Hailstorms blasted through the Billings area in May and June 2016, leaving property owners with a need for substantial repair work to buildings and vehicles. Siding repairs in Billings, MT were necessary for many homeowners, whether their buildings were clad in vinyl or aluminum. Fortunately, this type of damage is covered by home insurance policies, and it typically does not make a house unlivable. Parts of the siding with exceptionally severe damage might need to be tarped, however.
Hail the size of golf balls and even baseballs is not entirely uncommon in this region. Residents might expect this kind of storm at least every few years. Storms don’t always make headlines because Montana has such wide open spaces that hail may never hit a building or car. Yet even then, damage to agricultural crops can be very costly. Before May 2016, the most recent serious hailstorm occurred in 2014.
Hail coming straight down can do significant damage to roofs and drainage gutters. Hailstorms often are characterized by strong winds. Those windy conditions blow the chunks of ice diagonally and even horizontally. The hard pieces of ice can dent siding and even punch holes in it. They also break windows. Often, the damage only occurs to one or two sides of the building. A company such as Built Wright Homes can get crews out to homes quickly to provide estimates for repair work and to start replacing damaged siding as well as gutters, and roof shingles and panels.
Siding repairs in Billings, MT after hail can be problematic for homeowners with siding that is decades old. The vinyl or aluminum has likely changed color to a certain extent, which can make it difficult to match exactly. Home insurance may pay for an entire new siding job if that is the case. Although this could be considered a cosmetic issue, the idea of insurance to repair the damage is to return the house to its prior condition before the damage occurred. This cannot be said for a house that has patched areas of siding that are noticeably different in color than the rest of the panels.
