Roof Inspection and Free Estimate in Aurora, IL

What We Look At, and Where

On the roof: shingle condition and how much granule loss there is per slope, whether anything is curling or cupping, hail bruising and how it is distributed, flashing at every wall junction and chimney, the condition of every pipe boot, valleys, ridge and hip caps, and whether the deck feels solid underfoot. That last one you cannot do from the ground or from a photograph, which is why a drone-only inspection tells you less than people think.

In the attic: daylight through the deck, water tracks and staining on the rafters, whether the insulation is damp, whether the soffit intake is blocked by blown insulation (it usually is), whether there are baffles, whether the bath fans vent outside or just into the attic (which happens embarrassingly often), and any sign of mould or frost on the sheathing.

From the ground: gutters and downspouts, granules in the gutter, fascia condition, soffit vent type and how much of it there actually is, and how the roof drains.

Second Opinions and Why We Encourage Them

The roofing trade has a structural incentive problem: a replacement is worth ten to twenty times a repair to whoever is standing on your roof. That does not make everyone dishonest, but it does mean you should never take a replacement recommendation from one visit without a second look, and a good contractor will not be offended by you getting one.

We do a handful of these a month and the split is roughly even. Sometimes the first quote was right and we say so. Sometimes the roof needed a valley rebuilt and two boots and the homeowner was three days from spending fourteen thousand dollars. Either way you know, and either way it costs you nothing.

One request: do not tell us what the other quote was until after we have been on the roof. We would rather form the opinion first.

Buying or Selling a House in Aurora

A general home inspector will look at your roof from a ladder at the eave and write something cautious. That is their job and it is fine, but it is not a roof inspection, and "roof nearing end of serviceable life" in an inspection report is the sentence that costs buyers and sellers thousands in negotiation with no actual information behind it.

We will give you a written age estimate, a remaining-life estimate per slope, and a real number for what it would cost to put right. That turns an argument into a calculation. Bring it to the table.