Hail rarely breaks a window outright, and that is exactly why hail damage to windows gets missed. The common damage is to frames, cladding, screens, seals and exterior finish, and the consequences of a compromised seal show up months later as haze between the panes rather than as broken glass on the floor the next morning.
Texas gets more of this than almost anywhere. The Insurance Information Institute, citing NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, reported 5,432 hail events nationally in 2025 compared with 5,373 in 2024, and noted that Texas and Kansas had the largest number of hail events in 2025.
What does hail actually do to a window?
Hail damages the parts of a window that are not glass. Impact dents and cracks aluminum or vinyl cladding, deforms frames, tears screens, and drives water past weatherstripping and sealant that was previously doing its job.
The one that costs the most later is seal damage. A sealed insulated glass unit relies on an intact perimeter seal, and an impact that flexes the frame can break that seal without breaking the glass. The window looks fine, then develops permanent condensation between the panes over the following months.
Glass itself does sometimes fail, and tempered glass fails distinctively, breaking into small pieces all at once rather than cracking.
How do you inspect windows after a hail storm?
Work from outside in, and do it in daylight within a few days of the storm. Look along the exterior cladding and frames at a low angle rather than straight on, because dents read much more clearly in raking light.
Check five things specifically. Look for dents or cracks in exterior frames and cladding. Check screens for tears and frame deformation. Look for cracked or missing exterior glazing sealant. Operate every window to see if any now bind, which suggests a frame has moved. And look at the glass edges for any sign of moisture or film forming between panes.
Photograph everything you find, with something in frame for scale, and keep the images dated. If a claim follows, contemporaneous photographs are worth considerably more than a recollection.
When is the damage worth replacing the window over?
Replacement is the right answer when the frame is deformed, when the seal has failed, or when the window no longer operates correctly. Each of those is a performance problem rather than a cosmetic one.
Cosmetic denting to cladding on an otherwise sound window is a judgment call, and it is legitimately a different conversation depending on whether you are looking at one elevation or the whole house. Screens and exterior sealant are usually repairs rather than replacements.
The honest version is that after a storm some windows need replacing, some need resealing, and some are fine, and a contractor who tells you all of them need replacing before looking closely is not assessing, they are selling.
Where does a window contractor fit in an insurance claim?
A window contractor's job is to document what is damaged and to quote the repair or replacement accurately. The claim itself is between you and your insurer.
We will assess the windows, write up what we find with photographs, and give you a detailed scope and quote that you can give to your carrier. We will not tell you what your policy covers, because we have not read it and that is not our role.
Practical advice that is ours to give: do not wait on the inspection. Peak hail season in Central Texas falls in spring, and the weeks after a significant storm are when every exterior contractor in the region is busiest.
Should you use the storm as a reason to upgrade?
Sometimes, and it is a reasonable question to ask. If windows are being replaced anyway, the incremental cost of specifying better glazing for the elevation is small against the cost of the job, and the labor is already being paid for.
That is a separate decision from the claim, and it should be treated separately. What your insurer covers and what you choose to upgrade to are two different conversations, and conflating them is how people end up confused about what they are paying for.
Get the windows looked at properly
If a storm has come through anywhere in our service area, from Austin out through Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Round Rock, Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay, we will inspect the windows and document what we find at no cost and with no obligation.
Tier One Custom Windows is an Austin-based, family-owned specialist with 30-plus years of combined team experience, and we handle the exterior finish work around an opening as well as the window itself, which matters after a storm when the damage rarely stops at the glass. Call (512) 615-8629 or request an inspection.