The 10-minute roof check
No ladder required. Twice a year — spring and fall — this walk-around catches most problems while they're still small.
Roofs rarely fail suddenly. They fail slowly, visibly, and politely announce it — to anyone who looks. In the Pine Belt, where heat, humidity, and pine straw age roofs faster than the national brochure numbers, a twice-a-year look is the cheapest roof insurance there is. Your feet never leave the ground.
Outside: the slow lap
- Shingle lines: wavy courses, curling edges, or tabs that look lifted — binoculars or a phone zoom work fine.
- Bald spots: patches where granules have washed away read as dark blotches; check your gutter downspout splash for granule piles.
- Ridge and edges: the peak and the eaves fail first in wind — look for missing ridge caps or drip edge hanging loose.
- Flashing points: chimney, plumbing vents, and wall junctions — rust streaks or lifted metal mean water is next.
- Gutters: sagging runs, standing water, plants growing (it happens) — overflowing gutters rot fascia and wick under the roof edge.
- Green and black streaks: algae is cosmetic, moss is not — moss holds water against shingles and pries them apart.
Inside: the attic minute
Take a flashlight into the attic after a hard rain. You're looking for daylight where there shouldn't be any, water stains or darkened wood along nail lines and around penetrations, and matted or damp insulation. A musty smell is a finding, not an ambience.
What's not a DIY job
Walking the roof. Steep-slope falls hurt people every year, and foot traffic damages hot asphalt shingles besides. If your ground check finds anything on the list — or your roof is past 15 and hasn't had a professional look — that's what a free inspection is for. We'll tell you honestly if it's a repair, a watch-item, or nothing.
Found something on the list?
A documented professional inspection tells you what it is, what it costs, and whether it can wait. Free, no obligation.
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