Guidelines To Perform Roofing Inspection

It is said that ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ It means, if a problem is taken care of in its very early stage, we can save a considerable amount of time, efforts and money in dealing with the same problem in later stages. This perfectly applies to roofs of our houses. Normally, we give attention towards our roof when a time arrives for either its repairs or replacement. We often neglect the need for inspecting the roof periodically. To avoid serious problems, regular roof inspection, especially of old roofs is very important.

Periodic roof inspection must be done for following objectives –

1. To determine whether the performance of the roof is as per the intended function.
2. To identify signs of weakness, deterioration or hazard.
3. To identify the need for repairs by early detection of roof problems.

Though roof inspection is must for older roofs, they are advisable for newly done roofs also. One can never know that when anything unexpected like, severe storms, recent installations like a satellite dish, or problems with flashing from temperature changes or settling etc., may have affected the performance of your roof. Moisture and minor leakages of the roof are usually overlooked. Moisture in the attic is caused due to poor ventilation. This moisture caused damage to roof deck, structural wood and metal components. Continuous accumulation of such moisture can cause health problems. Leakage from the roof can cause damage to ceiling, walls and also to the floor. Yearly inspection of the roof can extend its life and prevents costly damages. Casual inspection of the roof done by house owner really doesn’t work. To know the exact condition of the roof, one must get his roof inspected by professional roof inspectors. It is also possible that some of the roof inspectors are more intended to sell new roof to you.

To avoid this situation, following guidelines will help you to perform roofing inspection.

1. List down any concerns or problem areas of the roof.
2. Check whether all the roof elements like roof deck, eaves protector, underlayment, shingles, ventilation and metal flashings, are installed properly and functioning correctly.
3. Check for the damage happened due to wind or shingle lifting.
4. Check for the damage of shingles due to cut, break, tear, gap or curling?
5. Check for the foreign objects like ice, leaves, bird droppings, chemicals etc. are affecting the shingles.
6. Check for the consistency in shingle overhang.
7. Check for any missing flashing.
8. Check for the flashings showing signs of rust.
9. Check for proper tie between flashing and shingle and check whether they are properly waterproofed.
10. Check for the proper sealing of flashing penetrations.
11. Check for the gutter’s function of draining water from the roof.
12. Check for proper installation and sealing of vents, plumbing stacks, goosenecks, ducts, air conditioning and satellite dishes.
13. Check for multiple small round dents on ventilation or flashings.
14. Check for the dark round spots of missing granules on the roof. Finding the answers to the points given above will give you quality results from the roofing inspection.