Do you know what your roofing contractor looks for when he or she inspects your roof?
Most likely the answer is, “No idea”.
Why should you even care? The contractor is the professional and they should be able to do their job correctly without you looking over their shoulder, right?
If you’re hiring a reputable local roofing professional, then most of the time you don’t need to care.
But our advice is, it’s always important for you as a homeowner to check and make sure your roofing contractor is actually doing his/her job correctly.
Because a roof is a huge investment and an important part of your home, It’s always better to understand what’s going on to protect yourself. And plus, you’ll get the highest quality of service out of it too for the amount of money you’ll be paying.
Here’s how Hometown Roofing ATX Inspects Your Roof
When you contact us for an inspection, you’ll know exactly what we check for, and you can call us out if we missed something in our inspection.
Inspecting From The Inside:
You might think, “Aren’t you going to climb up and check my roof?”
Yes, we will, but we check from the inside first. We like to check from the bottom and work out way up.
The reason we do this is, if your roof is damaged, it’ll most likely be caused by some sort of leakage. A good indicator of a leaky roof is tracing the water trails and stain marks left behind on your wall and ceiling. It’s also possible that your ceiling might be holding water that forms a bulge, or a discolored cracked area.
We’ll also check your attic for signs of damage. There could be multiple issues such as cracks, mold, wood rot, bad ventilation, or a hole on the roof.
Areas we check inside:
- Your walls
- Your ceiling
- Your Attic
When we check inside, the conclusion for damages to your roof include the following:
- Your roof is old 20+ years and being exposed to multiple harsh weather conditions.
- Mold and mildew causing the wooden structure on your roof to rot and weaken.
- Bad ventilation causing moisture to be trapped, therefore forming mold and mildew. Bad ventilation is caused by poor and improper installment of your roof.
- Your roof had just gone through a strong hail storm that punctures right through your roof, chimney, vents, and pipes.
- Strong wind has knocked a nearby tree branch onto your roof
- The strong wind flung large debris that may also puncture right through your roof or cause your shingles to curl and go missing.
Now that you have an idea of what may have caused damage to your roof, let’s go further into what are the exact damages and their impact on your roof.
Inspecting From The Outside:
Once we’ve seen what’s going on inside, we go outside and assess the damages.
When we inspect the outside of your roof, we’re able to see exactly what type of damage and what type of impact it had on your roof.
Think of it as piecing the puzzle together.
To fully understand what’s going on with your roof we want to make sure the problem gets completely fixed. That’s why we call it an honest assessment, not a patch here and there and call it a day.
Also, when we inspect the outside, we’re able to provide pictures and documents of the exact damages. Having evidence of your roof damages gives you peace of mind. And, if your roof needs a replacement, you can file your insurance claim with confidence and get most of your new roof cost covered.
An insurance claim may also include roof repairs, but you’ll want to check with your insurance provider and see what’s on your plan.
When we inspect the exterior, here’s what we look for:
- We check the overall installation:
- Was the installation done properly?
- Are there any sagging/unalignment on your roof? Your roof is made to be extremely durable and should last you a long-time. If your roof is quite new but has been dealing with many emerging problems, it’s because the roof was a poor job done. New roofs can look great, but if the foundation and process were poor, it will cause early problems to arise.
- We then check the material:
- What type of damage was done to the shingles? Hail and wind damage can cause major impact to the material. The common damages are:
- Dings in the center of the shingle. This causes the granule to disperse and may have shattered the fiberglass layer that makes your roof strong. This type of damage will cause your shingle to weaken much quicker as it becomes exposed to strong heat from the sun and more impact from future storms.
- Missing shingles from your roof expose your roof to impact and heat from the sun. If not repaired soon, your roof will begin to leak and cause mold and mildew to form. Pests may also find it easier to dig through into your home.
- Curled shingles will show signs of cracks and missing nail/staples that hold the shingle in place. Loosen nails and staples will cause water to leak through and cause cracks and damages to the structure inside.
- Discoloration of the shingles shows signs of mold, mildew, and an old roof.
- What are the damages done to the additional features on your roof such as chimney, vents, and pipes?
- Chimneys can be punctured from strong hail and debris from wind. We may also discover the flashing on your chimney could be cracked and this will surely cause your roof to leak.
- Vents and pipes also get inspected because just like your chimney they too can be dented and cracked causing poor ventilation and leaks. Poor ventilation like we mentioned previously also causes mold, mildew, and rot to occur on your roof.
- What type of damage was done to the shingles? Hail and wind damage can cause major impact to the material. The common damages are:
After The Inspection, We Provide Photos, Documents, Recommendation, Insurance Claim, and Estimate
Will you need a new roof or will a simple repair fix the root problem?
This is the question that most homeowners want answers to immediately. But it’s not clear unless you get a proper roof inspection from a local roofing expert in your town.
In our roof inspection, we’ll provide you with photos and documents that’ll justify our recommendation as to why a new roof or a repair may be needed. From there you can decide for yourself if it’s the right course of action to take based on the evidence shown.
Whatever your decision will be, if you decide to go with our recommendation, we’ll work with you to create a custom plan and give you a proper estimate for the repair or replacement.
If filing an insurance claim is needed, we’ve got you covered as we know the ins and outs of the process in Austin Texas to guide you through every step until completion of your roof.
Get in contact with Hometown Roofing ATX today! Contact Us Here.