Polymer Siding Protects Your Home From Hail

Hail. It’s not a word that any homeowner (or car owner, for that matter) wants to hear, but it’s an unavoidable one in the Midwest. Kansas City is located in the midst of what’s known as “hail alley,” a strip of real estate consisting of much of the Midwest and Great Plains states, which receives substantially more hail than any other part of the country. (Not all that different from the better-known “tornado alley.”) In a report filed by the Storm Prediction Center, hail reports in the central United States were shown to exceed those of any other area by a factor of 10.

Hailstones can range in size from 1/5 of an inch to over 6 inches in diameter. The largest hailstone officially measured in the United States was 8 inches in diameter and weighed almost 2 pounds. Hailstones of different sizes fall at different speeds, but bigger ones can hit the ground—or your car or house—at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour!

As you can imagine, a chunk of ice falling 100 miles an hour can do a lot of damage. Every year in the United States hail damage accounts for over $1 billion in property losses, including damage to houses and cars. The biggest victim of hail damage in houses are roofs and siding, though guttering and even windows can suffer as well.

Most homeowners in the Kansas City area have probably had to deal with hail at one time or another. It’s hard to avoid! You may have even had to file an insurance claim as a result of hail damage, or run afoul of a “storm chaser.” Usually that phrase describes a person who researches weather patterns and phenomena, but it’s also come to be used as a derogatory description of fly-by-night contractors who travel from place to place, following severe weather and completing shoddy home repairs on short notice, then moving on before the lackluster quality of their work is detected.

Of course, no homeowner wants to get stuck with shoddy repair work from a “storm chaser,” but in even the best of circumstances, hail damage to roofs and siding is a pain to deal with, and can have lasting repercussions if it’s not addressed quickly. Fortunately, you can eliminate at least some of that worry with seamless polymer siding in Kansas from Continental Siding. Polymer siding is tough, resilient, attractive, customizable, and offers you energy savings over many other siding options. Perhaps best of all, though, it’s incredibly impact resistant, virtually eliminating the possibility of hail damage. And, on the off chance that hail damage does occur, polymer siding from Continental Siding comes with a lifetime warranty that eliminates the need to file insurance claims or worry about dealing with a “storm chaser.”

This article was brought to you by Continental Siding in Kansas City, your Midwest siding company. We’re a leading provider of home improvement products and services that aim to help them keep homes looking great and performing well.