Thank you John, appreciate it
I must not understand something here, if this was a truss roof then how were those dormers on the front of the house built? Are those dormers fake/overframed? I would be curious to see the interior photos. If the attic was finished then you probably have stick built roof (rafters).
There could be many casues for buckling, check out the InterNACHI roof inspection classes, you can find some good info there. I wouldn’t go too deep into analyzing this, just recommend qualified contractor to further evaluate.
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The few times when I’ve seen this actually diagnosed, it has been thermal expansion. Different folks have different theories, like shingles installed on a very cold day or a very wet day, but they nearly always form that straight ridge and do not lay back down when it gets cold. Truss lift or out of alignment truss/rafter is unlikely because that takes the decking with it, and instead of that ridge hump, you generally see a sloping bump that extends for a foot or more on both sides. As others have said, report what you see and recommend further evaluation by a roofer.
Thank you for sharing your experience with me. Happy Holidays!
Here is one explanation that seems plausible: Roof Sheathing Lifting After Roof Replacement
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Amazing, thank you Desmond!
Simple! Great drone pictures BTW.
Report: Irregular/Unusual bump formation noted on the roof covering. It does not appear to have any impact in the functionally of the roof function. It is strongly recommended to have the whole roof structure further evaluated by a Licensed Roofing Contractor.
As a Home inspector you are not required to walk on the roof, nor you are required to perform structural tests, nor to take a guess by applying pressure on the shingles to determine the cause of this irregular formation. Your duty in accordance to the SOPs is to report on this unusual observation you noted and recommend that a subject-expert contractor performs a further independent more complete evaluation that could require removal of a section of the shingle covering to see under the underlayment and to determine the type of structure that supports the cover. Your infrared sensor camera is not a Superman X-Ray vision and you are not authorized to put your finger inside this problem. I strongly recommend that you refrain from issuing structural observations since you are not a structural engineer and may be getting yourself in dark waters (liabilities).
Carry on with the rest of the dwelling Inspection, you have 8 other systems you inspect and you already burned over 30 minutes of your 3 hours on-site 
If there is no attic access and you can not see the lower aspect of the roof from the inside-up, there is not much what you can learn about the structural condition of the roof system as a whole. Move forward and continue with the rest of the house.
If you want to be super-nice, offer the client that you will return to climb on the roof when the licensed roofing contractor has uncovered the area. However, most serious professional roofers will not want you up on the roof with them since you are not covered by their insurance policy.
If you are Inspecting for a buyer, just make sure you explain and empower adequately his/her Realtor to provide the proper leverage to wrap up the negotiations.
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Those two sentences seem to contradict each other.
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If they did the sheathing correctly, the sheets should be staggered. So, less chance that it is the sheathing as culprit IMO. Too bad you were not able to walk the roof or access the attic. If the bump was rigid, I would have been highly scrutinizing the framing in the attic.
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In accordance to the English dictionary “ap·pear” is a verb
In it’s 3rd person present: appears
1.
come into sight; become visible or noticeable, typically without visible agent or apparent cause.
In accordance to Zhygir’s notes, it does not appear to be any visible signs of water intrusion. Also Zhygir noted no access to attic and no way to further determine from the Home Inspection aspect any current existing water leaks.
Roof: The basic function of any roof is to offer protection from the elements for people and their possessions.
It seems to be doing that just fine, agreed?
Therefore, from the mission aspect of a Home Inspection, that is to 1) Observe; 2) Note and 3) Report we can reach the conclusion that on the moment of the inspection “It does not appear to have any impact in the functionally of the roof function.”
However, the inspector observation of an unusual ‘bumpy’ line on the roof, motivated the annotation of such fact and the inclusion in the report to alert the client of the need to ‘further evaluate’ the structural condition of the roof system and such evaluation should/must be performed by a fellow licensed professional roofing subject expert and not by a guessing Home Inspector, Agreed?
Therefore this committee concludes that there is no ‘contradiction’ in these two statements as per the Home Inspection SOP.
That’s your opinion, that you are entitled to. But I disagree.
First sentence says there’s nothing wrong with the roof structure. The second sentence says have a professional inspect it. That would be very confusing for a buyer and / or realtor…
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IMO, I think what is missing is a simple edit would clear things up for the client.
Irregular/Unusual bump formation noted on the roof covering. This may be a result of various possible issues ranging from structural deficiencies to shingle installation problems; which could not be verified due to limitations of this inspection. It is strongly recommended to have the whole roof structure further evaluated by a Licensed Roofing Contractor.
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Merry Christmas Christopher…!
I am glad that you agree to disagree…!
Take a second look (read slowly and carefully) and you will agree with me.
You see! I stick to the State Minimum Standards of Practice to stay out of legal problems. Can the client move forward with this purchase (if that is the case), It is conclusive, Yes! he can. Because the roof system is performing as expected offering the expected protection from the elements (weather, etc) for people and their possessions. As a Home Inspector, that is as far as we are committed to do, to issue an opinion on the spot, at the time of the inspection, not before or after. Despite the fact that the bump was there since who knows when (from birth, maybe?) but the dwelling has serve the purpose to house the residents succesfully without detriment to their health or to their furnishings. However, there is room for improvements in each and every dwelling that we inspect and because of that we can volunteer a recommendation, but since we are not CODE inspectors, nor we represent the regulating governmental offices, we could step outside our field of knowledge and say something not precisely accurate. That could lead the client to take corrective actions on our advise that could cause to incurre in expenditures that were not realistically needed. Or in the worst case, the client could walk away from this transaction (purchase) based on the uncertanty created by a wrong diagnogsis unnecessarily.
Now! it is not a discrepancy to ADD to that report a note that highlights the fact that there is an “unusual” (not common) situation in the form of a bumpy protuberance that could be caused by one or many structural or handcrafted reasons. This will get us out of the situation by gallantly suggesting that a more intrusive inspection approach conducted by a licensed roofer/contractor will certainly unveil the real causes of the abnormality observed and noted in our report providing a more accurate solution. As you know in this specific case, maybe the wise thing to do could be to wait until the next roof upgrade/maintenence come due and at that time whatever the underlying cause of this ugly bump could be addressed.
At last, I would like to ask Zhygir to follow up and close the loop with all of us, once you find out exactly what was the hidden cause of this bump. It will be interesting to know who of all of us, was closer to resolve the puzzle.
Pedro, I am not picking on you. But we are deep in the nuance of report writing. Why would you go here?
This seems like you just boxed yourself in. I can think of more than one reason this may have at least some negative impact on the home. Such as prone to lifting or storm/wind damage.
For me, from an a legal perspective. That sentence should be omitted. A simple statement indicating the observation (hump) and the recommendation would be the “safe bet”.
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Great EDITION… Christopher
It hits the nail on the head…! I like it, because it does not cross the line, but it deliver a clear message to have a more invasive inspection performed before reaching any conclusion.
Thanks!
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Dear Pedro, thank you so much for your explicit explanations. Greatly appreciated.
Happy Holidays!