The annual roof inspection is the single most valuable maintenance discipline a homeowner can adopt. It takes 30 to 90 minutes, costs $200-$450, and catches the small issues that turn into expensive ones if ignored. Compounded over the life of a premium roof, the inspections add decades of useful service.
Here is what we check during a standard annual inspection.
The exterior walk
Starting at the ground level, we walk the perimeter of the building. We are looking at:
- Roof line and silhouette for obvious displacement, lifted edges, or sagging
- Visible eaves for broken tile, missing pieces, fascia condition
- Gutters and downspouts for sagging, separation, debris accumulation, drainage marks on walls below
- Stucco below the roof line for staining or wear patterns that indicate water issues
- Landscaping for evidence of unusual water flow or debris from the roof
This phase is purely visual; we do not climb yet. The ground walk often catches the most obvious issues without any roof access.
The drone pass (where access is appropriate)
For roofs where direct climbing is risky or excessive, a drone pass produces a comprehensive aerial photographic record:
- Each slope from directly above
- Each elevation from low oblique angle
- Close-ups of any specific areas of concern from the ground walk
- Ridge, hip, valley lines
- Penetrations (vents, chimneys, skylights, solar)
- Flashing visible from above
The drone images become part of the year's documentation.
The roof walk (where safe and beneficial)
For roofs where direct access is safe and the inspection benefits from it, we walk the roof.
Items checked from on-roof:
- Field material: condition of individual tiles, slate, panels, or shingles
- Fasteners: visible fasteners for corrosion, missing, or loose
- Flashings: condition of all flashings, sealant where applicable
- Penetrations: condition of the curb and flashing at every penetration
- Valleys: debris accumulation, cleat condition, edge wear
- Hip and ridge: alignment, fastener condition, mortar (if applicable)
- Eaves: drip edge condition, gutter integration
Some roofs we will not walk on inspection — primarily slate roofs, where walking causes more wear than it prevents. Drone-only inspection is the right choice for those.
The attic check (where accessible)
When the attic is accessible:
- Underside of deck for water marks, condensation evidence, structural issues
- Insulation for displacement or wet spots
- Ventilation confirming soffit and ridge are functioning
- Penetrations from above confirming proper integration at attic level
The written report
Within 5 business days of the inspection:
- Photographic record of the roof in current condition
- Itemized findings — items in good condition, items requiring attention, items to monitor
- Recommended next steps with cost estimates
- Updated baseline for next year's comparison
What the inspection catches
In our records, annual inspections most commonly identify:
- Displaced tiles at perimeter zones (caught at year 5-15)
- Flashing sealant aging (caught at year 8-12)
- Underlayment edge exposure at valleys (caught at year 10-15)
- Fastener corrosion at exposed coastal locations (caught at year 8-15)
- Penetration boot aging (caught at year 8-12)
Each of these, caught at the inspection, is a small repair. Each, ignored for another 2-5 years, becomes a substantial repair or a contribution to early roof failure.
What we will not do during an inspection
Perform substantial repairs
The inspection is observation, not work. Anything substantial requires its own scheduled visit and may require permitting.
Walk a roof where it is unsafe
If the roof access is unsafe, we use drone only. We do not climb roofs at risk to ourselves; no inspection is worth an injury.
Bypass photographic documentation
Every inspection produces photographic record. Without the photographs, the inspection has no usable baseline for the next year.
How to schedule
Our maintenance clients are on automatic annual schedules. Non-client owners can request individual inspections; we typically schedule within 4-6 weeks.
The right time of year for inspection is late spring (April-May) — after the dry winter season and before the wet summer season. This catches any issues from the previous storm cycle and allows for repair before the next.
A final note
The annual inspection is the most affordable insurance against premature roof failure. We have never had a client who maintained their roof on this schedule face an emergency replacement scenario.
We have had several clients who skipped the inspections for years and called us when they had visible leaks. The repair-or-replace conversation at that point is almost always more expensive than the previous decade of skipped inspections would have been.
Filed under