Water coming through the ceiling? The emergency line is answered by a person, 24 hours a day, every day of the year — we tarp and make safe first, and estimate in daylight. Call 000-000-0000
There are four quite different reasons people ask for an inspection, and they want different documents. A homeowner wants to know whether the stain matters. A buyer wants to know what they are inheriting before they commit. A board wants a number to put in a reserve study. An owner planning work wants a scope they can put out to several contractors on equal terms. We write for whichever of those you are.
What none of them want is a sales visit dressed up as an inspection. Our report is a document you own, it says what we found including 'this roof is fine', and it is equally useful whether you engage us for the work or hand it to somebody else.
What an inspection covers
Walked wherever it is safe to walk, flown where it is not, and photographed either way.
The roof surface, by elevation
Condition, wear, granule loss, cracking, lifting, blistering and any storm damage, recorded elevation by elevation rather than as one overall verdict.
Every flashing and penetration
Chimneys, walls, valleys, skylights, pipes, vents and equipment curbs — where the failures actually are.
Drainage
Gutters, downspouts, drains, scuppers and overflow paths, flow-tested on a flat roof rather than looked at.
Edges, parapets and coping
Drip edge, rake edge, termination bars and coping joints.
The attic, where there is one
Ventilation, insulation, daylight, condensation and any staining on the underside of the deck. Half the useful findings on a pitched roof are inside.
Structure, visually
Sag, deflection, damaged rafters or decking, and anything suggesting the deck is carrying water.
Moisture, on flat roofs
Meter readings across a grid and test cuts where the readings justify them. This is what separates a recover from a tear-off.
Drone survey where needed
Steep slate, high parapets, fragile surfaces and anywhere a ladder is the wrong answer.
The report you get
Written to be read by whoever needs to act on it — a homeowner, a buyer's attorney, a board or a managing agent.
A plain-English summary first
One page. What condition the roof is in, what needs doing, and roughly what it costs. Everything else is evidence.
Photographs of every finding
Located and dated, wide shot then close shot, so a finding can be pointed at rather than described.
A remaining-life estimate
Our honest view in years, with the reasoning. The single most useful number in the document.
Priorities, separated
Urgent, this year, and watch. Most reports fail by presenting everything at one level of alarm.
Budget figures
Real ranges for each recommendation, so the document can go into a reserve study or a purchase negotiation without further work.
A scope for tender, if you want one
A specification you can send to three contractors so their quotes are actually comparable. We are happy to be one of the three, or not.
Planning a replacement before you need one
The best roof replacements are booked eighteen months out. The worst are ordered in November with a bucket on the landing.
Know the year, not the emergency
An inspection each year turns 'sometime' into 'about four more winters', which is enough to plan and to save.
Get the survey done in the winter
Contractors are quieter, estimates are more considered, and you can book spring work at a spring price.
Do adjacent work at the same time
Gutters, fascia, soffit, ventilation, skylights, chimney and any solar are all far cheaper while the access is already there and the roof is open.
Decide the material calmly
Shingle, metal, membrane, tile — a decision worth making with a materials guide and a coffee, not on a doorstep.
Sequence around the building
Occupied buildings, trading hours, school terms and board meetings all have windows. Planning uses them; an emergency ignores them.
Budget with a contingency
We price deck replacement per sheet in advance for exactly this reason. Ten per cent of contingency covers almost every surprise a roof holds.
Inspections & Roof Planning in western Queens
Condition surveys, drone and moisture inspections, and the remaining-life report that lets you plan a roof instead of reacting to one.
Every job of this kind starts the same way: somebody climbs it, photographs it, and writes down what is actually wrong before anybody quotes a price. The survey is free, the report is yours, and you are under no obligation to use us for the work it recommends.
Please stay off the roof. Not in rain, not in wind, not at night, and not to fit a tarp — far more people are hurt each year on wet roofs than by the leaks they were trying to stop. Never touch a ceiling light, fan or outlet that water has reached; switch that circuit off at the panel from dry ground, and if you cannot do that safely, leave it and call an electrician. If a ceiling is bulging or sagging, keep everybody out from under it. General guidance on this page is not a substitute for somebody looking at your own roof.
Questions
Inspections & Roof Planning — the questions we are asked most
How much does a roof inspection cost?
A residential inspection with a written photographic report is $275, a pre-purchase report $395, and a commercial condition survey from $650. The fee is credited in full against any work you go ahead with, this year or next. Post-storm inspections are free.
How do I know how much life my roof has left?
That is precisely what the report gives you — a remaining-life estimate in years with the reasoning behind it. It is a judgement rather than a measurement, but it is an informed one based on surface condition, flashing state, ventilation, deck condition and how the roof has changed since the last inspection.
Can you inspect a roof I am thinking of buying?
Yes, and it is worth doing separately from the general home inspection. A general inspector looks at a roof from the ground or from a ladder at the eave; we walk it, go into the attic, and give you budget figures you can actually use in a negotiation. On a house with a roof near the end of its life that report frequently pays for itself many times over.
Do you use drones?
Where they are the right tool — steep slate, high parapets, fragile surfaces and anywhere a ladder would be unsafe. A drone gives excellent overall imagery. It does not replace walking a roof where walking is safe, because a great many findings are things you feel underfoot rather than see.
Will you try to sell me a new roof?
No. A good share of our reports conclude that the roof is fine and needs nothing but maintenance, and we say so in writing. The report is a document you own and it is equally useful if you hand it to another contractor — we will even write the tender specification so their quotes are comparable.
What is a moisture survey and do I need one?
It applies to flat roofs. Meter readings across a grid, with test cuts where the readings justify them, establish whether the insulation under the membrane is wet. That single fact decides whether your roof can be recovered for perhaps half the price or genuinely needs tearing off — so on any flat roof over ten years old, yes, before you spend anything significant.
Can you write a report our board can use?
That is most of our survey work. Plain-English summary, photographs, priorities separated, real budget ranges and a ten-year spend forecast — written to go into minutes or a reserve study without being rewritten first.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Maintenance & Protection
Roof Maintenance Plans
Two or four visits a year that catch the small thing before it becomes the ceiling — and typically add a decade to a roof.
Read more
Maintenance & Protection
Gutters & Drainage
Seamless gutters, downspouts, leaders and roof drains — because most 'roof leaks' in Queens are water that could not get away.
Read more
Maintenance & Protection
Coatings & Waterproofing
Reflective coatings that buy a sound flat roof another decade and cut cooling costs — quoted only after a dry moisture reading.
Read moreFree survey, written quote, fixed price
Get a roof quote, or call the 24-hour line
Tell us what you are seeing and we will tell you honestly whether it needs somebody tonight or whether it will keep until the morning. Surveys and written quotes are free, and leak diagnostics are $145, credited in full against any repair you approve.