Haag’s in-house desaturation procedure is based on the principles outlined in ASTM D3746, which assesses impact damage to bituminous roofing by chemically extracting the reinforcements and examining them for impact-caused fractures or strains. Haag Research & Testing Co. is an accredited testing laboratory by the International Accreditation Service (IAS) and our desaturation procedure is a key test on our scope of accreditation.

Asphalt built-up roofing and modified bitumen roofing are among the more hail resistant roofing products and assessing hail impact damage to these systems can present unique challenges for roof consultants, insurance adjusters, roofing contractors, and property owners. Surface anomalies on bituminous roofing are often mistaken for hail-caused conditions. Laboratory analysis can conclusively determine if a substantial hailstone impact has damaged a roofing sample and desaturation testing can play an important role in settling insurance or legal disputes. 

Laboratory technicians examine the top and bottom surfaces of samples and document their condition, including any anomalies that are potentially related to hailstone impact. Technicians photograph top, bottom, and side views of samples and take close-up photographs of any potential impact anomalies. Locations of the anomalies are documented on clear overlay sheets, which are used to identify anomaly locations after chemical extraction of the reinforcements. All reinforcements are examined for hail impact damage and specific areas of interest identified prior to desaturation on each reinforcement are documented photographically.

Our laboratory director is a licensed engineer, with decades of experience performing field examinations of roofing and laboratory testing. The director prepares a laboratory report that describes the desaturation process in detail, remarks on the conditions observed on each sample, and discusses the test results. The laboratory report will include photographs that demonstrate the testing process from start to finish and specific conclusions on the analysis.