A written answer, not a sales visit.
A photographed condition report on your roof — the flashings, the field, the edge metal and the attic underneath — with a plain statement of what needs doing now, what can wait, and what has years left in it. Sometimes the answer is that nothing needs doing, and we write that down too. The inspection is free.
Five moments when a roof is worth having looked at.
The rest of the time a roof asks for nothing and gets nothing, which is fine. These are the points at which not knowing is the expensive option.
Before you buy
The general home inspection covers the whole house and usually reports the roof from a ladder at the eaves. On slate, cedar, tile or metal that is not enough to price. A roofer's report gives you a remaining-life figure and a repair scope, which is what you actually negotiate with.
Before you list
A buyer's inspector will find whatever is up there and their client will read it in the worst light. Finding it first turns a renegotiation into a line item you have already priced, or a repair you chose to make.
After something lands on it
A limb comes down and the visible damage is usually not the whole of it. Impact lifts courses either side of where it struck and can crack the shingle or split the slate without moving it. That shows up as a leak the following spring.
Before anything is fastened through it
Solar, a satellite dish, a new vent, a condenser on a flat section. Every one of those is a hole in a watertight surface. Knowing the condition and remaining life of the roof first stops you fixing a twenty-year array to an eight-year roof.
When nobody can tell you its history
An inherited house, a roof done by the previous owner, a repair with no paperwork. A report gives you a dated baseline, which is what every later decision about that roof gets measured against.
At the age where the decision changes
Around fifteen years on asphalt, and at the point on slate or cedar where fixings rather than the material start to fail. This is the moment when a modest sum spent on flashings buys years, and the moment when it stops doing so. The two are only a couple of seasons apart.
What lands in your inbox.
It follows the visit, in writing, and it is free. Written for you, not for another contractor — if a term needs explaining, it gets explained.
On the roof
- Material, and our read on its age and remaining service life
- Every flashing: chimney, wall, valley, skylight, dormer cheek, kick-out
- Every penetration — vent boots, pipe collars, exhaust terminations
- Ridge and hip condition, and whether the ridge vent is doing anything
- Edge metal, drip edge, and where the gutters sit relative to the roof line
- Anything previously repaired, and whether it was repaired or covered
From the attic
- Daylight, damp, or darkened sheathing, mapped to the slope above it
- Soft or delaminated decking underfoot
- Insulation depth at the eaves and whether the soffit vents are blocked
- Where bath and kitchen fans actually discharge
- Frost or condensation staining, which is a ventilation fault, not a leak
- Any earlier repair visible from underneath that is not visible from above
Every finding is a photograph with a location, not a line of text. You keep them whether or not you ever use us, and they are the same photographs a second opinion would want to see.
Four things no roof inspection can tell you.
Any firm that does not say this out loud is selling certainty it does not have.
- What is under an intact surface. Decking condition is read from the attic and from how the roof feels underfoot. Where there is no attic access and the ceilings are finished, the honest answer is that the deck is unknown until the roof comes off.
- Exactly when a roof will fail. Remaining life is a judgment from material, exposure, ventilation and what the fixings are doing. It is a range, and it moves if the roof is loaded, shaded or badly vented.
- What is under snow or standing leaves. We will say so and come back rather than guess.
- Whether a leak that is not leaking today will leak tomorrow. Some faults only show under wind-driven rain from one direction. Where the report cannot reproduce a reported leak, it says that plainly and lists the candidates in order.
The same roof age means different things on different roofs.
| Material | What usually fails first | What the report focuses on |
|---|---|---|
| Natural slate | The fixings, not the stone | Slipped and missing slates, nail corrosion at the heads, valley and chimney lead, and whether earlier repairs used matched stone or asphalt |
| Cedar shake | Splitting, cupping and retained moisture | Keyway alignment, shade and moss load, whether the roof can dry from underneath, and the condition of the courses at the eaves |
| Standing seam metal | Penetrations and terminations, rarely the panel | Seam condition, clip movement, sealant at the ridge and eaves, and any fastener driven through a panel by someone else |
| Architectural asphalt | Granule loss, then the seal strip | Granule accumulation in the gutters, lifted or curling tabs, nail pops, and whether the roof is ventilated well enough to reach its rated life |
What is the difference between a roof inspection and a free estimate?
An estimate prices work you already know you want. An inspection answers a question first — how long has this roof got, is that stain structural, will it pass a buyer's own inspector — and the answer may be "nothing needs doing". Both are free: we look at the roof, photograph what we find and put the answer in writing.
How long does a roof inspection take?
For a typical Bergen County house, an hour to ninety minutes on site: the roof surface where it is safe to walk, every flashing and penetration, the edge metal and gutters, then the attic from inside. A complex slate or multi-dormer roof takes longer. The written report follows the visit.
Do you go into the attic?
Yes, where there is access. Half of what an inspection finds is visible only from underneath — daylight at a nail hole, damp or darkened sheathing, compressed or missing insulation at the eaves, a bath fan discharging into the roof space rather than outside. A roof inspected only from the outside is half inspected.
I am buying a house. Is a roof inspection worth it on top of the home inspection?
Often, yes. A general home inspector is covering the whole building and will usually report the roof from the ground or a ladder at the eaves. If the roof is slate, cedar, tile or metal, or if the general report says "nearing end of service life" without saying why, a roofer's report tells you what the actual remaining life is and what it would cost to put right — which is the number you negotiate with.
Will you tell me I need a new roof when I do not?
No. We write what is there, with the photographs, so you can judge it yourself. If a roof needs a flashing detail corrected and nothing else, the report says so. If a roof is sound we would rather be the firm you call in six years than sell you something now.
How often should a roof be inspected?
Every few years for a roof in middle age, and at two specific moments regardless of age: after anything lands on it, and before you list the house. Slate and cedar roofs reward a look every couple of years for their whole life, because on those materials a small number of failed fixings or split shakes caught early is a repair, and the same problem left alone is a section.
What the report usually leads to.
Roof repair
Where the water is actually getting in, and what the fix involves.
Details →Roof replacement
What a full tear-off includes, and how to read two quotes that differ.
Details →Urgent leak
Water coming in now. What to do before anyone arrives.
Details →In the Journal
When to get a roof inspection, and what a good one covers.
Read →Find out what you actually have up there.
An hour or two on site, the attic included, and a written report with the photographs two days later. If the roof is sound, that is what the report will say.