Los Angeles County, California

Roof Inspections and Second Opinions in Los Angeles

Need to know how many years your roof has left, or whether a quote you were given is right? We go up on the roof and into the attic, and you get photographs of what we find. The inspection is free.

Tell us about your roof Call (310) 857-2520

Free roof inspection
We come out, get on the roof, and tell you what we find.
The price in writing
A written quote before anyone starts, with nothing to sign on the spot.
Licensed roofers
Our roofer who comes out holds a current California license.
Across Los Angeles County
From the Valley and the foothills to the Westside and the South Bay.

A roof inspection is somebody on the roof with a ladder, and it is a different job from the roof paragraph in a home inspection report. You get what was found in writing, and the visit and the written quote cost nothing.

A home inspection is a limited visual examination. The inspector does not have to walk the roof, and the report leaves out remaining life, cause and insurability. That is most of what you want to know.

Ballpark, not quotes. Single-source leak $800 to $2,500. Composition re-roof $9,000 to $25,000. More on the costs page.

What it costsNothing, and there is nothing to sign on the spot
Who asks for oneBuyers in a contingency window, sellers before listing, and owners answering an insurer
What you getWhat was found, in writing, with photographs
Second opinionsBring the other quote and its photographs and the two can be read side by side

Lifting a tab shows the nail line, the sealant strip and what is under it. That is how we tell you what is left in a roof instead of guessing from the driveway.

What an inspection covers

The covering.On composition, granule loss, cupping, nail pops and past repairs. On tile the tile is usually sound and the felt under it is not, so tiles come up in a few spots to check it.
Layer count, read from a ladder at the eaves. A second drip edge goes on with a second covering, so look for one flashing tucked under another.
Drainage.Gutters, downspouts, drains and scuppers. A roof dry since April holds a spring of jacaranda and pine litter in the valleys, and the first rain backs up behind it.
Flashings and penetrations.Drip edges, valleys, ridge and hip, roof-to-wall, chimney, vent, skylight and solar mount. A new covering with bad flashings still leaks.

What the report should say

A report worth having names what was measured and where. A page of adjectives is not an inspection.

Tile and wood shake break under a boot, and on a low-slope asphalt roof a foot can go through rotted sheathing. So the report should say how the roof was looked at. Ask which slopes were walked and which were read off the ladder.

It should also carry photographs close enough to read the split shingle or open flashing, one of each slope, and the date. An inspection describes the roof as it is that day and predicts nothing.

The attic is half of it

Daylight through the sheathing is visible from underneath long before anything shows on the ceiling.

Ventilation is why. The building code asks for one square foot of venting per 150 square feet of attic, or one per 300 where the vents sit high and the intake is low. Here the load is heat, not ice. An attic with the soffit vents painted shut stays hot all afternoon in September, and shingles under ten years old can be in poor shape from overheating, weak venting or too many layers.

The attic also shows decorative gable vents, soffit rot and a sagging rafter. And the ceiling stain is not under the hole, because on built-up roofs water runs sideways between the plies before it drops.

What it costsNothing, and there is nothing to sign on the spotThe inspection is free, and the price for your roof comes in writing.

Get a price for your roof

Buying a house

When a report says "recommend evaluation by a roofing contractor," that is all a home inspector's standards let them say. They are not required to judge how much life is left, so the roof goes to someone who will be on it. California law treats a roof inspection as separate from a home inspection, so use the contingency window for one. The window comes from your contract, not from law, so check the date escrow opens.

When the insurer asks about your roof

Roof age is underwriting now. A San Francisco Chronicle review of California's twenty largest home insurers found that nearly all of them restrict roof material, slope or age in some way, with older roofs written at actual cash value or declined outright. Carrier rules change and they differ by carrier, so read your own letter and call your agent.

Much of it is decided from aerial photos. A nonrenewal notice has to reach you 75 days out with the specific reason. Have someone stand on the roof and look before you answer the letter.

Second opinions

Bring the other quote and its photos. Compare what each roofer says is wrong before you compare numbers. A scope naming the slope, the flashing and the material can be checked against your roof. One price for the whole job cannot.

A roof certification is a separate job. A licensed roofing contractor inspects it, makes the repairs, then warrants the roof leak free for a period the roofer sets.

Common questions

How long should a roof last?

Asphalt gets replaced long before tile does, and how long depends on the venting, the sun on that slope and the layers under it. The number on the shingle wrapper is a warranty term written for ideal conditions, and a west slope over the Valley does not get them. On tile the tile outlasts the felt, so the age that matters is the underlayment's.

Can someone look at a flat roof?

Yes, we go up the same way. Ponding, which the trade defines as water still sitting 48 hours after rain stops, leaves a ring of dirt you can read later on a dry roof. Alligatoring, blisters and split seams get looked at too. More on flat and low-slope roofs.

Book a free inspection and put on the form what the roof has been doing. Or read roof repair and roof replacement first.

The offer

$500 off a new roof, 10% off any repair

Send your request online from this page and the offer is attached, with nothing to remember.

We get on the roof, and into the attic if that is where the answer is
You get photographs of whatever we find
The price in writing, with nothing to sign on the spot

Claim it on a free inspection

Granule loss and curlingWhat the covering is doing at the tabs and in the gutter is most of the age question.
Every penetrationSkylights, vents and chimneys are holes in the roof with a detail around each one.
Cracked bootsCheap to fix, and a common reason a roof gets written off too early.