What we look at
- The surface. Shingles, tile or metal panels on every slope, not just the ones you can see from a ladder.
- Flashing. At chimneys, walls, skylights and valleys, where two materials meet and water looks for a way in.
- Pipe boots. The rubber collars around plumbing vents. The sun cracks them, and they cause more leaks than hail does.
- Ventilation. Intake at the soffits, exhaust at the ridge. A hot attic cooks a roof from below.
- Gutters. Including the granules collecting in them, which is the roof leaving in small pieces.
- The attic. If you let us in. Daylight through the deck and stained sheathing tell the truth about a roof.
What you get
A written report within one business day: photos, a plain-language summary, and one of three conclusions. It is fine. It needs a repair, and here is the price. Or it is near the end, and here is roughly how long you have.
We do not grade on a curve. Most roofs we inspect need nothing or a small repair. Saying so costs us a sale and earns us a spot on your refrigerator.
Buying a house?
A general home inspector looks at the roof from the ground or the eaves, in a report that also covers the water heater. If the roof is more than 12 years old, a dedicated roof inspection before your option period ends is cheap insurance.
We can usually be out within two business days. Tell us your option deadline and we will work to it. The report is written for buyers too: remaining life, any repairs worth negotiating, and a rough replacement price, which is useful at the table.
Selling a house?
Get the inspection before the buyer's inspector does. A $400 pipe boot found in March is a repair. The same pipe boot found during the option period is a $4,000 credit request.
After a storm
See storm and hail damage repair. The short version: inspect before you file.
Why it is free
Because the inspection is how you decide whether to trust us, and charging for that seemed backward. There is no catch. There is a reason. Some of the people we inspect for need a roof next year, and they remember who told them the truth this year.