Roof Inspection in Chicago and the Northwest Suburbs

Roof inspections in the Chicago area, with photos and a straight answer. Buying a home, after a storm, or before you plan a replacement, you’ll know exactly where your roof stands.

A roof inspection gives you a clear, photo-documented answer about the condition of your roof: what’s fine, what needs attention now, and what to budget for later.

Before you buy a home, after a big storm, or when a roof is getting older, an inspection tells you exactly where things stand, with photos and no guesswork.

A proper roof inspection covers shingles, flashing, vents, gutters and the attic underneath. Many problems show up inside the attic long before they show up on the ceiling.

Roof Inspection by City

We have a dedicated roof inspection page for every city we serve. Each one covers local housing, permits and neighborhoods. Our home base is Schaumburg:

• Roof inspection in Schaumburg
• Roof inspection in Hoffman Estates
• Roof inspection in Elk Grove Village
• Roof inspection in Roselle
• Roof inspection in Palatine
• Roof inspection in Arlington Heights
• Roof inspection in Rolling Meadows
• Roof inspection in Streamwood
• Roof inspection in Hanover Park
• Roof inspection in Bartlett
• Roof inspection in Itasca
• Roof inspection in Bloomingdale
• Roof inspection in Inverness
• Roof inspection in South Barrington
• Roof inspection in Mount Prospect
• Roof inspection in Wood Dale
• Roof inspection in Des Plaines

Signs You Need Roof Inspection

• You're buying or selling a home
• A hail or wind storm just passed through
• The roof is 15 or more years old
• You've noticed granules in the gutters or a new stain inside
• Your insurance company or HOA asked for a condition report
• You want a baseline before planning a replacement

Our Roof Inspection Process

1. Exterior roof walk We check shingles, ridges, valleys, flashing, vents, skylights and gutters slope by slope.
2. Attic check Decking, signs of leaks, ventilation, insulation and any frost or mold in the attic.
3. Photo report You get photos of everything that matters and plain-language notes.
4. Clear recommendation Leave it, repair it, or plan for replacement, with an honest answer on timing.

Roof Inspection by Type of Home

The northwest suburbs have every kind of house, and each one needs roof inspection handled a little differently:

• Post-war ranches: Long, low ranch rooflines often still sit on their original 1950s or 1960s board decking. We regularly find two layers of shingles, undersized attic ventilation and low-slope additions that were never flashed properly into the main roof.
• Split-levels and raised ranches: Split-levels and raised ranches have roof planes that run into sidewalls. That means step flashing and kick-out flashing, and those wall-to-roof joints are where many of the leaks we trace actually begin.
• Two-story homes: Two-story homes mean tall eaves, long gutter runs and steeper pitches. Safety staging and careful valley work matter more, and wind takes a bigger toll on high, exposed slopes.
• Townhomes and HOA communities: Townhome and condominium associations often control shingle color and style, and attached buildings share roof sections, so the work has to be coordinated with the association and the neighbors.
• Older homes near downtowns: Older homes near downtown often have steeper pitches, chimneys, dormers and original plank decking. Chimney flashing and soft spots in old boards are common findings.
• 1990s and 2000s subdivisions: Subdivisions from the 1990s and 2000s were usually roofed with builder-grade shingles and minimal ventilation, and many of those original roofs are now reaching the end of their life all at once.
• Estate homes: Estate homes have large, complex roofs with many valleys, hips, dormers, skylights and steep pitches. Every additional penetration and valley is a place that needs careful flashing, and the roof has to be planned before work begins.

How We Do Roof Inspection Right

Reading the shingles

Granule loss, curling, cracking, blistering and lifted tabs each tell us something different about age, ventilation and storm exposure. We photograph each slope so you can see what we saw.

What the attic shows

Daylight around nails, staining on the decking, frost or mold in winter, and how the insulation and vents are set up are often the most important findings, and you can’t see any of them from the ground.

Soft metals and gutters

Vents, flashing and gutters show hail size and direction after a storm, and loose or bent metal is where many leaks start. Every inspection includes them.

What to Expect

On the day of the job we protect landscaping and the driveway, set up safety equipment and keep the site organized. At the end we run magnetic sweeps for nails and walk the finished work with you.

We tell you what time the crew arrives, what to move away from the house and how long the work will take. When we’re done, the yard is swept for nails and you get before-and-after photos.

What Affects the Cost of Roof Inspection

• roof size and accessibility
• whether an attic inspection is possible
• whether a written report is needed for a sale, insurer or HOA
• steep or very tall roofs that need extra safety setup

Repair or Replace?

A roof with damage on one slope and sound shingles everywhere else is a repair. A roof with curling, granule loss or leaks on several slopes, or one that is near the end of its expected life, usually makes more sense to replace. Repeated repairs on a failing roof cost more over time than a new roof. We’ll show you the photos and give you an honest recommendation either way.

Weather in Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois roofs work hard: hail and straight-line winds in spring and summer, heavy snow, and dozens of freeze-thaw cycles every winter. Ice dams at the eaves are one of the most common causes of winter leaks we see.

The freeze-thaw cycle is tough on roofs here. Water gets into small gaps, freezes, expands and opens them wider. Add summer hail and gusty storms, and a roof that looked fine in October can be leaking by March.

Roof Inspection: FAQ