What happens during a roof inspection?

A roof inspection is someone walking your roof, checking the shingles, flashing, penetrations, and gutters, then going into your attic to look at the same roof from underneath. On an average house it takes 30 to 60 minutes. The part that matters most is what you get at the end: photographs, a written condition report, and a clear statement of what's wrong versus what's simply old.

What they check, in order

1. Ground level and gutters. Granule loss in the downspouts, sagging gutters, debris, and what the roofline looks like from the corners of the property.
2. The roof surface. Cracked, curled, cupped, or missing shingles; bald spots where granules have worn off; soft spots underfoot that suggest bad decking.
3. Flashing. Around chimneys, in valleys, against walls, and at every penetration. Flashing is where a great many leaks start — more often than the shingles themselves.
4. Penetrations. Pipe boots, vents, satellite mounts, skylights. Cracked rubber pipe boots are one of the most common leak sources on a roof that otherwise looks fine.
5. Ridge and hips. Ridge cap condition, and whether the ridge vent is intact and actually venting.
6. The attic. Daylight through the deck, water staining on rafters, wet or compressed insulation, mold, and whether the ventilation is anywhere close to adequate.

An inspection that never went in the attic only saw half the roof.

How long it takes

30 to 60 minutes for a typical single-family home, longer for a large or complicated roof, and longer again if there's a suspected leak to chase. A five-minute walk-around is not an inspection. It's a sales call with a ladder.

Free inspections versus paid ones

Both exist and both are legitimate. You just need to be clear about which one you're getting, because the incentives point in different directions.

• A free inspection is offered by a roofing company that would like to sell you a roof. That's not sinister — it's how the trade works, and plenty of free inspections are thorough and honest. But the person telling you whether you need a new roof also gets paid if you buy one.
• A paid inspection from an independent inspector or engineer costs money and produces a report from someone with nothing to sell you. Worth it when you're buying a house, when you're disputing an insurance decision, or when a free inspection told you something expensive and you'd like a second opinion.

What you should walk away with

• Photographs of every problem they identified, taken on your roof — not stock images, not photos of somebody else's damage.
• A written report separating urgent repairs from normal aging.
• An estimate of remaining life, and the reasoning behind it.
• For storm damage: which damage they attribute to the storm and which to age. This distinction is the entire insurance conversation.

If an inspector comes down the ladder and tells you the roof is shot but can't show you a single photograph, you've learned something about the inspector rather than about your roof.

When to get one

• After a hail or high-wind event in your area, even if nothing looks wrong from the ground.
• Before you buy a house — the general home inspection is not a roof inspection, and it typically won't include an attic-side assessment or anyone walking the roof.
• When you see a stain on a ceiling, however small.
• Every few years once the roof is past the middle of its expected life.
• Before your insurance renewal, if your carrier has started asking about roof age.

Questions people ask next

How much does a roof inspection cost?

Roofing companies commonly inspect for free because they want the replacement work. Independent inspectors and engineers charge, and the fee varies by market and by how detailed the report is. Ask what's included before you book, specifically whether the attic is part of it and whether you get photos.

Do roof inspectors go in the attic?

The good ones do. A great deal of what's wrong with a roof is only visible from underneath — daylight through the deck, staining on the rafters, soaked insulation, inadequate ventilation. An exterior-only inspection misses all of it.

Does a home inspection include the roof?

Partly, and not deeply. A general home inspector will look at the roof, often from the ground or a ladder at the edge, and will flag obvious problems. It is not a substitute for a roofer or an independent roof inspector walking the surface and checking the attic — which is worth doing before you buy.

Should I be home for a roof inspection?

Yes, if you can. They'll need attic access, and you want to be standing there when they explain what they found, with the photos in front of you. A report you receive by email three days later is much harder to ask questions about.

Written for homeowners by Most Recommended Roofers, which measures which roofers AI assistants actually recommend in 34 U.S. metros. Nobody can pay to be on those lists. How we measure.