Author: Les Watrous

Home inspectors are limited to looking for visible signs of existing problems. Only 46% of roof damage can be seen from the ground in a normal home inspection. They can only report on the condition of the roof on the day of inspection. They cannot guarantee the future performance of a roof. Generally, home inspectors will defer their opinion and recommend a further inspection of the roof by a licensed roofing professional.

Yes and yes. Some home warranty insurance plans offer one year coverage of the roof as an option. These are called “roof riders”. When the roof leaks, the home warranty company sends out a roofer to provide spot roof repairs or requires you to get three bids from various roofers. Unless you happen to have proof on the condition of your roof at the time the rider was issued your ability to collect depends upon the after-the-fact opinion of whoever was called out by the warranty company to do the repair work. The NRCIA”s trademarked two-year LeakFREE® Certification agreement is a superior alternative. We provide assurance on the condition of the entire roof based on a patent-pending roof inspection process.

No! The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the exclusive right to the NRCIA to perform VisualROOF® Inspections and issuing LeakFREE® Roof Certifications. The NRCIA grants to its active members the right to perform inspections and issuing through its system LeakFREE® Roof Certifications. Anyone else who performs inspections for the purpose of issuing LeakFREE® Roof Certification is infringing on patents, trademarks and copyrights and is subject to legal and financial consequences. Anyone who hires a non-conforming company could also be liable.

Roof deficiencies are the most common problem reported by home inspection associations. 30% of real estate inspection claims are due to roof leaks and water penetration. 39% of homeowner™s insurance claims are because of roof problems.