Find Potential Leaks and Damage Of the Roof Before They Become Problems

When it comes to evaluating the home you intend to buy, roof inspection is a very crucial point. Since replacing a roof can cost you several thousand dollars, you must be very careful in identifying the potential problems with the roof before actually purchasing the home.

Why Is There So Much Concern Over Roof Inspection?

Through roof inspection, you can find minor problems with the roof much before they reach the leak stage. On the other hand, if you do not do roof inspection, some leaks might remain undiscovered, and can allow the water to do a substantial damage to the roof later after you bought the home.

What to Inspect?

While you are inspecting the roof, precisely check the following things.



Cracks and Missing Shingles

Check the roof and identify if there are any openings where moisture can enter, such as cracks or missing shingles. Make sure that the shingles extend at least 0.75 inch beyond the edge of the roof, and form a continuous drip line at the eave and end rafters or at the rake boards that cover the end rafters.

Gutters

Closely check the gutters. If they are poorly sloped, clogged, rotted, or are leaking, they can lead to eave, overhang, or siding leaks and rots.

Attics

There are certain areas that are very difficult to see or reach. You need to make extra effort to inspect them. Such areas include, rain seepage or decay around vent pipes, antennas, wall top plates, skylights, and other vents. You can use a good probe and light source to identify such things.



Flashings

Make sure that areas around vents, chimneys, and dormers are flushed and properly sealed. Ensure that there are no rusty or broken nails, as they might cause problems in flashings. Properly installed flashings should curl over the forward edge of the fascia board about 2 inches and then run about 6 inches beyond a vertical line drawn from the inside face of the wall studs. Check if the flashing is in good condition, and properly placed to prevent water from entering the attic. Also, make sure there is flashing around the chimney.

Discolored and Damaged Areas

There might be some soft, tunneled, cracked, rotted, blistered, or exposed areas on roof. These areas are normally potential openings for fungi and insects. Therefore, you must check if the areas are affected with algae, moss, lichens, or any discoloration. These things maximize the chances of moisture problems and termites.

Eaves, Overhangs, and Fascia Boards

There must be at least 18-inches of overhangs to allow proper water runoff. Check if the overhangs are shorter than its standard size.

These are some important points to consider while conducting a roof inspection for buying a new home. These are crucial and ignoring them could land you in situation where you could be compromising with the safety of the home or spending thousands of dollars to fix the problems once you bought the home.