When an adjuster climbs a Centennial roof after a storm, they are not eyeballing it. They are running a standardized method: marking a ten foot by ten foot area on each slope, counting the impact marks inside it, and comparing that count against a threshold. Understanding that method is the difference between watching a decision happen and participating in it.
What a Test Square Is
A test square is a one hundred square foot area, ten feet by ten feet, chalked or taped out on a roof slope. The adjuster counts the hail impacts within it. The count is then compared against a threshold, commonly ten hits per square, though the specific number and how it is applied varies by carrier and by region.
The logic is that a roof is either damaged enough to require replacement of a slope or it is not, and counting a representative area is a defensible way to decide. It is a reasonable method. It is also a method with judgment inside it at several points, which is why what happens on the roof matters.
What Counts as a Hit
Not every mark is a hail strike, and this is where most disagreements live. An adjuster is looking for functional damage: a bruise where the impact fractured the fiberglass mat, usually with granules displaced, often soft to the touch. What they are not counting includes blistering, which is a manufacturing or heat artifact, mechanical damage from foot traffic or tools, and ordinary granule loss from age.
The distinction matters because on an older Centennial roof, plenty of marks are present that are not hail. Our guide to shingle granule loss covers how those patterns differ.
Where the Square Gets Placed
This is the single most consequential judgment in the process. A ten by ten area on a large slope is a sample, and sample placement changes the answer. Placed in a sheltered section, the count comes in low. Placed on the most exposed part of the storm facing slope, it comes in high. Neither placement is dishonest; both are defensible; they produce different outcomes.
Standard practice is to test each slope separately, because hail arrives directionally and a north facing slope may be destroyed while the south face is untouched. If only one square is run on one slope and the result is applied to the whole roof, that is worth a polite question at the time rather than an appeal afterward.
Why You Want Your Contractor There
Not to argue, and not to pressure anyone. To make sure the roof is measured completely. A contractor who has already inspected and documented your roof knows where the damage is, which slopes were hit, and what the outbuildings look like. When the adjuster arrives, that knowledge turns into specifics: this slope, this square, this count, these photographs.
The alternative is a homeowner standing in the driveway while two people they have never met make a five figure decision on a roof they cannot see. Our Centennial hail damage page describes how we run that meeting.
What to Do Before the Adjuster Arrives
- Get an independent inspection first. Documented, dated, slope by slope, with photographs. It is free and it means you are not learning about your own roof during the appraisal.
- Photograph the ground level evidence. Dents in gutters, downspouts, vents, the air conditioner and the garage door. Soft metals corroborate the roof.
- Know your storm date. The claim is tied to a specific date of loss. Our Centennial hail history lists the verified events, including the July 9, 2026 storm that put stones to an inch and a half on the area.
- Include everything. Detached garage, shed, fence, deck and siding all belong in the same claim as the roof.
- Be present. Being on site during the inspection is normal, expected and useful.
If the Count Comes Back Short
A low count is not the end of the conversation, and it is not a verdict on your honesty or anyone else's. Re-inspections happen, second adjusters get assigned, and additional documentation gets submitted. What makes any of that productive is evidence: photographs of specific strikes with location noted, corroborating damage on soft metals, and a clear statement of which slopes were tested and which were not.
What does not help is volume. A supplement or a re-inspection request that arrives as an organized document with images is treated differently from one that arrives as a complaint, and that difference is entirely within your control.
Test Square Questions Centennial Homeowners Ask
- How many hail hits does it take to approve a roof? A commonly used benchmark is ten impacts within a ten by ten foot test square, but the threshold and how it is applied vary by carrier. What counts is functional damage, meaning a fractured mat, rather than every mark on the shingle.
- Should each slope be tested separately? Yes, because hail is directional and slopes take very different damage in the same storm. If one square on one slope is being used to characterize the whole roof, ask about the other elevations while the adjuster is still on site.
- Can my roofer be there for the adjuster inspection? Yes, and it is normal. The point is completeness rather than pressure: someone who has already documented the roof can make sure every slope and every outbuilding gets looked at.
- What if the adjuster says it is just wear? Ask which slopes were tested and what the counts were, and get the reasoning in writing. Then submit your documentation, including ground level soft metal damage, and request a re-inspection. That is a normal part of claims work.