Spotting a bad roof is easy for most veteran roofing contractors. Curled or missing shingle tabs often tell the story. However, there can be wild cards, both in terms of what you find on the roof and in terms of the people who call for the inspection. The first question that Mark David, vice president of sales for Joseph David Roofing in Linden, N.J., asks those who call for repairs is: “How old is the roof?” He follows with: “But you must have a warranty.” To which, he says, the homeowner usually responds by saying the roofer's number was disconnected or they don't want the guy on the property because they don't trust him. David then schedules a roof inspection.

INSPECTOR NEGLECT

Alan Archuletta of Full Systems in Salt Lake City says many contractors in his market don't inspect roofs. Archuletta finds inspections an indirect and cost-effective route to a replacement job. Though he walks the roof and inspects carefully, Archuletta finds the top problems in his market easy to see: curled shingles or missing shingles sometimes attributable to the substrate.

In San Jose, Calif., David Cameron, owner of Certified Roofing, also does inspections — he gets calls from mortgage companies, realtors, and prospective homeowners alike. But, unlike Archuletta, he charges for inspections.

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