What a Roof Inspection Covers and How Often to Schedule One

A roof inspection is two jobs in one. Somebody looks at the outside of the roof for failing material and bad workmanship, then looks at the underside from the attic for the water that already got past it.

Skip the second half and you’ve had half an inspection. Here’s what a thorough one covers, what it costs, and how often a Gulf Coast roof needs one. You can see the maintenance work that usually follows on the TurnKey Roofers homepage.

To book one on your own house, call (504) 732-0336 or use the contact page.

Key takeaways

• A comprehensive inspection covers four areas: structure, water intrusion, material condition and quality of past work.
• Most inspectors check the attic as well as the roof surface, and a separate attic inspection runs $200 to $500.
• A residential inspection costs $75 to $600 depending on type, with a national average of $280.
• The report usually runs three to four pages with photos and arrives one to two business days later.
• HomeGuide recommends a professional inspection every three years for shingles and every five for tile, plus a homeowner check twice a year and after any severe weather.
• Roof surveys from the ground with binoculars are safer and catch most of what matters.

What the inspector is checking

A roof inspection is not a walk around with a clipboard. HomeGuide’s inspection checklist groups the work into four categories, and a report that skips one of them is thin.

The attic half

The attic tells you things the surface can’t. Wet sheathing, dark tracks down a rafter and rusted nail shanks all point at water that has already been moving.

The National Park Service’s roofing brief recommends probing suspect wood with a small knife, because rot shows up under a stain that looks harmless. It also flags condensation on the underside of the roofing as a sign of poor ventilation rather than a leak.

That distinction changes the whole repair. A ventilation problem gets solved with intake and exhaust, not with new shingles, and our residential roof maintenance page covers both.

The three ways it gets done

Which method you get depends on the pitch, the height and what the inspector is hunting for.

• Physical inspection, $75 to $200. The most common type. Someone climbs on and walks the roof with no specialized equipment, which also means real fall risk on a steep or multi story roof.
• Drone inspection, $100 to $450. Faster and safer, and it reaches pitches nobody should be walking. It needs decent weather, because wind and rain damage the cameras.
• Infrared inspection, $400 to $600. Thermal scanners find trapped moisture by temperature, since wet areas hold heat longer than dry ones. This is the one that maps a wet insulation problem you can’t see.

Steeper pitches push you toward the drone or infrared options, which is part of why they cost more. Accessibility matters too, and HomeGuide notes that multi story homes and hard to reach attics add inspection time.

How often to schedule one

There are two cadences running at once: what you do yourself, and what a professional does.

1. Twice a year, on your own. The Park Service roofing brief recommends inspecting the roof against a checklist at least twice a year and recording what changed.
2. After every severe weather event. HomeGuide recommends a self check immediately after a significant storm to assess possible damage, and the Park Service slate brief says the same for high value roofs.
3. Every three years for a shingle roof. That’s HomeGuide’s professional interval for asphalt.
4. Every five years for a tile roof. Tile lasts longer between professional looks, though the flashing around it doesn’t.
5. Before buying or selling. In a sale, the buyer pays for the home inspection, which typically includes a visual or physical look at the roof.

On the Gulf Coast the storm trigger does most of the work. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10, so a check in early June and another in December covers the bracket.

What tends to fail an inspection

Inspectors aren’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for things that will let water in or won’t hold in wind.

• Missing, curled or cupped shingles, and bare spots where granules are gone.
• Damaged or missing flashing at chimneys, sidewalls, skylights and valleys.
• Loose or improperly fastened chimneys and vents.
• Soft or rotted decking, found by probing rather than by looking.
• Sagging along a ridge or between rafters, and any area holding standing water.
• Poor past work, visible in nail pattern, shingle alignment and overhang at the edges.
• Gutters and downspouts that are loose, blocked or dumping water against the structure.

Two or more layers of existing roof covering is its own problem. Louisiana’s 2021 International Residential Code bars a roof recover where two or more applications of any roof covering are already in place, so that finding limits your options on the next replacement.

Low slope and commercial roofs get checked differently

A membrane roof has no shingles to read, so the inspection moves to seams, terminations and drainage. A Carlisle SynTec field service representative with 25 years of inspections lists the recurring defects as fishmouths in field seams, lap sealant missing at cut edges of reinforced membrane and uncured flashing, loose or missing drain bolts, and membrane holes cut too tight around the drain pipe.

Edge metal is the other big one. Carlisle’s representative calls it one of the most critical parts of the system because many uplift failures start at the roof edge.

A commercial inspection costs $200 to $600 on average, or $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot. Our commercial roof maintenance page covers the scheduled version of this on low slope buildings.

The city’s own inspection, and the photos it wants

If an inspection leads to a reroof, Orleans Parish has its own documentation step. The residential re-roofing permit applies to single and two family homes where 50 percent or more of the roof is replaced.

During the work, 16 geotagged photos get uploaded covering four stages from all four sides of the house: the existing roof removed, the underlayment installed, the drip edge and flashing set, and the finished shingles or metal panels. A certificate of completion follows once the city inspector approves them.

That sequence is useful to homeowners for a reason nobody mentions. It creates a dated photographic record of what went on your deck, which is exactly what a future inspector will want to know and what most roofs have no evidence of at all.

What to ask before you book

• Do you inspect the attic as well as the roof surface, or the surface only.
• Is this a physical, drone or infrared inspection, and why that one for my roof.
• Does the report include photographs of each finding.
• Do you provide repair pricing separately from the report.
• How many layers of roof covering will you confirm are up there.

What you get at the end

A quality report runs three to four pages and lands one to two business days after the visit. HomeGuide lists the sections it should contain.

• An introduction with the address, date and the inspector’s name and contact details.
• A scope of work describing what was and wasn’t covered.
• A general description of the roof: size, material, pitch, condition and life expectancy.
• Itemized findings by area, with photographs attached.
• A summary and recommendations, with urgent items called out.
• A repair estimate, which HomeGuide notes tends to run $150 to $1,000 for minor work.

A roof certification is a separate product. It costs $75 to $200 on top, and the inspector issues a letter on the roof’s condition and remaining life, which requires the roof to be leak free with two to five years of useful life left. It’s an expert opinion, not a guarantee, and it’s only issued after any needed repairs are done.

Frequently asked questions

What does a roof inspection include?

The exterior surface and the attic underneath it. Inspectors check for structural damage, water intrusion, failing materials and poor past workmanship, covering missing or aging shingles, loose chimneys and vents, failing gutters, and badly installed materials. A thorough one includes photographs of every problem area and a written summary of what needs doing first.

How much does it cost to get a roof checked?

A residential roof inspection costs $75 to $600 depending on the method, with a national average of $280 and a typical range of $100 to $400. A physical walk on inspection sits at the low end, a drone inspection at $100 to $450, and an infrared moisture scan at $400 to $600. Some contractors include a free inspection with a repair or replacement estimate.

What will fail a roof inspection?

Missing or curled shingles, damaged flashing, rotted decking, sagging, standing water and loose roof penetrations are the common ones. Poor workmanship shows up too, in nail patterns, shingle alignment and edge detailing. On an older New Orleans house, two existing layers of roof covering is a significant finding because the code won’t allow another one on top.

Are free roof inspections worth taking?

Often yes, when they come from a contractor you approached for an estimate. Be careful with unsolicited offers after a storm, which HomeGuide flags as a common scam pattern. If someone knocks on your door and wants to climb on your roof, take their details and call a company you chose yourself.

Book an inspection before the next storm

The cheapest inspection is the one that happens before the damage, not after it. Most of what we find on a June visit is a $200 fix in June and a $2,000 fix in October.

Call (504) 732-0336 or use the contact page and we’ll schedule one, with photos and a written report.

Related reading

• 4 Things Inspectors Check Before You Sell Your Home with an Older Roof
• How to Prepare Your Roof for Hurricane Season
• Roof Maintenance Myths Debunked: What Homeowners Should Know

Sources

• HomeGuide, Roof Inspection Cost (2026)
• HomeGuide, Roof Repair Cost (2026)
• National Park Service, Preservation Brief 4: Roofing for Historic Buildings
• National Park Service, Preservation Brief 29: Historic Slate Roofs
• Louisiana Residential Code 2021, Chapter 9 Roof Assemblies
• Carlisle SynTec, Voice of an FSR: Inspecting EPDM Roofs
• City of New Orleans, Residential Re-Roofing Permit
• NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology