Hail on Your Deck Rails and Stair Treads Needs Its Own Photo Set

After a hailstorm most St. Louis homeowners walk the roof, the gutters and the siding, then stop. The deck out back often gets a quick look, if it gets one at all. Hail does not care which side of the house it lands on. A railing cap, a stair tread or a board at the top of the steps can take the same stones that dented the gutter, and the marks are easy to miss from a standing position. If you are deciding what to do next, a deck is worth its own short photo set, kept apart from the roof file.

What hail does to a deck rail

Most decks in this area have a top rail, a set of balusters and sometimes a cap rail on posts. Aluminum rail systems and metal post caps show hail as small round dents, often in a scatter pattern with the largest marks on the side of the rail that faced the storm. Wood rails show something different. Hail can split the top edge, bruise the grain and knock loose fibers that look like raised fuzz. Wood often looks worse at first and then weathers into a gray that hides the mark, so the photo taken in the first week matters more than the one taken in the spring.

Check the joints where a rail meets a post. A small dent on a rail is usually cosmetic. A dent that sits right on a fastener or a bracket can loosen the connection over time, and that is a structural question for the deck itself. Photograph the joint with a coin or a tape measure in the frame so the size can be read later.

Stair treads and the walking surface

Stair treads are the part of a deck that takes the most abuse from feet and the most weather from above. On a wood stair, hail can crack the surface of a tread along the grain or lift a small chip of wood where a stone hit the edge. Those chips hold water, and water in a wood tread that is already cracked is how a soft spot starts. Look at the nosing, which is the front edge of each step, and at the first board of each run, which is where a stone tends to land when it bounces off the rail.

Count the treads. If you have a deck with six steps and two sides, that is a dozen surfaces to look at, and each one should have its own frame. A photo of the whole staircase helps show which side took the storm, but it does not show a crack. Take a close photo of any mark with a straight-on angle, then a wider photo of the same spot so the location is clear.

Composite and PVC boards

Composite decking and PVC boards handle hail differently from wood. Many composite boards show hail as a light dimple or a shallow ding that is easier to see in low sun than under flat overcast light. PVC can crack or chip at the edge. Some boards show a whitish scuff where a stone struck and skidded. None of these marks is a reason to assume the board is ruined, but each one should be recorded. Ask the installer or the manufacturer what the board warranty covers before you decide whether to replace a single board or the whole run, because the answer depends on the product and the age of the deck, and we do not know the product on your deck from the outside.

Composite and PVC boards also tend to show dirt and pollen, which can hide a mark. Rinse the surface with a garden hose before you photograph it. Wiping a board with a dry cloth can smear grit into a dent and make it harder to read.

How to photograph it

A deck photo set does not need a camera. A phone with the date on the image is enough, as long as the photos are kept in a folder with the storm date in the name. Shoot each element in three frames: a wide shot showing where it sits on the deck, a medium shot showing the mark in context, and a close shot with a coin, a ruler or a tape measure next to the damage. Use the same order every time so the file is easy to read later.

Do not shoot only the marks that look bad. Shoot the surfaces that look fine too, because a clean rail next to a dented one is evidence about which direction the hail came from. Note the orientation of each photo in a text line, such as north rail or second stair from the bottom. A deck with its back to the storm may show almost nothing, and that is useful information too.

Where the deck sits relative to the roof

A deck close to the house can share a storm with the roof above it. If the deck has a roof over it, a pergola or a covered section, that cover is a roof in its own right and needs its own look. An open deck sitting under the main eave can show hail on the rails and on the fascia at the same time. Those marks belong in the same file as the roof photos, but they should be labeled as deck items, so nobody reading the file later has to guess which surface was marked.

The deck also sits next to the house wall, and the wall often takes hail along the same line. Check the siding behind a rail and the trim where a stair stringer meets the house. If you have already read the roof and siding guidance on this site, use the same orientation notes for the deck so the three sets match.

What to put in writing from Keys

When Keys inspects a deck after a storm, the goal is a written record you can keep. Keys documents the damage with photos and measurements, and it puts a written scope in your hands that lists each element, each mark and what is proposed for it. You can take that scope to your own insurer if you choose to make a claim. Missouri law bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, and from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible, so Keys does not deal with your insurer for you. Keys attends as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer, and it does not speak for you in that process.

Ask for the scope to list the deck items separately from the roof. A line that says deck, repair or replace is not enough. A useful line names the element, the material, the mark, the measurement and the photo number that goes with it. If the scope lumps the deck into a general repair figure, ask for the split before you sign anything.

Keep the deck file with the roof file

The roof file and the deck file will be read by the same people, so keep them in one folder with two subfolders. Date each photo with the storm date in the file name, and write a short text note in each subfolder that lists the elements shot and the date each was shot. If the deck gets repaired before anyone looks at it, keep the photos taken before the repair and do not delete them. A repaired board with no photo before the repair is harder to explain than a board with a clear before and after.

The deck does not need to be the first thing you fix after a storm. It does need to be on the list, photographed and written down while the marks are still easy to read. A rail dent taken in the first week is a clear record. The same dent photographed in the spring, after the wood has weathered, is a harder one to explain.