Hail on Brick Walls: Photograph the Mortar and Trim First

Hail rarely leaves a neat chip in fired brick the way it leaves a dent in aluminum or a crack in a shingle. A homeowner who walks the front of the house after a storm and sees a clean brick face may assume the walls came through untouched. That assumption is where a claim often goes wrong. The damage that does happen on masonry tends to show up in the mortar, the stone trim, the sills, and the painted wood or metal between the brick and the roof.

This page is for the homeowner deciding what to photograph and what to ask about before the claim goes further. It does not say what your policy covers. Your policy wording controls that, and whether a wall is part of a covered loss turns on that wording, not on how the brick looks from the sidewalk.

Why brick looks fine after hail

Brick is fired clay, and a hailstone of ordinary size striking a brick face usually does not break the unit. The more common damage is at the joints. Hail can knock loose the outer edge of mortar, especially on older joints that have already softened through years of freeze and thaw. St. Louis winters do that work every year. A hail strike on a joint that was already cracked by ice can open it further, and the adjuster may ask how old the crack looks, so the photos need to show the condition of the joint, not only the fresh break.

Brick also hides damage well because its surface is rough and its color is uniform. A chip on a brick face is hard to see from the ground, even when it is there. Walk the wall slowly, and stop at each corner, each window head and each place where a downspout meets the wall.

Mortar joints and the age question

Mortar that has weathered for years looks different from mortar that was struck recently. Fresh breaks tend to look sharp and often look cleaner or paler inside than the surrounding joint. Old cracks often hold dirt, efflorescence, or the same weathering as the rest of the joint. Neither sign settles the question alone, which is why the photos should show the joint in context, with the surrounding joints visible as a comparison.

Photograph each spot with a coin or a ruler in the frame so the size is clear. Then take a second photo from the same position a few steps back so the location can be found again. Do not scrape, brush or repoint a joint before the photos are taken, because that removes the evidence the adjuster will want to see.

Stone sills, coping and the trim that takes the hit

Limestone and cast stone sills, coping on a parapet or a short wall, and the caps on brick piers are harder than shingles but not immune to hail. A hailstone can chip the sharp corner of a stone edge. Those chips are easy to miss from ground level and easy to photograph once you know where to look.

Painted wood trim, aluminum window drip caps, and metal flashing above a window or door show dents more readily than brick does. Those are the surfaces to photograph closely. Shoot in late-morning or late-afternoon light, with the sun low across the surface, because low light shows dents that flat midday light hides. Keep the camera square to the surface so the dent edges read clearly.

What to photograph, in order

1. Each wall face, from the same spot, at full width, with a street sign, the roofline or a corner of the house in view so the location is fixed.
2. Every mortar joint with a visible break, one close photo with a ruler in frame and one from farther back.
3. Stone sills, coping and caps, each corner you can reach from the ground or from a ladder you can stand on safely.
4. Painted trim, drip caps and metal flashing, in raking light.
5. Any spot where paint is cracked or lifted, with the cracked edge facing the camera.
6. A few wide shots of the same wall taken on a dry day, so the condition of the surface is on record before any repair.

Matching a repointed joint

If the masonry repair is done with new mortar, the color and texture of that mortar may not match the older joints around it. This is one of the most common complaints after a masonry repair, and it is worth thinking about before the work starts, not after. Ask the roofer or mason to show a test patch on a hidden section, or to describe how the new mortar will be tinted and tooled to match the wall.

Missouri has no matching statute and no matching regulation that tells an insurer how much of a wall must be replaced to make the color even. Whether a repair must extend to the rest of the wall turns on the policy wording, so the question belongs in your policy and not in a general rule. Read the loss settlement section of the policy before you accept a patch that looks different from the rest of the house.

What the photos cannot tell you

A photo shows a mark. It does not show when the mark formed, and it does not show whether the mark came from hail, from wind-driven debris, from settlement, or from a ladder that leaned on the wall during a previous job. An adjuster will ask what you saw and when. Write down the date you first noticed each mark and what the weather was in the days before. If you were not home for the storm, say so in the note rather than guessing.

Old damage and new damage can sit side by side on the same wall. A cracked joint from an earlier freeze and a fresh hail break can look similar in one photo. The written scope from your roofer should separate them, with a sentence on each location explaining what the evidence shows.

Who speaks for the claim

Keys documents what it finds on a brick house as part of a storm inspection, and it puts the written scope, with dated photos and measurements, in the homeowner's hands. Keys does not handle your claim with your insurer. Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so the conversation with the insurer stays with you. A roofer can attend the adjuster's visit as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer.

Bring the scope and the photo index to that visit. Point to each masonry location on the scope and ask the adjuster to note it in the file. If the adjuster leaves a location off the estimate, ask in writing why it was left off and keep that reply with the rest of your claim papers.

Questions to put to the roofer before the claim moves

• Will the written scope list each masonry item by location, with its own photo and measurement?
• Does the scope say whether a mark is a fresh break or an old crack, and what evidence supports that call?
• Are mortar repairs priced as a separate line, so you can see what the claim covers and what it does not?
• Will the roofer tell you in writing if the masonry falls outside the roof work, so you can route it through the claim on its own?
• Who will test-patch the mortar, and when, before the full wall is repointed?

Questions about a specific wall can go to the Keys office at (314) 220-2333. Bring the photos with you, and bring the policy declarations page so the wording can be checked against what you are seeing on the wall.