Roof inspections · Metro Vancouver & the Fraser Valley
Roof inspection: exactly what gets checked, and what you get back
A roof inspection covers all accessible roof surfaces, including slopes, hips, ridges, valleys, flashings, penetrations and drainage systems. You receive a written assessment with photographs, the condition of each area, an estimate of remaining service life, and a fixed written price for anything that needs doing. The inspection is free and carries no obligation.
The scope
What a roof inspection actually covers.
Roofs do not fail evenly. Nearly all of them fail at a handful of specific details, and an inspection is worth having only if it looks hard at those. Here is the scope, item by item, and what we are looking for in each.
- Slopes. The field of the roof: shingle or membrane condition, granule loss, curling, cupping, cracking, blistering, patches from earlier repairs, moss and debris, and whether the surface still lies flat against the deck underneath. Soft or springy areas underfoot get noted, because they say something about what is under the shingles.
- Hips and ridges. The cap shingles along the top lines take more wind and more ultraviolet than anything else on the roof, and they are often the first thing to go. Ridge ventilation, where it exists, is assessed here too.
- Valleys. The channels where two slopes meet carry a disproportionate share of the roof's water. We look at how the valley was built — metal-lined, or woven in shingle alone — at its width, at debris collecting in it, and at wear along the centre line.
- Flashings. Chimneys, walls, dormer sides, skylight curbs, the junction where a low-slope addition meets the main roof. We check whether step flashing is present and properly woven into the courses or has been replaced by a continuous strip, whether counter-flashing is let into the masonry or simply surface-sealed, and whether anyone has substituted caulk for metal. This is where more roofs leak than anywhere else.
- Penetrations. Every plumbing stack, bath and kitchen fan outlet, HVAC curb, attic vent and bracket that passes through the roof. Collars and boots are the shortest-lived components up there, and penetrations are where rot turns up on roughly one tear-off in ten.
- Drainage systems. Gutters, downspouts, scuppers, flat-roof drains, and whether water actually leaves the roof the way it was meant to. We check for standing water and for evidence of overflow at the roof edge. A blocked drain is the cheapest thing on a roof to fix and one of the most expensive to ignore.
What we do not do is guess at what we cannot see. If something can only be assessed by opening the roof up, the report says so plainly instead of assuming the best case or the worst one. A soft patch of decking under a valley, a second layer of shingles hidden under the first, or rot around a pipe collar are all things an inspection can flag as likely and only a tear-off can confirm. Saying that out loud is more useful than a confident number that changes once the work starts.
Access matters too. Some roofs cannot be safely walked — a steep pitch, a wet cedar slope, a third storey with nowhere to set a ladder — and in those cases the accessible surfaces are inspected on foot and the rest is assessed from the edge, from a ladder and from photographs, with the report saying which is which.
The report
What you receive afterwards.
The point of an inspection is not the visit. It is the document you are left holding, which should be useful to you whether or not you ever hire the person who wrote it.
- Photographs of what was found, not stock images. You should be able to see the condition of your own valley or chimney flashing without climbing a ladder.
- The condition of each area in scope — slopes, hips and ridges, valleys, flashings, penetrations and drainage — rather than one overall verdict.
- What is failing now, separated from what will need attention later. These are different lists and conflating them is how homeowners get sold a roof they did not need yet.
- An estimate of remaining service life, with the reasoning behind it.
- A fixed written price for anything recommended, itemised, valid as quoted.
And what it will tell you honestly
If the roof is fine, the report says the roof is fine and gives you a date to look again. That is a legitimate outcome of an inspection and it happens often.
If the answer is a repair rather than a replacement, it says that, and prices the repair. The three failures we find behind other roofers' work most often — corner-cutting on flashing details, cheap underlayment and insufficient ventilation — are frequently repairable long before the shingles are finished.
If the roof is genuinely at the end of its life, the report shows you the evidence for that rather than asserting it. At that point the useful next step is our guide to roof replacement cost in Metro Vancouver, which sets out what a new roof involves by material and by house size.
Timing
When to book a roof inspection.
Before you buy
A roof is one of the few parts of a house whose remaining life converts directly into a number you can put beside the asking price. Worth doing on anything with a flat section, a cedar roof, several additions, or an age that puts it near the twenty-five years roofs typically run in this climate.
After a windstorm
Creased shingles matter as much as missing ones — a crease breaks the mat while the shingle is still in place, and that course leaks in the next storm. Storm damage is also the kind most likely to be a straightforward insurance conversation, and that conversation goes better with dated photographs.
Before you list
A documented roof in good condition removes an objection before it is raised. A documented roof in poor condition lets you price the property with your eyes open rather than negotiate it in the last week of a deal.
Every few years anyway
Once a roof is past its first decade, a look every two or three years catches the cheap problems while they are still cheap. Add a look after any winter that brought sustained wind, and any autumn where you notice the gutters overflowing.
Environment and Climate Change Canada publishes climate normals by station: about 1,160 mm of precipitation a year at Richmond, 1,537 at Vancouver Harbour, 1,668 at Chilliwack Airport and above 2,500 at the Capilano station in North Vancouver. A roof in the wetter half of that range earns its inspections sooner.
The price
Where an estimate becomes a fixed number.
Our online estimator measures your roof from satellite imagery and prices the work from that. It is accurate enough to plan around, and it is deliberately not the final word.
The inspection is where the estimate becomes a fixed price. Satellite imagery shows the area, the shape and the pitch. It does not show how many layers are up there, whether the deck has gone soft, whether a second storey makes access difficult, or whether the chimney flashing was ever done properly. Those are exactly the items that are priced at the inspection rather than assumed in advance, and they are named up front rather than discovered halfway through the job.
A quoted replacement already includes removing the existing roofing, ice and water shield and underlayment, the chosen product installed to manufacturer specification, new hip and ridge, existing attic vents replaced with new ones, new pipe jacks and flashings, full clean-up of job debris, the city permit where one is required, licensed and insured crews and the workmanship warranty — ten years on shingle, metal, cedar and composite, five on torch-on and flat membrane.
The two questions we are asked most on a quote call are why quotes differ so much between companies, and whether an older house needs a new plywood deck. The inspection answers both for your specific roof, with photographs, which is more useful than either answer in the abstract.
Where we work
Roof inspections near you, from West Vancouver to Chilliwack.
We inspect roofs across Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, North and West Vancouver, New Westminster, Langley, Delta, Tsawwassen, White Rock, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack and Anmore.
Shingle, metal, cedar, composite and flat roofs are all assessed by people who install them, which is the difference that matters in a report. An inspector who does not build the assembly can tell you a valley looks worn; an inspector who does can tell you how that valley was built, why it is wearing where it is, and what replacing it properly involves.
We are WorkSafeBC registered, carry five million dollars of liability insurance, are GAF certified, and belong to the ICBA and the BBB. Over five hundred roofs completed across the region.
If the inspection turns up a leak that needs stopping before anything else happens, that becomes a roof leak repair on the spot, and we will say so rather than write it into a report for later.
Questions
Roof inspections, plainly answered.
What is checked in a roof inspection?
All accessible roof surfaces, including slopes, hips, ridges, valleys, flashings, penetrations and drainage systems. In practice that means the condition of the shingles or membrane, every place the roof meets something vertical, every pipe and vent passing through it, the valleys carrying the most water, and whether water actually leaves the roof the way it was designed to.
How much does a roof inspection cost?
Nothing. The inspection and the written estimate that follows it are free, and the estimate is a fixed price rather than a range. There is no obligation attached to it and no charge if you decide to do nothing.
How long does a roof inspection take?
Usually under an hour for a standard house, longer for a large, steep or complex roof, or one with several different systems on it. Most of that time is spent on the details rather than on the open slopes, because the details are where roofs fail.
When should I get a roof inspection?
Before buying a house, after any significant windstorm, before listing a property, when a neighbour with a similar house is getting a new roof, and every few years as a matter of course once a roof passes its first decade. Also any time you see a stain, moss spreading, granules in the gutters or shingles on the lawn.
Is a roof inspection the same as a home inspection?
No. A home inspector assesses the whole building and typically reports on the roof at a general level, often from the ground or a ladder at the edge. A roofing inspection covers the accessible roof surfaces in detail and is carried out by someone who installs the systems being looked at, which means the report names the failure and the remedy rather than recommending further evaluation.
What do I receive after the inspection?
A written assessment with photographs of what was found, the condition of each area covered by the scope, what is failing now against what will need attention later, an estimate of remaining service life, and a fixed written price for any work recommended. The photographs matter most: you should be able to see what we saw without going up there.
Will an inspection tell me how long my roof has left?
It gives you a well-founded estimate rather than a date. Roofs in this region typically run about twenty-five years, but slope, exposure, shade, ventilation and how the original details were built move that figure by years in either direction. A roof with sound shingles and a failing valley has a different future from one with a perfect valley and shingles shedding granules.
Should I get a roof inspection before buying a house?
Yes, particularly on anything built before the mid-nineties or anything with a flat section, a cedar roof or multiple additions. A roof is one of the few components of a house where the remaining service life translates directly into a number, and knowing that number before completion is worth considerably more than the inspection costs, which is nothing.
Do you inspect flat and torch-on roofs?
Yes. On a flat roof the drainage system carries most of the weight of the assessment, along with the seams, the perimeter details and every curb and penetration. Most flat-roof failures we are called to start at a blocked drain or a wall flashing rather than in the open field of the membrane.
Does an inspection put me under any obligation?
No. The inspection is free, the report is yours, and the estimate is a fixed price you can take to another contractor if you want to compare. We would rather you had an accurate picture of your roof than an appointment you felt pushed into.
Next
Book the inspection, or get the number first.
Type your address and we measure the roof from satellite imagery and price it on the screen before we ask you for anything. Book the free inspection from there, and the estimate becomes a fixed written price.