Read the Roof Inspection Report Before You Call Anyone Back

A roof inspection report is the one document from the visit that stays with you after the ladder comes down. The inspector may have walked every slope, photographed the flashing, checked the attic and looked at the gutters, but none of that helps you until it is written in a form you can read at the kitchen table. This page walks through the parts of a report that homeowners tend to skim, and what each part is telling you about your roof in St. Louis.

What the report should contain

A usable inspection report has four things: a date and the address, a description of each roof slope and the surfaces on it, a list of findings with photographs tied to each finding, and a measurement section. If any one of those is missing, ask for it before you decide anything. A report with a summary sentence and no photographs is an opinion, not a record, and you will have no way to check it later against the roof itself.

The date matters more than it looks. A roof inspected in late October shows a different set of conditions than the same roof in July. Hail scars look the same year round, but granule loss, cracked sealant and lifted tabs change with temperature, and the report should say what the weather was on the day. Freeze and thaw cycles in St. Louis, with several nights a winter dropping below freezing and then warming the next afternoon, work on sealant and nail heads over months, so a finding dated in the fall tells you what the roof looked like before winter set in.

Urgent, monitor, and noted

Many reports sort findings into three labels, and the words are not standardized. Some reports say urgent, action needed, or repair now. Others say monitor, watch, or age-related. Some just list items with no label at all. Whatever the wording, you need to know which items the inspector thinks will let water in before the next storm, which items will matter in a few years, and which are only worth knowing about.

A missing sealant bead at a chimney counterflashing or a lifted shingle tab on a slope facing the afternoon sun is usually a repair-now item. A few granules missing from the shingles on a north slope, with the mat still intact, is usually a monitor item. A note that the vent boot is cracked with no leak evident in the attic sits somewhere between the two, and the report should say why it was labeled the way it was. Ask the inspector to explain any label you cannot tell apart from the others.

Be careful with the word noted. In many reports it means the inspector saw something and did not think it needed work. Ask whether noted items were checked for water entry or only observed from the ground or the ladder. A note made from the ground is a different kind of evidence from a note made on the deck, and the report should say which one it is.

Photo references and the photo key

Every finding should point to a photograph by number, and the photograph should show the thing being described with enough of the surrounding roof to place it. A close-up of a nail head with no slope edge, ridge or chimney in frame is hard to locate later. Ask for a photo key or a simple diagram that shows where each numbered photo was taken on the roof plan. Without that diagram, the report can describe a leak at the north valley, but you will not know which valley the inspector meant if your house has two.

Look at the attic photos too. Staining on the underside of the decking, dark rings around nail tips and wet insulation under a vent are the findings that show whether water has already gotten past the shingles. If the report has roof surface photos and no attic photos, ask whether the attic was checked at all. An attic check that is missing from the file leaves the most useful evidence out of your decision.

Measurements you can check

The measurement section is where a report most often goes vague. Look for the roof area in squares, the pitch of each slope, the number of layers of shingles, and the lengths of valleys, ridges, hips, eaves and rakes. If the report gives an area but no pitch, you cannot tell whether a steep slope needs different fall protection or a different ladder setup, and that affects the crew's plan. If it gives pitch but no layer count, you cannot tell whether a tear-off will expose a second layer of old shingles that a bid did not price.

Check the numbers against your own yard. A simple walk with a tape along the eave gives you a rough footprint of the house, and the report's measurements should fall in the same range once you account for overhangs and the garage. A large difference is worth a question, not an argument. Ask the inspector how the numbers were taken, whether by a measuring tool, by a drone photo or from a county record. Any of those can be right, but they do not carry the same accuracy.

Ice dam and eave notes

Ice damming is one of the first things a St. Louis inspector should comment on in winter, and it is one of the least clear things in a report. Look for a line that describes the eave condition: whether the drip edge is present, whether the underlayment at the eave is an ice and water membrane, how far up the deck it runs, and whether the gutters are clear of debris. Heat leaking out of the attic is a separate question from the roof surface, and a good report says whether ventilation was checked at the same visit.

If the report mentions ice at the eaves or staining at the fascia below the eave, read those lines twice. Water that backs up under the shingles at the eave can travel uphill under the membrane and show up well away from the original spot. A finding at the gutter line can point to a problem higher on the roof, and the report should either say that it was traced or say that it was not.

Hail and wind notes

Hail impacts show on soft metal first. Vents, flashing, gutters and downspouts take dents that are easy to see from the ground, and an inspector who did not look at the metal should say so. A report that mentions hail should say which materials were checked and how. Shingle hits are harder to read because the granule layer can hide a bruise, and a mat fracture may not show from the surface. The report should say whether a hit was measured or only described, and whether a test square was marked on each slope.

Wind notes work the same way. Look for lifted or creased shingles, missing shingles at the rakes and ridges, and any lines about the condition of the ridge cap. A report that says the ridge looks fine without naming the cap material or describing the fastener line is not a complete note. Ask the inspector to describe the fasteners, not only the overall look.

The questions to send back

Once you have read the report, write down the three findings that look most important to you, and ask the company that wrote the report to answer them in writing. Ask which items are urgent, which are monitor items, and what would move a monitor item into the repair column. Ask for a photo number for each answer. Ask whether any finding depends on the attic check and whether that check was done on the same day. If the report names a product, ask the company to confirm the exact material and the spec printed on the wrapper. Keys installs Atlas and Malarkey shingles, and the spec on the bundle is the one that matters, not the name in the report.

If you want to talk through the report, call Keys Roofing at (314) 220-2333. The crew can explain the photos and measurements in the report, and the written scope with photos and measurements stays with you. If an insurance claim is part of the picture, that claim is yours to handle with your own insurer. Missouri law, RSMo 407.725, forbids a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating your insurance claim, and it forbids saying anything about paying, waiving or covering a deductible, so those conversations belong with your agent or adjuster.