Hail on a Basketball Hoop: Photograph the Board, Rim and Pole

A basketball hoop in a St. Louis driveway takes hail in three places: the board, the rim and the pole. Most owners only look at the net, because the net is what they replace after a season, and a board that cracked or a rim that bent in a storm can sit in the driveway for months before anyone thinks to check it. The hoop is also the kind of outdoor fixture that falls outside the roof conversation, which is why it gets left off storm lists. This page covers what to photograph, what to ask whoever looks at it, and how to keep the photos useful if the damage turns out to matter.

Storm and hail

Hail that reaches the St. Louis area in late spring and early summer is often quarter size, roughly an inch across, and a hoop board does not need a large stone to show damage. Acrylic and polycarbonate backboards can craze, which means a web of fine surface cracks that catch light at odd angles, or they can split from a corner. A steel rim can take a dent or a flattened side, and a rim bent even slightly will sit crooked on its bracket. The pole is the part people forget. Galvanized steel poles show hail as small round dimples, usually on the side facing the storm. A dimple by itself is not a problem, but a dimple near the base, where the pole meets the anchor, deserves a closer look.

Each of these parts gets photographed on its own. Stand back far enough to show the whole hoop, then move in for the board, the rim, the bracket and the pole at the anchor. Use daylight rather than a flash, because a flash washes out crazing. Put a coin or a tape measure in the frame for scale. Keep the original files on your phone or camera, and do not send screenshots to anyone, because a screenshot strips the file information that shows when the picture was taken. Dated originals show what the hoop looked like on the day you took them, and that matters more than anything written about it later.

A cold stretch makes the damage worse. Water gets into a crack in the board, freezes and widens it, and the freeze-thaw cycle that runs through a St. Louis winter does this repeatedly. A board that looked like surface haze in October can split by January. That is one reason to take the pictures before the first hard freeze rather than in the spring, when the crack may have grown and the original condition is harder to show.

Hail on a hoop is also a reminder that the hoop is not the roof. Hail on the roof leaves marks on the shingles, the gutters, the vents and the soft metal, and a roofer reading those marks will look at the whole house. The hoop in the driveway tells you nothing about the roof, and the roof tells you nothing about the hoop. Keep the hoop photos in their own folder so nobody mistakes one set for the other.

What it costs

The price of a damaged hoop depends on which part is damaged. A cracked board may be a board-only job, while a bent rim or a damaged pole may mean replacing the whole unit, and the difference is large enough that a single lump-sum figure tells you very little. Ask the installer to price the board, the rim, the pole and the anchor separately, and to say what they would do if the pole is set in concrete that has to be cut or broken out. Ask whether the old parts are hauled away, and whether the quote includes the crew's time to take the old unit down.

Ask also whether a replacement board matches the thickness and color of the old one. A board of a different thickness may not seat in the same bracket, and a new board in a different color changes how the hoop looks from the street. These are small details, but they are the ones that turn a simple swap into a second trip.

Whether any of this is covered by your homeowners policy turns on the policy wording, and that question goes to your insurer. Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so a roofer can document the damage, provide a written scope with photos and measurements, and attend as the contractor, but cannot argue the claim for you. A hoop may or may not sit under the same policy section as the roof, and reading that section is your job with your own insurer. The roofer's photos are the same either way.

What to ask

Ask whoever looks at the hoop to photograph each part at the same distance you used, so the two sets line up. Ask what they found on the rim and the bracket, not only on the board, because a rim out of true can damage a new board within the first season. Ask how the pole is anchored and whether the anchor has moved, since a leaning pole often shows the problem before the board does.

Ask for the written scope to list each part on its own line, and ask whether the photos come with it as original files. A single photo of the whole hoop, with no close-ups, does not give you much to compare against in the spring.

Ask whether the work is in scope before you assume it is. Keys Roofing is a roofing contractor, and a basketball hoop may not sit within what it takes on. Call (314) 220-2333 and ask directly what the office can take on and what it would refer to someone else.

Ask who will be in the driveway. A hoop that stands near a garage door or a truck route needs the crew to know where the pole sits before they start, and that question belongs on the same list as the rest of the job.