Roof Inspection in Warwick, RI

For most homes, we start with an exterior-only inspection, on the roof itself, not the driveway. We walk the full roof covering (shingles or metal panels), check every penetration, chimney, vent, and skylight, and go over the valleys, ridge lines, and edges before moving to fasteners and the visible deck sheathing at eaves and penetrations. If nothing points to an interior problem, that's often all it takes, and you don't need to be home for it.

If we see staining, a soft spot, or you've already got a leak or a stain on a ceiling, we'll want to get into the attic too. From inside, we're looking for daylight coming through the decking, moisture staining on the rafters or sheathing, and whether the insulation and ventilation are doing their job, because a poorly vented attic cooks shingles from underneath and drives ice dams in winter. For that one we like to walk it with you so you can see exactly what we're seeing, not just hear about it after.

There's a real tradeoff between the two. An exterior-only check is faster and works fine for a routine yearly look or a quick storm check. An attic-and-interior check takes longer and needs someone home, but it's the only way to catch a slow leak, a ventilation problem, or moisture damage before it shows up as a stain on your ceiling. We'll tell you which one your situation calls for, not sell you the longer one by default.

Afterward, we clean up anything we moved or set down, and you get a plain-language walkthrough of what we found, backed by photos, before we talk about next steps or price.

What we're checking shifts depending on what's over your head, asphalt shingle or standing-seam and panel metal:

• Asphalt shingles. We're looking for granule loss (a sign the shingle is aging out and losing UV protection), cracking or curling at the tabs, lifted or missing shingles from wind, and nail pops where a fastener has backed out and could work a hole through the shingle above it. Asphalt is the most common covering because it's the most affordable up front and straightforward to repair in sections, but it has a shorter service life than metal and is more vulnerable to wind and hail damage. See our shingle roofing page for more on installation and options.
• Metal panels. We check seams and standing ribs for separation, fastener backout on exposed-fastener panels, oil-canning (a rippled look in the flat pan of a panel), and coating wear at cut edges where bare metal can start to rust. Metal costs more to install than asphalt but typically lasts longer and holds up better to wind and snow load, which is worth weighing if you're deciding between a repair and a full metal roofing replacement.

Either way, flashing and penetrations get the closest look, the same metal and sealant around chimneys, vents, and skylights we check on every roof, regardless of material.

The obvious times are after a storm, before buying or selling a home, or when you notice a stain, a draft, or shingles in the yard. The less obvious time is on a schedule, once a year, so small issues get caught before they become a ceiling stain. If you'd rather not have to remember, our maintenance plans build a yearly inspection into a set schedule instead of leaving it up to you to call.

Wind and hail damage in particular can be nearly invisible from the ground, lifted shingle edges, a handful of missing granules, so if you've had a serious storm come through, it's worth a look even if nothing seems wrong. See our storm damage and insurance claims page for how we document that for a claim. We'll give you a straight read on your roof's condition either way, not a guess from the street.