A roof inspection is a documented walkthrough of every layer that keeps water out of your home: the shingle field on top, the underlayment beneath it, and the roof deck that carries both.
We start at ground level, then go up with a ladder and a safety harness anchored near the ridge. Drone imagery covers the ridge cap, the valley, and any dormer or skylight we cannot reach safely.
A moisture meter and an infrared scan inside the attic find wet sheathing, rotted rafter tails, and soaked insulation long before a ceiling stain shows up.
You get a written report with photos and a line-item roof estimate. Findings are documented to HAAG and IICRC inspection standards, which is what an insurance adjuster wants after a storm.
Trenton weather writes the checklist. Hot humid summers with thunderstorms work nails loose and bake sealant, and cold winters with snow and ice dams push meltwater under the flashing.
As a licensed and insured roofing contractor, we send the same roofer back for the follow-up. A rooftop checklist only helps if the person reading it can also do the work.
What a full roof inspection covers
- Shingle condition: we look for granule loss, bruising from hail damage, and three-tab shingle or architectural shingle that has curled past its exposure limit.
- Underlayment and roofing felt: dried-out felt or tar paper gets noted against the synthetic underlayment a new roof would use.
- Decking and substrate: soft plywood or OSB sheathing means water wicked into the roof deck and the sheathing needs replacing.
- Flashing: step flashing at sidewalls, apron flashing at the chimney, and pipe flashing or boot flashing at every penetration.
- Chimney flashing and roof cement: mastic smeared over a failed chimney flashing is a patch, not a repair, and we say so.
- Ventilation: ridge vent, soffit vent, attic fan, and soffit intake. Poor ventilation cooks the underside of the deck.
- Gutters, fascia, and soffit: a clogged gutter rots the fascia board and softens the soffit before water reaches the interior.
- Ice-and-water shield and drip edge: the drip edge at the eave and rake sheds water, and ice-and-water shield at the eave resists ice dam backup.
Roof types and what fails first
- Asphalt shingle roofs fail earliest at valleys and pipe boot collars, where sealant dries and cracks.
- Wood shake and cedar shake dry out, split, and lose fasteners, so they need hand-sealing more often than asphalt.
- Slate, clay tile, and concrete tile hold up for decades but crack at fasteners and take a careful walk to inspect.
- Metal panel, standing-seam panel, and corrugated panel roofs fail at the exposed fastener and its washer, not the panel itself.
- TPO, EPDM, and PVC membrane flat roofs show seam separation and ponding water near a scupper or parapet.
- Built-up roof and modified bitumen sections blister and alligator once the bitumen oxidizes in the sun.
- Mansard, gambrel, hip, and gable rooflines create valleys and verge details that trap debris and hold moisture.
- An overhang, a canopy, or an awning traps leaves against the roofline and speeds rot at the fascia.
Ventilation balance matters too: intake and exhaust have to be sized to the attic volume, which is a building code question in most older Trenton homes.
How the inspection runs, step by step
- We take your roof estimate request by phone, ask the roof's age and any leak history, and book a two-hour window.
- We walk the perimeter first, checking the gutter, downspout, fascia, soffit, and the chimney or skylight flashing from the ground.
- Then we go up on scaffold or ladder and photograph the field shingle, ridge cap, valley, and drip edge.
- Inside, we probe the truss and joist tails and pull insulation back at the eave to check for staining.
- We note every loose fastener or overdriven nail and check the caulk and sealant at the counter-flashing.
- You get the written report, photo set, and a roof estimate the same week covering a repair coat, an overlay, or a full tear-off.
On low-slope work we check the vapor barrier, the coating's dry film thickness, the adhesive at the seams, and the waterproofing at any scupper.
Snow guards, coping stone at the parapet, and the anchor point get inspected too. A rusted snow guard or a spalled coping stone is a weatherproofing failure waiting for the next nor'easter.
We keep a pry bar and roofing shovel on the truck for opening the decking. A nail gun, air compressor, and torch come out only after you approve the work.
One roofing square covers 100 square feet, which is how we price. We tarp the beds, drop a dumpster only for a tear-off, and sweep debris with a magnet at the end.
An inspection is worth scheduling before a purchase, after a storm, or once a year as maintenance. If the report says your roof has years left, we tell you and leave.
Call 877-909-0534 for a free roof inspection and a written estimate. We show up when we say we will, and we are still around after the job is done.
