Almost every expensive roof repair we attend started as something cheap that nobody noticed. A ten-minute look twice a year, once after leaf fall, once in spring, catches most of it. Nearly all of this can be done safely from the ground with binoculars and from inside the loft. Nothing here requires you to go up a ladder.
From the ground
Walk the full perimeter, ideally on a bright day, and look at the roof from as far back as you can get.
- Slipped, cracked or missing tiles and slates
- Gaps or cracked mortar along the ridge and hips
- Crumbling mortar or missing units along the verge
- Plants growing in the gutters, or staining on the wall below
- Sagging or disconnected downpipes and hopper heads
- Lead flashings that have lifted away from the brickwork
- Vegetation on the chimney, or missing pot flaunching
From inside the loft
Pick a bright day and go up without turning the light on first. Daylight through the covering shows you gaps you will never see from the street. Then use a torch and look at the timbers, the underside of the membrane and the eaves.
Wet or blackened timber, staining running down a rafter, rusted nail heads, damp insulation and mould on the sarking all mean something. Note whether it is one place, which suggests a leak, or spread evenly, which suggests condensation.
After the wind
Following any named storm, do the ground-level walk again and look particularly at the ridge, the gable that faces the prevailing wind, and any flat roof edges. Debris on the ground below the roof is often the first sign that something has moved up there.
The one job worth paying for annually
Gutter and valley clearing. It is the cheapest intervention available and it prevents the two most expensive slow failures, rotten fascias and soffits, and repeated saturation of the wall below an overflowing gutter. If you have trees nearby it needs doing every autumn without fail.
Common questions
Should I get the roof professionally inspected every year?
For most houses, an annual look from the ground and the loft plus a gutter clear is enough. Older properties, coastal exposure, and buildings you are responsible for as a landlord justify a proper inspection.
Can I clear my own gutters?
At single storey with a stable ladder and someone with you, plenty of people do. At two storeys it is not worth the risk, falls from ladders cause serious injuries every year.
Is it worth treating moss?
After manual removal, a biocide slows regrowth. Treating without clearing the debris that is already blocking valleys and gutters achieves little.
What is the single best thing I can do for my roof?
Keep water moving. Clear gutters, valleys and outlets. Almost every long-term roof problem starts with water sitting somewhere it should have drained from.