Hail Damage and Your Driveway: A Storm-Season Checklist

OKC Driveway Repair Co. repairs storm-damaged driveways across the metro, and after a big hail storm it’s fair to ask whether hail damage to a driveway is a real thing. For concrete, the honest answer is rarely, at least from the hail itself. The bigger risks to your drive come from everything that happens around a storm.

Can hail damage a concrete driveway?

Large hail can chip or pit the surface of concrete, especially concrete that is already scaling. But a sound, properly built slab is far harder than a roof, and hail almost never cracks one. If your drive has new cracks after a storm, look for another cause before blaming the hail. Asphalt drives can show more surface marking, and fresh sealcoat can be scuffed, but structural damage from hail alone is uncommon.

What actually damages driveways in storm season

• Roofing crews. After a hail storm, roofs get replaced across whole neighborhoods. Roll-off dumpsters dropped on the drive and loaded shingle-delivery trucks crack slabs that were never built for those loads, especially aprons and thin edges.
• Fallen trees and limbs. The Oklahoma Insurance Department notes that fallen-tree damage to your property is generally claimed on your own homeowners policy.
• Washouts. Spring storms dump a lot of water fast. Runoff following the edge of the drive carries the base away and leaves voids. See driveway washout repair.
• Debris hauling. In the metro’s worst storm years, such as Moore after 1999 and 2013, debris trucks broke approaches across entire neighborhoods.

The post-storm checklist

1. Before the roofers arrive, photograph your whole driveway, including existing cracks, with the date. This is the single most useful thing you can do.
2. Ask where the dumpster goes. Ask for it on the street or on plywood, not on a thin apron or the slab edge.
3. After the roof is done, photograph the drive again. New cracks near where the dumpster or trucks sat are worth raising with the roofing company right away.
4. Check the edges and corners for voids after heavy rain.
5. Clear debris and limbs off the drive so water drains.
6. Look for a new trip edge where people walk, especially if a tree root or a panel moved.

If a contractor’s equipment cracked your drive, see what to do when a contractor damages your driveway. For insurance questions, read does homeowners insurance cover driveway damage?

If anything looks unsafe, such as a void under the slab or a broken panel cars have to cross, call (405) 442-4044 for same-day response, or see emergency driveway repair.