Fiber cement siding is the board many St. Louis houses were clad in over the last few decades, and it holds up well to rain and sun. Hail is a different test. A stone that would only mark vinyl can chip the face of a fiber cement board, crack the edge, or break the seal where the board meets a window, door or trim. Those marks are easy to miss from the lawn, especially on a second story, so a homeowner who is deciding what to do next needs a clear set of photos before any repair decision is made.
Storm and hail
Fiber cement is cement and cellulose fiber pressed into boards and usually finished with a painted or factory-primed coat. When hail hits it squarely, the usual mark is a chipped or spalled spot where the paint and the top layer of board have broken away, sometimes down to a pale gray core. A dent with no break in the surface is less common. A crack that runs through the board is rarer still, but it happens on the larger stones and on boards that were already hairline cracked from settling or a poor nail line.
Start the walk on the side of the house that took the storm. In St. Louis County that is usually the side facing the direction the storm came from, but wind shifts during hail, so walk all four walls. Look at the face of each board at a low angle, with the sun across the wall if you can, because a shallow chip shows as a shadow. Photograph each mark with a tape measure or a coin beside it so the size is clear. Take one wide photo of the wall for location and one close photo of each mark.
Do not stop at the face. Check the caulk line where the siding meets each window and door, the top of each corner trim, and the lower edge of the lowest course near the foundation. Hail often cracks or loosens the caulk before it breaks the board, and once the seal is open, water gets behind the board. Press gently on any chipped area with a fingertip. If the board feels soft or crumbles, the damage goes deeper than the paint.
Look also at the nail heads. Fiber cement is fastened with nails set into the face, and a hail hit can drive a nail head through the surface or raise the board off the sheathing. A row of raised nails, or a row of chips that follows one horizontal line, usually means the stone hit the same spot in several places, which is worth noting in your file.
Some of the marks will be paint only, with the board still sound. Scuffs from a ladder, a mower, or a child's bicycle can look like hail to a casual eye. Pressing on the mark and checking whether the board itself is broken tells you which one you are looking at. If you are unsure, photograph it anyway and let the roofer or siding inspector make the call on the wall.
What it costs
Replacing a damaged fiber cement board is usually a small job per board, but the price is set by how many boards are involved, how hard they are to reach, and whether the matching paint can be found. Two boards on a first-story wall with easy access cost far less than the same two boards behind a deck or under a second-story roof edge. A single repair may also need scaffold or ladder time that a homeowner does not see on the invoice but pays for in the total.
Matching is the hard part. Fiber cement boards and their factory finishes change over the years, and a patch that looks right on day one can show a different sheen or shade after one season of St. Louis sun. Ask the contractor whether the color can be matched from a sample, whether the paint will run across the full wall or only the patched boards, and what the plan is if the match does not hold. A wall with one patch in a different shade is a visible result that you will live with for years.
Do not pay for a repair that only covers the chipped face. If the caulk line, the trim, or the nail heads are also damaged, the scope should say so, and each item should be priced on its own line. A quote that says "siding repair" with no count of boards, no list of trim pieces, and no caulk line is hard to compare against another quote and hard to check when the work is done.
What to ask
Ask the contractor to walk the house with you and to write down each mark they see, with the wall it is on and a photo. Keep a copy of that list. You will need it whether the repair happens this season or the next.
Ask what the scope covers and what it leaves out. Ask whether the price includes paint on the full wall or only the patched boards, whether caulk and trim are priced separately, and who removes and disposes of the broken pieces. Ask how the new boards will be fastened, because a board nailed through the wrong spot can crack the next time the temperature drops.
Ask how the contractor will document the work before the wall is closed up. Photos of the boards before removal, after the new boards are set, and after paint give you a record that is useful at any point later. Keys Roofing documents damage and puts a written scope with photos and measurements in the homeowner's hands, and attends as the contractor while the homeowner deals with their own insurer. Missouri law (RSMo 407.725) bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating a homeowner's insurance claim, so any conversation about the claim itself belongs between you and your insurer.
If you want to talk through the marks on your walls before you decide what to do, call the Keys Roofing office at (314) 220-2333. Bring the photos you took, with the wall and the height noted for each one, and the list will be easier to work from.