When it comes to hiring roof inspectors, just like every other industry, there are good ones and there are bad ones. It can be really difficult to decipher between the two. But here’s the biggest piece of advice I can give you: be at your home and watch the inspector. Did he get on your roof or did he do a ladder inspection?
Did the home inspector get on the roof to make sure the valleys and pipe flashings are correct, that there aren’t missing shingles? A ladder inspection is just not sufficient. You’re not going to see everything.
Some shingle manufacturers had bad asphalt get into their shingles a few years ago. Now it’s causing all the granules to fall off prematurely. You’re not going to see that unless you look on the southwest side of the roof. If the home inspector did a ladder inspection from the north side, he’s not going to see it.
Case and point: in the last month, I’ve looked at three homes with roofs that were shot, even though the home inspectors told them they were good to go with a little moss control.
All of the granules on one of these roofs are completely falling off. The roof is done. Unfortunately, they’ve already purchased the home. They have no warranty on the roof. They could’ve used this information to negotiate a much better price on the home.
Granules in the Gutter
If the home inspector physically didn’t get on the roof, maybe ask the question: do you want to have a roofer come take a look at that with harnesses? I can’t stress it enough – be there when your home inspector is inspecting the roof.