A written look at a roof's condition after a hail or wind warning, or before buying an older house or farm building.
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A roof inspection is a written look at the covering, flashing, gutters, vents and attic underside, recording what condition the roof is in. It is most useful after a hail or wind warning, or before buying an older farmhouse. The technician reports what is seen and what it would take to fix it, and makes no promise about insurance or outcome.
A roof inspection is a record, not a repair. The technician walks the roof, looks at the attic underside, and writes down what is there: the condition of the shingles or metal, the flashing where the roof meets walls and chimneys, the state of the gutters and vents, and any soft wood or staining. The written note is what a homeowner keeps, whether the next step is a repair, a plan, or nothing at all.
Two kinds of visit come up most often here. The first follows a warning. Storm warnings for Cleveland County have cited 60 mph gusts and hail from nickel size to golf-ball size, and a roof can take damage that is easy to miss from the ground. The second happens before a purchase, when someone is buying an older farmhouse or a mill house whose condition nobody has written down.
This page covers what a technician looks for, what a homeowner should photograph before the visit, and how to read the report. An inspection describes the roof. It does not decide what an insurance company pays, which is for the policy and the adjuster to settle. Phones are answered around the clock, and no arrival time is promised. Work that follows is often a roof repair.
An inspection covers the roof covering, the flashing and penetrations, the gutters and drainage, the vents, and the attic underside. It records condition in writing and does not change anything on the roof.
The technician works from the ground, the eaves and a safe position on the roof, and goes onto the roof surface only when it is safe to do so. Each slope gets its own notes, because sun and weather hit the slopes differently. The attic is checked for staining, soft wood and daylight, since those show what the roof is doing from underneath.
The result is a description, not a verdict. It says what was seen, where, and how serious it looks, and it leaves room for the homeowner to decide what to do next.
Hail and wind often leave damage that does not look like much from the yard. A bruise in asphalt or a crease along an edge can be the first sign of a problem that grows with each rain.
Hail bruises asphalt shingles and dents metal, and the mat under a bruised shingle can be weakened even when the granules look intact. Wind lifts the tabs and creases the edges, leaving gaps that let wind-driven rain under the covering. Both show up later as leaks at a valley or a ceiling stain in a room far from the storm's path.
Storm warnings for this county have described gusts of 60 mph and hail from nickel size to golf-ball size, and those warnings are forecasts, not damage surveys. A technician's report records what is actually on the roof.
Photographs taken from the ground and from inside the attic give the technician a starting point. Take them in daylight and keep the original files with their dates.
Shoot the front, back and both sides of the house, then the roof edges and gutters from the ground. Include the vents, the chimney, any skylights and the outbuildings in the yard. A close picture of a dent, a stain or a lifted tab, with a coin or a ruler beside it for scale, is more useful than a wide shot alone.
Inside, photograph the ceilings and walls under any stain, and the attic hatch with the attic lit. Keep the photographs together in one folder so they are easy to share with an adjuster later.
The inspection price depends on the roof's size, its pitch, how many stories it has and how it is accessed. Any repair price depends on the work found. Both are explained and approved before work starts. No figure is given here.
For the inspection itself, a large roof, a steep pitch or a rural lot where a ladder is hard to set all take more time. Several buildings on one property take more time than one house. Asking what the visit includes, in writing, before it is booked removes most of the surprises.
For any repair, the main drivers are roof size and pitch, the number of layers, the condition of the decking, the flashing and chimney work, access on a rural lot, and whether the covering is asphalt or metal. The technician's on-site quote is the only real number, and the homeowner is asked to approve it before any work begins.
No. An inspection describes the roof. Whether damage is covered depends on the policy and the insurer's adjuster, and this page does not predict that outcome.
The state's own guidance is that some insurers need an adjuster to approve work before it begins. The homeowner should contact the insurer, photograph the damage and cover any hole with a tarp if that is safe. A written estimate and a written contract come before any payment, and a down payment should not be made without one.
Be wary of anyone who rushes the decision, knocks on the door without an invitation, or offers a price that is good only now. Complaints about roofing work can be made to the North Carolina Department of Justice at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.
Roofs are a fall hazard, so do not climb a ladder in high wind, wet weather or poor light. Do not walk on a roof you cannot see the surface of, and do not pull up shingles to look underneath. A storm-damaged roof can hide weakened decking, so keep off soft or sagging areas. Stay clear of overhead power lines when setting a ladder, and ask the technician to do the climbing rather than doing it yourself.
Before the visit the technician asks what prompted it: a warning, a purchase, a ceiling stain or a general question. That sets what gets checked first. A homeowner who has photographs from the day of the storm should have them ready.
The technician looks at the roof from a safe position and from the ground around the house. Ground-level views show gutter debris, dents on downspouts and vent caps, and damage to siding or a fence that points to the same storm.
Shingles or metal are checked for lifting, creasing, missing pieces, granule loss and bruising. The technician notes which slope took the most weather, which is often the south and west, where sun ages asphalt fastest.
Flashing, valleys, vents, skylights and chimney edges are where leaks usually start. The technician looks at the sealant, the fasteners and the metal, and notes anything that has pulled away from the roof.
The homeowner receives a written description of what was found, with a clear note on what looks urgent and what can wait. The report does not promise any insurance result, and any repair is explained and approved before work starts.
After a hail or wind warning the question is whether anything was hurt. Hail often leaves small bruises that show up as soft spots in asphalt or dents in metal. Wind more often lifts and creases edges. The report says which, and where it was seen.
Before buying an older house or farm building, the roof is judged on its present condition: the covering, the decking, the flashing and how water leaves. The age of a roof matters less than the state of its details, and the report says plainly what could not be seen.
A look in a dry season, and again before the summer heat or a winter ice event, can catch lifted tabs and open flashing while they are still small. A routine check is a record as much as a repair list.
Some problems never show from the roof: stains and soft wood on the underside of the deck, or a fan that has stopped moving air. These are checked from the attic and written into the same report, so the homeowner has one picture of the roof.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
Whole streets of mill houses in the Second Broad River villages, including Henrietta, Caroleen and Cliffside, were built in one short period, so their roofs are the same age and come due together. An inspection on one of those streets often tells a homeowner what the neighbors are about to face.
Lawndale sits on the First Broad River, and the county roads around it carry a mix of farmhouses, brick ranches and metal-roofed outbuildings. Each one wears its storm damage differently, so the inspection starts with the roof in front of the technician rather than a template.
Tropical systems that reach the North Carolina foothills still carry damaging gusts, and inland the most common roof hazard from them is trees coming down. An inspection after a big storm checks for limbs and debris as well as shingles.
Targeted fixes for lifted shingles, nail pops and worn valleys on older houses in Lawndale and the county.
Checking and repairing hail-bruised shingles, dented metal and cracked flashing after a storm in Lawndale and across the county.
Repair for shingles, ridge caps and flashing that straight-line wind lifts, creases or tears away in Lawndale and across Cleveland County.
How attic airflow is set up on Cleveland County roofs, and what a technician checks before any vent goes in.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
No single answer covers every re-roof in Cleveland County.
North Carolina issues no roofing license of its own.
Hail and straight-line wind mark a roof in different ways.
After a storm damages a roof, call your insurance company before anyone starts work, because some insurers need an adjuster to approve repairs first.
Many older houses in the mill villages were built by one company in one short period, so their roofs are the same age and reach the end of their useful life together.
Metal has long covered barns, sheds and poultry houses on the county roads, and it is increasingly going onto houses.
Not every storm. A hail or high-wind warning for your area is a reasonable time to have the roof looked at, especially if you saw debris or heard hail on the house. A routine check before a long summer or the start of winter is another good time.
No. An inspection describes the condition of the roof in writing. Whether damage is covered depends on the policy and the insurer's adjuster. A written report can be shared with the adjuster, but it does not decide the claim.
The technician works from the ground, the eaves and a safe position first. The roof surface is walked only when it is safe, and not on steep, brittle or soft areas. If a closer look is needed, the report says so.
It is a sensible step. A pre-purchase inspection describes the roof's present condition, including the flashing and the attic underside, and says what could not be seen. It is one part of the buying decision, alongside the rest of the house.
The report describes each part of the roof and the attic, notes the photographs taken, and separates urgent items from ones that can wait. It does not promise an outcome. Ask for the list of items to be written out before the visit, so the scope is clear.
A second look is reasonable when the first report is unclear or when a large repair is proposed. Ask each technician to describe what they saw and why, and compare the notes rather than the sales pitch. Any repair should still be explained and approved in writing first.