How to Inspect Your Roof for Damage

Inspect twice a year (spring and fall) and after any storm with serious wind or hail. Choose early morning or late afternoon — low-angle raking light throws shadows that make lifted shingles, dents, and waves jump out in a way flat midday light hides. Bring binoculars or use your phone camera's zoom, and start a notes list; you're going to photograph and log everything suspicious so you can compare next season.

Walk the full perimeter 30-40 feet out and glass every roof plane. You're looking for missing shingles or tabs (exposed black underlayment), cracked or torn shingles, and curling — edges cupping upward or centers rising while the edges stay flat, both signs of age. Pay attention to the pattern: damage clustered in one area usually means a wind event; even wear across the whole roof means age. Check the yard and bushes for shingle pieces while you walk.

Shingle granules are the sandy armor that protects the asphalt from UV. Scan for darker, shiny patches where granules have worn away — they often start where water concentrates, below valleys and roof edges. Then check the evidence at ground level: a layer of granules in the gutters or piling up below downspout outlets means the roof is shedding its protection. Light shedding on a newer roof is normal; heavy shedding on a 15+ year roof means the shingles are near the end.

Stand 50 feet back where you can see the full ridge — the top line of the roof — and sight along it like a carpenter sighting a board. It should read straight and crisp. Any dip, wave, or belly means trouble below the shingles: water-weakened decking, undersized framing, or a structural problem, and it will not improve on its own. Repeat for the eaves and any long horizontal lines on each side of the house.

Flashing — the metal that seals the chimney, plumbing vent pipes, skylights, and roof valleys — fails more often than the shingles around it. Glass each penetration and look for rust streaks, lifted or bent metal, separated step flashing climbing the chimney sides, and cracked or shrunken sealant lines. Rubber vent-pipe boots deserve special attention: the rubber cracks with UV after 10-15 years and is one of the most common sources of mystery leaks.

From the ground (or two steps up a stepladder — no higher), look along the roof's edges. Gutters pulling away, water stains striping the fascia boards behind them, peeling paint, and soft or discolored soffit panels under the eaves all point to water escaping where it shouldn't. Dark streaks down the siding below the roofline tell the same story. These edge symptoms often show up before anything looks wrong on the roof surface itself.

The attic tells you whether water is actually getting through. First, lights off: look up at the underside of the roof for pinpoints of daylight — any visible light is a hole (small nail holes matter less than gaps at penetrations, but log them all). Then with the flashlight, sweep the decking for dark water stains, streaks down the rafters, damp or matted insulation, rusted nail tips, and white mineral deposits. A musty smell is a moisture finding even when nothing looks wet.

Finish inside the living space. Walk the top floor and look for tan or brown rings on ceilings, bubbling or peeling paint near exterior walls, and stains around skylights, the chimney chase, and bathroom fans — water travels along framing, so a stain often appears several feet from the actual roof hole. Press a suspicious stain gently: dampness means an active leak that needs a roofer now, not at the next inspection.