A free roof inspection from a roofing company is a sales visit. That is not a reason to refuse one, and we offer them ourselves, but you should know what you are getting so you can judge the report you receive.
The useful test is simple. A sales visit produces a verbal opinion and a quote. An inspection produces a written report that describes what is there, including the parts that are fine.
When you actually need one
Three occasions genuinely warrant it.
After a storm with hail or damaging wind, because most storm damage is invisible from the ground and insurance claims have deadlines.
Before buying a house, because a general home inspector looks at a roof from a ladder or from the ground and a roofer gets on it.
Around the fifteen-year mark, because that is when you want to know whether you are planning a replacement for next year or in eight years.
Outside those, an annual inspection is a nice-to-have rather than a necessity for most houses. Any company selling a subscription inspection plan for a ten-year-old roof in good condition is selling you convenience, not protection.
What a real report contains
It should tell you the condition of the deck, the flashing at every penetration, the valleys, the ridge and hip caps, the gutters and fascia, and the ventilation. Not just the shingles.
It should say which slopes are affected and which are not, and it should say plainly when something is fine. A report that finds problems everywhere is a report to be sceptical of.
It should separate storm damage from ordinary wear, because an insurer will. Curling and brittle shingles on a twenty-year-old roof are age. Bruised shingles with granule loss concentrated on one elevation are hail. Mixing the two together gets a claim rejected.
And it should include photographs. An adjuster who never climbs your roof works from images.
Checking a contractor is real
Four checks, none of which take long.
The state licence. Illinois licenses roofing contractors under the Roofing Industry Licensing Act. You can check any Illinois roofing licence yourself on the IDFPR lookup at idfpr.illinois.gov. The number is nine digits and usually starts 104 or 105. The status should read Active with a future expiry date. Ask for the number and verify it with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation rather than taking the number on trust.
Insurance. Ask for a certificate of insurance covering general liability and workers’ compensation, and make sure it is current. If an uninsured worker is hurt on your roof, that can become your problem.
A physical address you could drive to. Not a PO box, not just a mobile number.
Independent record. The Better Business Bureau, Google reviews, and how long they have been trading. A company that has been in the same town for fifteen years has something to lose by doing bad work.
Warranties, which are two different things
This trips people up constantly.
The manufacturer’s warranty covers the shingles themselves against defects. It is long, often thirty years or lifetime, and it very rarely pays out, because shingles are seldom defective.
The workmanship warranty covers the installation, which is where nearly all roof problems actually originate. It comes from the contractor, not the manufacturer, and it is typically much shorter. Five or ten years is common.
The second one is the one that matters, and it is only worth what the company behind it is worth. A twenty-five-year workmanship warranty from a firm that will not exist in three years is worth nothing.
Ask for both in writing, and read what voids them. Pressure washing voids most manufacturer warranties. So does fitting a new roof over two existing layers. So, often, does work done later by someone else.
Maintenance that is actually worth doing
Very little, honestly, and that is good news.
Clear the gutters twice a year. Blocked gutters hold water that freezes and worsens ice dams. This is the single highest-value maintenance task on a roof and you can do most of it from a ladder.
Cut back overhanging branches. They drop debris into valleys, hold moisture against the roof, and carry snow load onto it.
Look at the roof after storms. From the ground is fine.
That is the list. Sealants, coatings and treatments sold as roof life extenders mostly are not, and some of them void warranties.
What we do
Proliance inspects roofs across the Chicago metro at no cost and provides a written report with photographs, covering ventilation and attic condition as well as the roof surface. Our inspectors are HAAG certified, which is the recognised qualification for storm damage assessment. If the roof is fine, the report says so.
Call 800-613-4373.
Sources
- Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, licence lookup
- Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, Roof 101
- Illinois Roofing Industry Licensing Act
