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Owning a house isn’t easy work.
You’ll need to go through many REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE to ensure that you still have a roof over your head.
The roof is an overlooked but essential part of your house that will need repairs from time to time.
We’ve made a comprehensive guide, so you know what to expect when conducting your roof inspection to see roof damage.
Why Do I Need to Do Roof Inspections?
When you own something important to you, you’d want to make sure that it’s NOT BROKEN, right?
That’s the most fundamental reason why you’ll need to go through the roof inspection. But if you need specific reasons, here are a few reasons.
Buying A New Home
If you’re buying a new house, you need to ensure that your roof’s state is PERFECTLY FINE.
It’s one of the many things homeowners may disregard when buying a new house.
While everything from the ground looks okay, if there’s an issue on the roof, it could end up costing you thousands of dollars if it goes unchecked.
Selling Your House
If you’re selling your house, you want to make sure that it looks as pleasing to potential buyers from every corner.
Aside from assuring you get your house sold off, you also want to make sure that the market value of your home is high so you can earn a considerable profit.
If your house isn’t structurally sound in any way, the price will GO DOWN and affect how much money you can make off from selling your home.
Needed Repairs Check
You’ll need to conduct a roof inspection if you recently experienced a TORNADO, a TYPHOON, or any ACCIDENT that will require you to make sure everything is looking good.
If you don’t immediately find a problem that needs fixing on your home’s roof, it could end up being a HASSLE to fix when it gets serious.
Routine Check-Up
It’s always good to check your roof once in a while to see if it needs any SIMPLE REPAIRS.
Minor roof repairs often include replacing loose shingles, patching up leaks, and basic roof maintenance.
You SHOULD do regular roof inspections EVERY THREE YEARS.
But if your house is 30 years old or older, then you might want to conduct roof inspections MORE FREQUENTLY.
Also, take note of the weather in your area.
If you live in a place where typhoons, floods, tornados, or other types of extreme weather are common, you might want to do it every other year.
What to Expect From the Roof Inspector?
When you get a professional roof inspection from a roofing professional, you should know what a roofing inspector will typically do so you don’t get scammed with your time and money.
Here are the usual things roof inspectors will look at with a STANDARD ROOF INSPECTION.
Structure
The roof inspector will go through the structure of your roof to search for any problems.
This will include the following things:
- Uneven roof planes
- The gutter condition
- Damaged flashing
- The chimney’s health
The inspector will also check your attic’s ventilation.
If your attic doesn’t have proper ventilation, it can lead to MOISTURE BUILDUP.
That might cause your roof to incur damages from ice dams forming on your roof’s edge.
Interior
The roof inspector will also go inside your house to look at YOUR CEILINGS.
If they find any mold growth, stains, or rot up there, then there’s a chance your roof is cracked or damaged.
The inspector will also go into the attic or any other crawl space to see if there isn’t any presence of water hiding in the nooks and crannies of your house.
Materials
The roof inspector will thoroughly inspect your roof’s materials.
They’ll be looking at your
2. Damaged Shingles
Of course, not all roofing materials will share the same problem.
Metal roofs will more likely have issues with rust, while an asphalt roof may get more cracks over the years.
Workmanship Inspection
The inspector will also come to judge the way your roof was designed and constructed.
They may look at incorrect roof flashing around your chimney, skylights, and vents.
If the quality is less than desirable, it could cause FUTURE ROOF DAMAGES that will cause you to shell out more money for roofing repairs.
Roofing Analysis
After going through the roof inspection, roof inspectors will usually give you a DETAILED REPORT on their findings.
This will include all the required repairs needed on your roof if needed. As soon as you see any repairs required, you should schedule a repair as soon as you can.
The longer you wait, the more the damage can worsen.
Do I Need to Hire Roof Inspectors?
Now that you have an idea of what to look for, you might be thinking, Can’t I just do it myself?
Sure, you can do it yourself, but you’ll only be able to look for really OBVIOUS DAMAGE on roofs that are younger than 5 years.
That includes things like curled or missing shingles and crooked or clogged gutters.
Anything beyond that will most likely require a PROFESSIONAL ROOF INSPECTOR.
They’ll be able to conduct a more comprehensive inspection, including checking your chimney, looking for granule loss, and spotting issues with the flashing.
You also need to consider that it’s not the safest idea to get on your roof, especially when you suspect it might be DAMAGED.
A roof inspector will know what to look for and is the most suitable person to get up there.
How Much Does a Roof Inspection Cost
The cost of a roof inspection will depend on what kind of roof inspection you want to have conducted on your house.
Of course, some roofing companies will charge you a flat fee before inspecting your roof.
Physical Roof Inspection
A visual inspection will have the inspector walk around on your roof to look for any kind of damage.
They’ll look for structural damage, missing roof shingles, or shingle aggregate that settled in roof valleys.
This kind of roof inspection will have an average cost of 75 USD to 200 USD.
Drone Roof Inspection
If your roof is too steep or possibly unstable to walk on, the roof inspector may use a drone to take a look at the condition of your roof.
The inspector may be the one to fly the drone, or they may hire an expert to fly it instead.
That way, you, the inspector, or your insurance company can look at the state of your roof without potentially harming anyone.
Be sure that the inspector you’re hiring is an FAA-certified drone pilot or brings someone who is.
This can cost anywhere from 150 USD to 400 USD.
Infrared Roof Inspection
Sometimes, some damage just isn’t visible to the human eye.
If your inspector suspects that just looking at your roof with their eyes isn’t enough, they’ll conduct an INFRARED INSPECTION with the help of a special camera that can capture thermal pictures of your roof.
Infrared roof inspections are services only professional roof inspection companies can offer with the technology used.
Because of that, the infrared roof inspection cost can go from 400 USD to 600 USD.
Other Factors to Consider
Aside from the type of roof inspection the roofing company will use to survey your roof, there are other factors they need to consider when pricing their services to you.
Size of the Roof
The size of your roof will come into play when calculating the cost of a roof inspection.
Companies may charge extra if the roof of your house is especially BIG, but other contractors will charge by the square foot of your roof area.
Roof Materials
If your house uses UNCOMMON MATERIALS for your roof shingles, you can expect the cost of your roof inspection to shoot up.
So if you have barrel tiles for your roofing material, it will cost way more than a roof with asphalt shingles.
Roof Accessibility
If your roof is extra steep or extra high, then you may have to pay extra for a physical inspection.
If a physical inspection is just out of the question, you will have to upgrade to a drone inspection.
Climate and Weather
You’ll need to hire a roof inspector who’s knowledgeable about common damages that can occur with the sort of climate you’re used to having.
If you live in a TORNADO-PRONE AREA, you should hire an inspector who can spot blow-offs and shingles that the wind has lifted.
On the other hand, you’ll need to hire a roof inspector who’s used to spotting water damages if you live in a place that experiences HUMID WEATHER.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers to other questions you may have about roof inspections.
When Do I Need to Inspect My Roof?
If you’re wondering when’s the perfect time to get a roof inspection, you should consider getting one before frigid temperatures settle in.
Getting your roof inspected sometime in LATE SUMMER is the most logical course of action to take.
If you try to conduct an inspection in WINTER, you may not even get the roof repaired.
Any ice forming on the roof may prove treacherous and risky, and the snow will hinder any effort to replace shingles since they can’t seal down if it’s too cold outside.
What’s the Difference Between a Roof Inspection and a Home Inspection?
If you get a home inspection, you’re going to be evaluating your entire house, and not just your roof.
This includes the electrical, the plumbing, the HVAC, and the foundation.
A roof inspection is just like the name suggests. It’s an inspection that will only focus on the roof.
Can I Get a Home Inspector to Inspect My Roof?
Yes, home inspectors can inspect your roof without issue.
However, the home inspector you’ll hire should be a CERTIFIED ROOF INSPECTOR as well.
That’s because not all home inspectors can give you comprehensive reports about the state of your roof unless they were specifically trained to look at different types of roofs and roofing materials.
Can I Get a Free Roof Inspection?
While it’s possible to get free inspections from your roof contractors, it won’t be as THOROUGH and EXTENSIVE as a paid job will be.
Just think of it as the free version of a premium app. While you can certainly use it, it won’t be complete.
But you can get a FREE ESTIMATE on the average cost of the roof inspection that will take place before it happens.
How Do I Get an Honest Opinion of My Roof?
When you get a roofing inspection, you should always make sure that you get another roofing company to do any needed repairs.
While we’re not saying that all roof inspectors are greedy for more money, there IS a risk of recommending unnecessary work to get done to earn more money.
If you hire another roofing company to do the repairs, aside from not worrying about getting scammed, you can also get a new set of eyes on the problem and know for sure if it is time to replace your roof.
Conclusion
If you want to prolong your roof life, you should go through a roof inspection every now and then.
You can’t expect your house to be completely healthy if your roof suffers.
If you get regular inspections, you can prevent the need for a full replacement by repairing minor damages before they start to be catastrophic to your house’s health.
After all, PREVENTION is better than a cure.
