over eight you're pretty much good. So I just put if I usually 10 to 14, I'll put that number and plus just to let the insurance company know there's actually more than that on this elevation. So front elevation, right elevation, back elevation, left elevation, left elevation. If you're doing the front elevation, you have another elevation over here that's showing the front elevation. You don't have to do it twice. Just once. And you can actually, if you have good representation on your job, you can actually have your roofing contractor come up and request this spot that they do their test. So on your roof, you have your shingles of course.
You need to check and see how many layers are removed. All this ridge cap, these box vents. Can you see the box vents from there, Ed? Yes. Let me grab that real quick. I'll show them. So these box vents have pretty bad damage as well. They're all been caved in, that big hill here.
You want to make sure on your pump, your pipe flashings, while they're up on the roof,
while your contractor's up on the roof, that these neocremes aren't busted out.
Need some attention to keep you from leaking. And you can see the hill, how the hill came in from this direction. We're on the west side right now, which is the left elevation of this home.
You can see all the hail damage on this. It's really severe. So obviously it's going to be worse on the side it came in on, the opposing side. And then the gutter. So I'll run down here and show you guys the gutters on this one real quick. There's more of that bridge cap that has damage across there.
And then the gutters, you can see on this gutter, I tried to mark a couple of spots, but
pretty severe. And gutters are just aluminum. Most gutters are just aluminum. So you can see the damage on it pretty easy. But that's kind of what they should be going over. And they should check everything on your property from the garage door to your grill cover. So if you have any questions, get us a call. Thank you."