Walk the Yard With a Phone Before the Inspector Comes

Many homeowners in St. Louis County see their own roof for the first time when the inspector is already standing in the yard. A ten minute walk beforehand, with a phone and a notebook, gives you a record of the house before anyone climbs a ladder. It also tells you which questions to ask once the inspector arrives. This page covers what to photograph from the ground, how far each photo can take you, and what the photos will not settle.

Inspection

Start at the street. Stand far enough back that the whole front slope fits in one frame, then take a second shot from the driveway at the same height. Repeat from each side of the house. You are trying to see the roof as one shape. A sag along a ridge, a slope that looks wavy from one corner and flat from the other, or a patch of shingles that is a different color from the rest will show up from forty feet away long before it shows up up close.

Next, look at the eave line. Photograph the gutters and the fascia board from a few feet away, then move in on any joint, sag or bend. Note whether the gutters hold water for a long time after a rain. Ice damming at the eave is one of the common reasons a St. Louis roof gets looked at in winter, and a gutter that pulls away from the fascia often sits near the same kind of edge problem that lets water run back under shingles. You are documenting, not diagnosing, so write down what you see and the date you saw it.

Then check the downspouts. Where does each one end? A downspout that empties onto a splash block three feet from the foundation is different from one that runs into a buried drain or stops at the edge of the driveway. Photograph each outlet, and the bottom six feet of each downspout where it meets the wall. Water that leaves the house close to the foundation is one of the first things a homeowner can see from the yard, and it is worth a line in the notebook even if the roof turns out to be sound.

Look for anything added to the roof over the years: vents, satellite mounts, solar rails, a chimney cap that does not match the chimney. Each of those is a place where someone had to cut into the roofing. Photograph them from ground level and list them by location, such as back slope, left of the ridge, or over the garage. If you have an old invoice or a photo of an earlier repair, put it in the same folder so the inspector sees it with the rest of the record.

Finish by walking the perimeter of the house with the phone set to record a slow video at waist height. Say one sentence per wall as you go, for example that the north wall has a stain under the window or that the garage gutter sags near the corner. The video is useful later because the inspector will ask about things you did not think to photograph, and you can check the file rather than trust your memory of a wet afternoon in June.

Tree cover needs its own note. Limbs over the roof, moss on a north slope and leaves packed into a valley all change what the inspector can see and how quickly the surface wears. Photograph the tree from the same spot where you photographed the roof, and write down which direction the trunk leans and how far the nearest limb sits from the eave.

Keep the file in one folder with the date in the file names. Send it to the contractor before the visit if they ask for it, and bring a printed copy in case the phone battery fails on the day. A folder with a clear order tells the inspector where to start, and that saves time on a cold morning in November when the ladder is already waiting.

What it costs

The inspection visit is offered without charge through this site. A number for repair or replacement should come after the inspection, in writing, with photos and measurements attached to it. Ask for that in advance so you know what the document will look like when it arrives. If someone wants to give you a price at the door, before the roof has been looked at, take that as a reason to slow down.

The cost you will actually pay is time. An hour in the yard with a phone, followed by an hour going through the photos, is a small price for a clear starting point. It also means that when the inspector says a slope needs a closer look, you already have the reference shot from the street to compare against.

If the roof has a storm history, the insurance claim belongs to you. Missouri law under RSMo 407.725 bars a roofing contractor from representing or negotiating your insurance claim, and it also bars the contractor from saying anything about paying, waiving or covering your deductible. Keys Roofing attends as the contractor while you deal with your own insurer, and the written scope with photos and measurements is what you take into that conversation. You can reach the office at (314) 220-2333 with questions about scheduling.

What to ask

Before the inspector arrives, or in the first few minutes on site, ask these questions. The answers will tell you whether the visit is going to produce a document you can use.

1. Which photos will appear in the written report, and will I receive the original files as well as the report?

2. Will each roof slope be measured and labeled, and will the labels match the slopes I photographed from the street?

3. Will the eave, the gutters and the downspouts be documented, or only the shingle surface?

4. If the inspector finds something I did not photograph, will it be added to the report with its own photo and location?

5. Who will be on the roof, and will they walk the same path I documented from the ground?

6. When will the written scope arrive, and what should I do with it before I talk to my insurer or sign anything?

A good answer to the first question is a plain yes with a description of the file format. A vague answer is worth writing down, because it means the report may not show what you need to see when you read it again in the spring. The notebook from the yard walk is the check against that. If the written scope does not mention a spot you photographed from the street, ask why it was left out before the crew leaves.