What a roof inspection report actually tells you

Most people get a roof inspection for one of four reasons: they are buying a house, selling one, making an insurance claim, or they saw a stain on the ceiling.

All four deserve a document that stands up on its own — one that a lawyer, an adjuster or the next owner can read without you in the room explaining it.

A lot of what gets handed over does not meet that bar. Here is what a real report contains, and how to tell whether the one you are holding is worth anything.

What a useful report has in it

Every plane, identified and photographed

Not a handful of shots. Each roof plane, named consistently — north slope, south slope, west dormer — with imagery of the whole surface, not just the interesting bits.

Drone imagery is the practical way to do this now. It covers everything, at consistent resolution, without a ladder on a steep roof in wet conditions. We use it as standard and combine it with a hands-on inspection where access allows, because a drone cannot tell you whether decking feels soft underfoot.

Every penetration, individually

This is where roofs fail, so this is where the report should spend its attention:

• Chimneys — counterflashing, cricket, masonry condition
• Plumbing stacks — boot condition, cracking, seal
• Bathroom and kitchen vents
• Skylights — flashing, seal, glazing
• Valleys
• Roof-to-wall transitions and kick-out flashings
• Satellite mounts and anything else somebody has screwed on

Each should be photographed and assessed separately, not summarised as “penetrations look OK.”

The deck and the attic

A report that never went inside is half a report. Sheathing condition, moisture staining, frost, insulation depth, whether soffit intake is actually open, whether bathroom fans terminate outside the building.

Most roofing problems in Ontario are visible from the attic before they are visible from the driveway.

Ventilation, described

Intake and exhaust, what type, whether the path between them is clear. This is the single most common contributor to premature roof failure here and it is routinely omitted.

A remaining-life estimate, with reasoning

Not a number on its own. “Eight to twelve years remaining, limited by granule loss on the south plane and cupping at the west rake” is useful. “Roof is near end of life” is not.

What is urgent, what can wait, what needs watching

Three categories. Anything urgent should say what happens if it is not addressed.

Photos with locations attached

A photo of a cracked boot is evidence. A photo of a cracked boot labelled “plumbing stack, north plane, approximately 2m below ridge” is evidence somebody else can act on.

Red flags in a report

It arrives with a quote attached and nothing else. An inspection that exists only to sell a replacement is a sales call with photos. The report should stand alone.

No attic access. Ask why. If nobody looked underneath, half the roof was not inspected.

Everything is a defect. Roofs age. A report where every single item is flagged red is either inexperienced or building a case.

No remaining-life estimate. This is the number you are actually paying for.

Nobody will put a name on it. A report should identify who inspected it, when, and how. If it is anonymous, it is worth nothing to an insurer.

“We recommend full replacement” with no itemised reasoning. Sometimes replacement genuinely is the answer. It should be argued, not asserted.

What to use it for

Buying a house

The roof is one of the largest single-ticket items on a property and one of the easiest to negotiate on with evidence. A report saying “six to ten years remaining” is a concrete number in a conversation about price.

It also tells you what you are inheriting. A roof with three layers of shingles is a much bigger future bill than one with a single layer on sound decking, and no home inspection summary will tell you that in enough detail.

Selling

A recent, clean report removes a standard negotiating lever before it gets used. If the roof genuinely is fine, prove it up front rather than arguing about it after an inspection condition.

Insurance

This is where documentation quality matters most. Adjusters work from evidence. Dated, located, high-resolution imagery of storm damage — ideally with a baseline from before, if you have one — is the difference between a settled claim and a contested one.

Worth reading alongside how Ontario insurers actually assess roofs, because a report can also be what moves you back onto replacement-cost settlement.

You saw a stain

Then you want a report that distinguishes a leak from condensation, because the fix is completely different and one of them is not a roofing job at all.

Inspecting an existing metal roof

Different failure modes, so a different checklist:

• Exposed-fastener roofs: washer condition across the whole field, screws backing out, elongated holes. A re-screw around year 15 is normal and worth knowing about before it leaks.
• Standing seam: seam integrity, clip movement, sealant condition at penetrations and terminations, snow retention hardware and setscrew torque.
• Both: valleys and gutters clear of debris. Trapped organic matter holding moisture against metal is the most common avoidable cause of corrosion.
• Panel condition: scratches through to substrate, edge corrosion at cut ends, hail dimpling.

A good report on a metal roof usually concludes with maintenance items rather than replacement — which is rather the point of the system.

What we do

Drone and hands-on inspection, every plane and penetration photographed and located, attic and ventilation assessed, written report with annotated imagery, remaining-life estimate with reasoning, and items sorted into urgent, soon and monitor.

Sized to be usable by an insurer, a lawyer, or a buyer’s solicitor — not just by us.

And when the answer is “this roof is fine, leave it alone for five years,” that is what the report says. We would rather tell you that and be the people you call in five years.

Call 705-816-5282 or get in touch.