hail damage to pebble deck driveway and patio

[sunvalley]

insurance adjuster wants me to have contractors prove damage to surface is from hail storm. he claims that it is not, because small unprotected area not damaged. i replied why does one window get broken when the ones next to it don't. any advise. hail came in on angle and bounced ricouceting off stones leaving gouges in surface.

[Jim Katen]

You're claiming that hail damaged your concrete flatwork?

That must be some really crummy flatwork.

[Scottpat]

insurance adjuster wants me to have contractors prove damage to surface is from hail storm. he claims that it is not, because small unprotected area not damaged. i replied why does one window get broken when the ones next to it don't. any advise. hail came in on angle and bounced ricouceting off stones leaving gouges in surface.

As Jim said that is some large hail! If was hard and large enough to gouge concrete it surely would have put holes in the roof.

Take a few pictures and share them with us. It is hard to give an opinion without photos.

You can also subscribe to forensic weather services that will provide you with detailed weather for your area on the day in question. It is not inexpensive but it holds up in court if it ever comes to that.

[Erby]

Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix.

Bet he's talking about this hail storm that hit there on the 5th of October, 2010.

Though I still can't see it damaging concrete, it sure tore the hell out of a lot of other stuff.

[utube]

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[inspector57]

He might be talking about a finish system rather than the concrete itself. The subject "hail damage to pebble deck driveway and patio" brought to mind the old clear epoxy finish that has small smooth pea gravel adhered to the surface of concrete (or other) surfaces. I've seen bunches of this stuff fail for no apparent reason and hail could certainly pop it off if it had a few years on it.

[sunvalley]

sorry i didn't explain. pebble deck is small pebbles held together by an epoxy. it is then layered on top of the cement slab. it is these small pebbles that were knocked out by the golf ball and larger hail.

js

[mgbinspect]

Having done insurance work for a few years, one of the claims departments first lines of defense is to stonewall and see who goes away. If you're confident that you're right, just very kindly make it clear you're not going to roll over, and plan to take the claim as far as they make you take it. If they know that you're most likely right and that they're probably going to loose, they'll write the check. It's all about dollars.

[kurt]

I've found those pebble-epoxy overlays to have very poor weather performance; they delaminate.

Big enough hail could mess up a delam'ed installation.

[Jim Katen]

sorry i didn't explain. pebble deck is small pebbles held together by an epoxy. it is then layered on top of the cement slab. it is these small pebbles that were knocked out by the golf ball and larger hail.

js

Ah, that makes sense. I thought you were talking about exposed aggregate. I can easily see how hail could damage the pebble deck.

Just be a squeaky wheel.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[BARBMCCANN]

We have an epoxy stone driveway damaged by hail. Freak hailstorm hit with baseball size hail. Had to had new roof, gutters, screens, mailbox, but the insurance adjuster is not familiar with the application and feels the damage was not caused by hail.

We have had 2 companies that each have 20 years experience state in writing that the damage is consistent with hail damage.

It's an expensive application so not many homes have this.

The driveways faces East - direction the storm came from. We also have the application on a patio in the backyard (face West) and there is no damage.

Insurance company just sent a structural engineer who stated there was no underlying damage to the concrete base - but he was no familiar with epoxy stone application!!!

Help! Has anyone else had this problem - what was the resolution? How can we fight this?

So - the insurance company sent a structural engineer who by his own admission knows nothing about epoxy applications. He said the problem was caused by vehicles and age and was delaminating - and they are denying the clai.

We maintained the driveway and had sealed it the year before - the installer just inspected it and said in general it was very well maintained. His company also guarantees that the epoxy coating will not delaminate and the driveway is spalling. We all believe it was from hail - NEXT STEP ....fight the insurance company!

[mjr6550]

You might try contacting the product manufacturer to see if they have had any past experience with hail damage.

[BARBMCCANN]

Great idea! I don't know why we didn't think of that! Thank you!