Category: Articles

WHY SHOULD I AS A HOME OWNER HAVE MY ROOF INSPECTED AND HOW OFTEN?

inspections

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I GET MY ROOF INSPECTED?

The National Association of Home Builders advises homeowners to get their roofs inspected every three years. If your roof is young and in great shape you could probably wait five years to get the inspection done. At the very least, pay attention to when other homes in your neighborhood are getting their roofs inspected, repaired or replaced.

If your house has withstood hail, a windstorm or other extreme weather, however, then go ahead and get the roof inspected so that any damage can be detected and addressed as soon as possible. Left alone, a damaged roof can result in mold growth, leaks, and costly repairs.

 

WIND AND HAIL DAMAGE.

This is a quick article about wind and hail damage straight from the Florida Insurance blog. I have added some of my example pictures for you to better understand what the damage looks like.

If you suspect your roof has been subjected to high winds or hail, you need to have it examined by a qualified and experienced roofer immediately. You can have severe damage to the tiles or shingles on your house even if no tiles or shingles are actually blown off the house. Many roofs look absolutely fine from the ground even though they have been totally compromised by storm damage.

 

Wind Damage

Shingles have a sealing strip between them. Many times, wind will lift the shingles and break the sealing strip during a storm. After the storm, the shingles simply lay back down in place – looking fine. If that sealing strip is compromised, then your roof likely needs to be replaced. This sealing strip is critically important to the integrity, functionality and longevity of your roof. If the sealing strip is compromised you roof will likely start leaking within a year or two of the wind event. That is why you need to have it examined immediately, before it starts leaking.

Likewise, tile roofs suffer from a similar plight. The tiles themselves on a tile roof system are simply decorative. The water barrier for a tile roof is the underlayment – the paper below the tiles. In a strong wind, the wind can “chatter” the tiles on your roof. This means the wind gets up under the tiles and repeatedly “jiggles” them up and down during a storm. After the storm, the tiles look fine. However, during the storm the chattering tiles have also “jiggled” the nails securing them to the underlayment causing the holes around the nails to open up wider than they should. This allows water to seep in around the nail holes throughout the roof. As with shingled roofs, many times, the water damage does not begin to show up for a year or two from the wind event.

wind close wind long

 

Hail Damage

If your home is subjected to hail, you should also have your roof examined by a roofer. Some hail damage is easy to spot – like when it knocks holes in your pool screen, or dents the metal or lead boots on your roof. But, just as significant, is hail damage that can only be seen close up. Often when hail hits a roof it causes what is known as “degranulation” of the shingles. Degranulation can only be seen on close inspection by someone who knows what they are looking for. When hail causes degranulation the integrity of the shingle is compromised, and the serviceable life of the shingle is significantly shortened.

hail tile

hail

 

SMALL DAMAGE AND SLOW LEAKS THAT LEAD TO BIG PROBLEMS!!

The worst kind of damage you can have is the one you can’t spot like shown above. With the wind and hail damage most of that damage can’t be seen from the ground, now any of the damage above is easily addressed and fixed for little to no cost depending on your home owner’s insurance.

The problem lies if you do not address those issues. Any of that damage can cause a small leak and you will never know it’s there. This small leak will slowly rot away the plywood under the shingle create mold and attract termites. By the time you see the leak there is only one thing you can do, replace the roof.

A quick overview of the average cost of the damage:

Replacing shingles: $200 about 2 hours of work

Replacing a roof: $1,409 per 200 square feet. How many square feet do you have??

smal leak rotten

 

WHY USE A DRONE TO INSPECT MY ROOF?

The biggest benefit is safety!

  • Ever had that gut wrenching feeling when you slipped?
  • The shakes while climbing the ladder to the roof?
  • How about the uncomfortable feeling standing on a slope?
  • How much do you think the medical bill would be if you fell?
  • With all that going through your head are you still paying attention to the roof?

So how about hiring some one to do it for you and take you out of the equation, which brings me to the next benefit….

 

Liability!

It’s not an inspector or roofer, but same principle applies.

 

Saving time and money!

Sometimes a rooftop needs inspecting just as part of routine maintenance, but most often it’s because an issue has already been identified, such as a leak for example. In these situations, time is of the essence and by using a drone, you can bypass the need to erect ladders, scaffolding, access towers, and aerial lifts. In doing so, you significantly reduce the time it takes to inspect and then repair any damage, and in turn the cost to your customer.

 

Before and after comparisons!

Drones provide a simple way to record before and after shots of your workmanship, and their GPS functionality allows for precision shots to be taken from the exact same aerial position. Additionally, images can be captured which show off your workmanship from angles and elevations that would be impossible to achieve with hand-held cameras.

 

WHY HIRE US?

Certification and Insurance!

  • We are FAA section 333 Approved
  • We have COA’s so we can fly in almost any airspace legally
  • All our pilots are actually FAA certified pilots
  • All our aircraft are FAA registered
  • We carry over $2 million dollars in insurance

So no Mr Mayhem here.

 

Professional!

We specialize in roofing inspections and as you figured out by now from this article we know what to look for.

 

No skin in the game!

We are not the ones that will be fixing it, so you know you will get a unbiased report that will tell you what problems exist, what needs immediate attention, and what to monitor or plan for in the future. A benefit of that is you can get exact quotes and you are not buying something you don’t need.

 

Certified reports!

You don’t just get pictures from us you get a full report that is generated by licensed and certified roofers.

report

Thank you for taking the time and reading hope it helps and is informative.

First a little disclaimer:

This first post is meant to give you my credentials, education, and background.

Why am I doing this background post?

Simple. I know in some subjects to come, I know I will get the comment “what makes you the expert?” or “How do you know?” So with this post you can read my credentials and background in order to understand my thought process.

Now in no means am I an expert. Please feel free to comment and open up dialogue with facts or articles. I am always up for learning.

I also have to mention that I will try to keep it mostly scientific and provide backup to my theories and ideas. With that said, most of my posts are theories and ideas, so open discussion is encouraged.

 

Background

I was born in and went to school in Germany up until I was 15. At 15 I decided to finish high school in a boarding school in England. Once I graduated high school I got accepted to the University of Hull in England where I obtained my Bachelor’s in Chemistry. All through high school and college I was working for Daimler Chrysler, Mercedes, and Bosh, mostly on the production line. Realizing I am not the type to be stuck in the lab all day I decided to switch careers to aviation, particularly helicopters. I got accepted at Hillsboro Aviation in Hillsboro, Oregon and after obtaining my student visas I was on my way to become a helicopter pilot. During my time at flight school I met my wife which was, and still is, my biggest supporter. It definitely requires a strong women to keep me in check.

At flight school I received my commercial helicopter rating as well as my flight instructor certificate. With just 200 hours under my belt I thought I was a hot shot pilot, ohh was I wrong, as demonstrated by my good friend and mentor Roger.

Roger gave me the opportunity to work with him, take extra helicopter lessons as well as obtain my private pilot Fixed Wing license with him. After passing all of Rogers tests he recommended me up to South Dakota to fly helicopters around Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Badlands.

Our first year in South Dakota was mostly spent in the Badlands. My wife and I were given a helicopter, a location, and got told to go make money. It was quite an experience. I could talk about the Badlands all day long, but I think one picture painted by Matt, a good friend and talented artist that heard all our story, captures the Badlands perfectly (see bottom of this post).

Matt’s website

After spending 2 seasons between the Badlands and the Black Hills, I got a job offer here in florida.

I accepted and went to work flying and managing yet another location. Shortly after working for that company I received an offer that I could not refuse.

I got asked to help and partner up in opening a tour business. I went out, found a helicopter, (1946 Bell 47 D1 in the army paint scheme) wrote an LOA, (Letter of Authorization) found a good insurance company, and we were in business.

Unfortunately after the season was over and I looked at my bank account, I realized I would have to make some changes. Yes, believe it or not helicopter pilots do not make a lot of money. Often enough they make less than minimum wage when you calculate it down to hours.

I still wanted to stay in the area that I love, which is aviation, so me being a tech geek it was only logical to jump on the new and upcoming technology in aviation, UAS, or also known as drones.

After looking at current regulations, I went to work registering my drone and applying for a section 333. Once it was approved I realized quickly that due to living in one of the most difficult airspaces in the world, just a section 333 wouldn’t do, so I applied for a COA (Certificate of Authorization). So 1 and a 1/2 years later, I was in business.

 

So to sum it all up:

  • I have a commercial and flight instructor certificate in helicopters and a private pilot license in fixed wing.
  • 1600 hours in helicopter and counting. Most of those hours are in high altitude 6,500 and above.
  • 100 hours in fixed wing
  • Managed 2 locations and opened a tour operation.

So by no means am I an expert, especially compared to my mentor that has over 10,000 hours in Bell products alone.

 

Conclusion:

Here are a few things I was taught and will never forget:

Everyone you meet knows at least 10 things better than you do.

You will never stop learning.

So in that spirit I am hoping not just to educate, but also to start a discussion that will educate me.

Thanks for reading,

Mario

 

t6 formation banner tow skydiving snow storm bhaa floating pad piper fred otto t6 bill badlands landing

Bell 47 D-1 Navarre, FL

Badlands