Best chimney inspectors near Hemlock, MI

No, you can’t inspect the roof yourself if you want to get your roof certified for your mortgage lender or insurance underwriter. You’ll need to get it inspected by a licensed professional. If you happen to be a licensed inspector, this means that commercial rules apply, and you’d need to get your Remote Pilot Certificate, just as you would if using the drone for another business purpose. 

However, if you want to use a drone to simply check out the roof, it’s considered recreational use. You won’t need your Remote Pilot Certificate, but you’ll still need to register your drone with the FAA and follow FAA and any state guidelines during the flight.

You may not always be able to see a soft spot on the roof from the exterior. If the underlying damage isn’t yet severe enough to cause the shingles to buckle or show other signs of damage, you may not be able to see that there’s a problem from the outside. A roof inspection will be able to identify soft spots. When a roofer walks on the surface of your roof, they’ll be able to find soft or spongy sections.

A roof's ability to handle snow depends on its strength and the snow's weight, as wet snow is much heavier than dry, fluffy snow. While designs in snowy regions often allow for 35 to 50 pounds per square foot, a general guideline is that a typical roof can withstand about four feet of fresh snow, two feet of packed snow, or just one inch of ice. Factors like the roof's age, slope, and support structure also affect its capacity; newer, sloped roofs generally hold more weight than older, flat ones. Ice and ice dams add significant, dangerous weight. Because capacity varies, it is best to contact a professional roofing contractor or the original builder to determine the maximum snow load for your specific home.

Roof blistering and hail damage are different in their physical appearance. Blistering, often caused by inadequate ventilation, low-quality material, and improper installation, looks like large, irregular bubbles popping out of your roof. Meanwhile, hail damage is usually circular or oval dents entering your roof and often follows the same path as the hail storm.