It’s the camera. I do, for real, have hair. The camera takes off 500 follicles.
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To start off Get a Camera Pole (and later a drone). Depending on roof type, slope and height you can then decide what roofs are worthy of your life to walk. Where I am 80-90% are tile and I do not walk these. I have been accused of breaking the tiles I have reported on two occasions. This is when a CYA photo with a shadow of the drone and or camera on a pole can save your bacon from a pissy seller…
I almost exclusively use my drone now except for the few single story comp shingled roofs I come across. I do carry my camera pole also for the few times it is raining, or very windy. And there are a couple of areas where the drone won’t work because of proximity to the airport…then I cuss the FAA and put my camera on the pole. “Easier than falling off a roof” …as they say.
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Yeap!
Some old fashioned fellas go beyond the SOP and also to the Emergency Room all by themselves. No challenging Realtor or home owner will go visit you at the Hospital nor they will send a Check ($) to your family to cover your personal expenses while you recover and get back to work, if you get back ever!?!
I hope you now understand the intent of the protection provided to a Licensed Home Inspector by the Standards of Practice drafted by the State Legislature and InterNACHI.
Also, someone already said this “adventure” is extremely time consuming and will distract you from a proper inspection of the other nine dwelling systems (electric / plumbing / Interiors / foundations / HVAC / Cooling & Heating / exteriors & foundations / representative number of doors & windows / garage doors if any present / sump pumps / …… )
Now! Here is the drill, given that you walk the roof to impress those Xtreme climbers, is there any chance that you will not “detect” a potential possible tentative soon to occur water intrusion/leak due to strong wings or future passing rain storms… No you wouldn’t…! My recommendation would be to stick to the SOPs and look for signs of pass-water intrusion under the roof possible through the attic space. A powerful flash light will help. You cannot warranty roof intended conditions and performance ONE (1) single minute or second after you leave that dwelling. You’re a Home Inspector, not a roof contractor! You can only attest to what you “see and observe at the moment of the inspection”, not before, not after! Write that down in your contract, have the client sign and accept the conditions of your inspection agreement, write and recommend a further inspection by a licensed roof contractor if applicable in your report.
You are providing a lot of wisdom for an average $500 bucks. Do not under sale your home inspection services. Again, they did not hire you nor are they paying you to do the job of a licensed roof contractor.
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Once you know what to look for and where to look on a roof, you won’t have to check out every nook and cranny. Go through the NACHI roof inspection course again and make notes where to look on the roof. You can also make a list if you have Kenton Shepards narrative library. For the first six months of inspecting, bring that check list with you on your inspections. If you’re comfortable, walk on the roof for slopes 6/12 and less. Faster to inspect on the roof, plus you’ll see things easier and gain direct eyes on the roof experience. With that experience, you’ll become more confident that you aren’t missing important issues on steeper roofs with more limited access.
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I don’t mind not stepping on the roof if I don’t have to, and the lessons are clear cut, just after talking with other inspectors it’s seems as if walking on the roof is expected even though our SOP says otherwise.
You mean something like this.
The Compact Goat Steep Assist | The Goat Roofing Tool (thegoatsteepassist.com)
It’s not expected. Your safety and comfort level are first priority. There are roof rules; for one, never walk backward even if you’re in the center of the roof. My own is a roof over 6/12 is not walk on roof.Clients may feel different about whether the roof was inspected on the roof vs by ladder or drone. Other clients don’t care. For you, how do you make sure you don’t miss anything important?
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Just a side note, clients have all types of wild expectations.
And then we have the professional expectations we place on ourselves.
I walk roofs when I can to satisfy my sense of a job well done. I have No Problem telling a client I will not be walking their roof on any given day if I consider an unsafe condition exists.
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Any drone suggestion?
Mavic 3 pro.
We use an Autel. We did use a couple of DJI but their geofencing became untenable for us. We get permission from whatever agency is in control of the airspace we need to operate in, when required, and don’t see a need to also get permission from the CCP.
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With autels drones are you ever prevented from entering airspace when just going over a house?
The Autel drone we have has no limitations on it. FAA or military may have restrictions where you are trying to flying but the drone itself doesn’t care.
We quit using DJI drones because of the geofencing, which in many cases was inaccurate and a couple of time allowed us to takeoff but wouldn’t allow us to return to the take off location.
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Several years ago I purchased a “GOAT Roof assist system”. Great tool! Light weight. I also will check steep roofs from the edge with a ladder or from a window I use my “Ferret Tools” camera on an extension pole. The Ferret is a great tool for tight spots, crawlspaces, chimneys, etc…
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Does the mavic 3 pro have a zoom lens? Also do you find that getting the extra batteries or the care refresh plan a good idea?
Yes. The Mavic 3 pro has multiple lenses. the zoom is good.
I only have one battery. It’s good for 46 minutes. More than enough for a day of home inspections.
It is more stable than my Mavic Mini 3 or Air2s, which are very good drones also and offer good value but less performance than the mavic pro.
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With Autel (and the FAA for that matter) it’s up to the pilot to know where they can fly. DJI is notorious for it’s geofencing though.
I have 2 Autel drones that I use for home inspections, and a third that is used for other things. They work great.
Slight overkill for looking at rooftops. The Mini 4 pro has a comparable camera and considerably cheaper. Just sayin…
I agree, Michael. All these drones can get the job done.
For an unbiased review I turned to Droneblog.
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So, between the DJI Mini 4 Pro and the Mavic 3, which one is better?
- Mavic 3 Pro is the better drone regarding image quality, flight time, flight performance, and many other features that professionals rely on, while the Mavic 3 Classic provides a cheaper option that still has many of the same features.
- Mini 4 Pro is portable and shares some intelligent flight modes with the Mavic 3 drones. But the smaller sensor limits the quality of footage you get. Coupled with its affordability, it’s the perfect choice for beginners and those on a budget.
DJI Mini 4 Pro vs. Mavic 3 Series (Here’s My Choice) - Droneblog
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I own a Mavic Pro. The old school original. Still have it, still works, never used it for an inspection though.
When DJI was implementing it’s geofencing, I found out that the NOTAM around Trump’s Bedminster golf course is 30 miles when he was in situ. My back yard was 37 miles from Bedminster.
DJI allowed my drone to take off from my deck but it refused to go more than about 10 feet into my back yard.
I’m 7 miles north of the NOTAM restricted area and the drone wouldn’t let me fly into my back yard.
After a few times of this, I downgraded the firmware and firewalled off the tablet I used to run it. I’ve never since updated anything. I can fly it anywhere I want.
The worst part of this, is the mountain right behind the house. From my deck to the top of the mountain the rise was about 300 feet. Add trees…~400 feet. As high as my drone would fly(400) means an aircraft would have to be hitting the trees to hit the drone.
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I recently sat through a webinar about roof inspections using drones. One of the hosts insisted that one would need a DJI M300 or better to be able to take pictures of a roof. Just the thought that a $10K drone is what is required to conduct roof inspections is downright laughable. He also said it was best to fly between 150 and 200 feet AGL to avoid trees and power lines.
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