Roofing in Atlanta is a tree story before it is a shingle story. Ice loads a pine until the trunk fails, and the piece that matters is the one in your slope, not the one in the street. After that, a normal summer thunderstorm finishes the job water started. Intown bungalows add valleys, dormers, and chimneys that catch pine straw and oak tassels. Perimeter roofs are often simpler and longer, and they still sit under trees that drop limbs. Start with what you can see from the yard.
Look for a puncture, a lifted flashing at a chimney, a cracked pipe boot, and granules in the gutter after hail. A stain on the ceiling of a Craftsman tells you the water traveled. It does not tell you the only hole is directly above the stain. Attic heat in July will cook a hurried patch. If the deck feels soft from a leak that has been going on through pollen season, the scope is bigger than a bundle of shingles. Say whether the attic is already marked.
Ask whether the work is a repair or a full tear-off, and ask for underlayment, flashing, and debris in that answer. Matched shingles on an older roof can look wrong and still shed water. A full replacement should say who pulls the permit and what happens if the deck is rotten when it is opened. Ventilation is not a footnote in this city. A closed attic over a bungalow or a ranch turns the roof into a griddle and drips condensate that gets blamed on the storm.
If a limb is still up there, say whether wires are involved and whether the ceiling is sagging. Do not climb an icy or wet pitch. A tarp is a pause so the plaster survives the night. Leave enough of the damage visible that the cause can be seen. Cut-up debris at the curb with no photos is how a clear tree strike turns into an argument. Note the neighborhood only so the crew can find the house, not as a speech.
Say leak, puncture, or a roof that is simply done, and say whether ice or hail was the start. Roofing in Atlanta begins under the canopy. Call the number on this page.