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Roofing experts share warnings, the steps to take after your roof has been damaged by hail

Homeowners should beware of out of town contractors who are door knocking, offering to waive deductibles.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Sunday's huge hail left significant damage on roofs throughout Southeast Texas.

With severe weather predicted on Thursday, we're not out of the woods yet.

Seth Droddy, the owner of Droddy Roofing tells 12News he's received nearly 40 calls within the past two days about hail-damaged rooves.

He says homeowners should beware of out of town contractors who are door knocking, offering to waive deductibles.

"Do your homework. Call some local people," Droddy said.

After severe weather, out of town contractors flock to impacted neighborhoods and offer to help for a discounted rate.

"If they have people who are offering to waive deductibles or do something illegal like that it would be something that you yourself could get in trouble for," said Droddy.

This is something Port Arthur resident Charles Moon almost fell victim to.

"A man came from Houston and he said it's a free evaluation. I said ok. So he went up there and took pictures and everything," Moon said.

Roofers say homeowners should research contractors and avoid paying money up front.

"Don't sign anything with anybody until you know that's the person that you want to use. Once you sign paperwork sometimes there's things that are hidden that would bind you to that contract," Droddy said.

Moon called a local company instead and he's having to repair his 14-year-old roof after golf ball sized hail pummeled it during Sunday afternoon's hailstorm.

"This time is a little bit different. The hail was...maybe 50 cent sized coming down,"  said Moon.

It only takes is 1 inch diameter hail to damage an older roof and 2 and a half inches and larger can damage any roof.

Droddy says his company is starting to sell more impact rated shingles that can hail proof your roof.

"It's class 3 impact rated and it has a high rating," he said.

Another good tip is to document everything and taking pictures of hail stones to show their size. This proof can be added to your insurance claim.

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