Hail hit. Here is what happens next.
Your roof is the part of the house you cannot see from the driveway. We climb it, photograph every slope, and write up what the hail and wind actually did, so you and your insurance company are looking at the same facts.
Marcus Hale, owner. Founded 2013. Crew of seven, all on our payroll. Serving Will, Kendall and Grundy counties from Joliet. We tarp the same day if water is coming in.
How a storm claim actually goes
Dates below are counted from the day the storm passes over your house. Most Will County claims run on about this schedule. It is your claim on your policy; we do the roofing and the paperwork, you make the calls.
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1
Day 0
The storm Get the water stopped. If shingles are gone or you see a ceiling stain, call us. We tarp the open area the same day and photograph what we found before we cover it. Keep any hail you can in a freezer bag; a photo of it next to a coin helps. -
2
Day 1
The inspection We walk every slope. Chalk-marked test squares, gutter dents, downspout bruises, soft metal on vents, siding on the windward wall. You get a written summary and 40 to 80 labeled photos the same evening. If the roof is not damaged enough to claim, we say so and you keep the photos. -
3
Week 1
Your claim is filed You call your carrier, not us. You open the claim on your own policy with your own claim number. We give you the date of loss, our photo set and an itemized estimate written in Xactimate format, the same line-item system most adjusters use. You send it in. -
4
Week 2 to 4
The adjuster visit We meet the adjuster on your roof. Marcus or a lead is on site when the adjuster comes, ladder up, pointing to the same test squares we photographed. Disagreements get settled with a tape measure and a camera. When the carrier's estimate comes back, we walk you through it line by line. -
5
Install day
Usually 1 day Tear off, dry in, shingle, clean up. A typical Plainfield or Shorewood ranch is one day; a two-story with a steep back slope is two. Ice and water shield in the valleys and at the eaves, synthetic underlayment, ridge vent, drip edge. Magnet sweep of the lawn before the truck leaves. Final invoice matches the approved scope.
What we do after a storm
Everything on this list is done by our own crew, not subbed out. Shingles are Owens Corning Duration or GAF Timberline HDZ, whichever matches your existing roof or your carrier's scope allows.
Hail damage roof replacement
Full tear-off and replacement when the shingle mat is bruised through. Class 4 impact-rated shingles on request, which several Illinois carriers discount.
Wind damage roof replacement
Creased, lifted or missing tabs across enough of a slope that patching will not hold. We show you the creases on the photo set before we recommend anything.
Insurance claim documentation
Labeled photo set, test-square counts, a measured roof diagram and an itemized Xactimate-format estimate for you to submit with your own claim.
Emergency tarping
Same-day tarp and board-up on open decking or a blown-off ridge. Photographed before and after so nothing gets lost in the claim.
Siding after storms
Vinyl and fiber cement on the windward wall, matched to the existing profile where a match still exists, replaced in full where it does not.
Gutters and downspouts
Seamless aluminum in the standard colors, run on site. Dented gutters are often part of the scope; we photograph them so they are counted.
What we will and will not do
Written down so you can hold us to it.
We will
- Document every slope.Front, back, both gables, the garage, the shed if it is on the policy. Photos are dated and labeled by slope.
- Meet the adjuster on the roof.Not in the driveway. We bring the same chalk and tape they do and we point to the same squares.
- Give you a written, itemized estimate.Same week as the inspection, in the line-item format your carrier reads.
- Tell you if it is not a claim.Some roofs take hail and are fine. We would rather lose the job than push a claim that will not hold up.
- Install to the manufacturer's spec.So the shingle warranty is real, not just printed on the wrapper.
We will not
- Inflate a claim.We estimate what the storm did, not what the policy will bear. Padding a scope is insurance fraud and it is your name on the claim.
- Waive or absorb your deductible.Illinois does not allow it, and any roofer offering to is telling you how they handle the rest of the paperwork.
- Negotiate your claim for you.We are your roofer, not your adjuster. We supply facts and measurements; you and your carrier settle the claim.
- Ask you to sign anything on day one.No assignment of benefits, no contingency agreement at the door. You get a written proposal and time to read it.
- Send a sales crew door to door after a storm.If someone knocks in our name, call us and we will tell you whether they work here.
From Marcus Hale, owner
I started Tri-County in 2013 with one truck and a lot of tarps after a spring hailstorm went through Plainfield and Shorewood. That first season I watched homeowners get talked into claims they did not need and roofs they did not get. So I decided the business would run on one rule: put the facts on paper first, then let the homeowner decide.
Thirteen years on we are seven people, all W-2, most of them here five years or more. I still climb the roof on every inspection or send a lead who has done it a few hundred times. If the hail did not bruise the mat, I will tell you at the kitchen table and leave you the photos to keep for the next storm.
We work out of a shop on West Jefferson in Joliet, and we can be in Minooka or Lockport in under half an hour. Call the office and you will get me, my wife Renee, or our lead Tomas. Not a call center.
Marcus Hale Owner, Tri-County Storm Roofing. Illinois Roofing License #104.021566.
What homeowners in Will County say
Read all reviews on Google-
The adjuster came out and Marcus was already on the roof with his photos. Whole thing was settled on the ladder in about twenty minutes. Roof went on the following Tuesday and they had the lawn swept before I got home.
Dana R. Plainfield, June 2026. Google. -
Honestly expected a sales pitch. Instead they told me the north slope was fine and only the south and the garage needed to go on the claim. Sent me the estimate the same evening with every photo labeled.
Luis M. Romeoville, July 2026. Google. -
Had water coming in through the kitchen ceiling at four in the afternoon. Tarp was on by six. They photographed the damage before they covered it and that is exactly what the insurance company asked for later.
Karen T. Shorewood, April 2026. Google.
Where we work
Will, Kendall and Grundy counties, from the shop at 2100 W Jefferson St in Joliet.
- Joliet Home base, west side
- Plainfield Will and Kendall
- Shorewood Will County
- Romeoville Will County
- Lockport Will County
- Minooka Grundy and Kendall
Oswego, Channahon, Crest Hill and New Lenox are close enough that we take those calls too. Anything past Naperville or south of Morris, we will point you to someone nearer.
Book a roof inspection
Free, no obligation, and you keep the photos either way. We usually get to a Joliet or Plainfield address within two working days of the call. Active leak, call the number below and we will move you to the front.
2100 W Jefferson St, Joliet, IL 60435
Monday to Saturday, 7 am to 6 pm. Storm days, later.