Roof inspection
On a metal roof an inspection is not a formality — it is the thing that decides between renewing fasteners for a modest sum and replacing for many times that. Few hours of looking anywhere in this trade move a number that far.
When it pays here
Before buying, above all, and especially on a property rather than a lot. There is the house, and then there is everything else on the parcel, and a buyer who has priced only the house has priced part of the problem.
Before deciding what to do with a metal roof, second, and this is the case particular to this valley. Renew the fasteners and the coating, rework the seams and closures, or replace: three answers separated by an order of magnitude, and only a proper look settles which one applies.
And after a winter that left ice at the eaves or a stain on a ceiling in February. Damage from that is at the edge and under the covering, which is precisely where nobody looks from the ground.
What a real inspection covers
It starts underneath, in the attic or under the barn roof, because that is where the deck and the framing tell the truth about both water and weight. Spaced sheathing, old repairs, staining, and whether daylight shows at the ridge.
Then the roof itself. On metal that means the seams and laps, the clips or fasteners, the closures under the ridge cap, the condition of the coating, and the flashings where lower roofs die into walls. On shingle it means the field, the valleys, the penetrations and the edge.
And on any property here, the outbuildings — because they are usually older than the house covering and almost never inspected.
What it costs and what it saves
It is priced in the low hundreds and it moves decisions priced in the tens of thousands. Buyers use it to negotiate, owners use it to schedule work on their own calendar rather than the roof’s, and anyone with metal uses it to find out whether they are sitting on a liability or on decades of remaining service.
Quick answers
- The metal looks fine from the ground. Is there anything to see?
- Usually yes. Metal fails at its fasteners, its laps and its closures long before the panels look bad, and none of those are visible from the ground.
- Can any roofer inspect a metal roof?
- Any roofer can look at one. Fewer can tell you whether the seams and clips are sound, and fewer still can walk a standing-seam roof without damaging the finish.
- Should the barn be included?
- If the price of the roof matters to you, yes. On most properties here the outbuilding roofs are older than the house roof and they are the ones with exposed fasteners.
- Is a drone inspection enough?
- It is a good start and a poor finish. The attic, the fastener condition and what is under the ridge cap tell the parts of the story a lens cannot reach.
- 1 The ridge cap. On metal it is a separate piece with closures under it. Blown snow finds the joint that was never closed.
- 2 The seams. A standing-seam roof lives at its seams and clips, not at its surface. The panel outlasts what holds it.
- 3 The valley. One channel taking what two slopes shed — and on the north side, holding snow long after the field is clear.
- 4 Where the ell meets the wall. A lower wing dying into the main house. Two roofs, one wall, and nobody sure whose seam it is.
- 5 The fasteners. Exposed screws through the panel, each with a rubber washer. The washers age; the screws work loose.
- 6 The eave. Drip edge, gutter, and the question every metal roof asks: where does a slab of snow go when it lets go?