I am of the belief, as are the home inspectors that I associate with, that an inspector, in most instances, belongs on the roof. It is difficult enough to find problems even when you are up there, let alone trying to view it from eaves or a high-spot nearby. There are exceptions to this rule, such as situations where safety concerns or fragile roofing materials make it unwise to get on the roof. Granted, one does not want to create problems by damaging the roof.
I know that some inspectors have gotten very tired of, and critical of, inspectors who do not traverse roofs or enter areas that they should. At the last home inspector licensing board meeting, for this state, a contingent wanted to mandate that any inspector who does not, as standard procedure, go on the roof must disclose that to the client as a vulnerability in the inspection. That language was in the standards but, in the end, it was taken out due to complications some of us saw with enforcing the rule. I did not vote for that language, but I do understand the point and the frustration of those who wanted that language in the state law.
There are inspectors who avoid roofs, attics or uncomfortable claustrophobic situations, even crawl spaces. The members of the board, who drafted that language, wanted those weak inspectors exposed to the public. Many inspectors, who only partly do the job, cover themselves legally by using broad language, such as taking a cursory look at the roof and inserting a generic statement in the report that says the roof should be further evaluated or cleaned by a professional roofer. Sure, some inspectors argue that it is unsafe to get up high, as in to look at the roof. But gee, inspector guys and gals, we are inspectors, not soda jerks. We should be able to physically get on most roofs (assuming the materials allow that) and we should be able to look in attics. And we ought to be able to get into a crawl space that has a reasonable distance from the ground up to the beams.
Now that you understand my view on the matter, and that I think an inspector needs to try to actually do a detailed job at the inspection, I will tell you that yesterday I refused to go on a roof. I refused to do so in my own mind. Nobody was insisting that I get up there. Telling the story, it sounds like I should have gone up there -- single story house, gentle 3/12 slope, composition shingles so lots of traction. Let me tell you the rest of the story.
I left Bellingham, home base, and it was cool, but a nice day. Temperature was about 38 degrees. When I got a few miles north of Bellingham, moving toward the city of Lynden, I started noticing snow and ice. The home I was looking for was out in the country and, when I got there, after driving down an icy road and doing some slip-sliding around, I pulled into the driveway. The photo below shows the condition of the roof.
In this case, there was only so much I could do. Getting my trusted ladder out, and making sure it was not going to slip, I got up at the eaves at every corner. I also moved the ladder to other locations and viewed the roof there. From these moving vantage points, and with binoculars, I looked at the flashing on the chimney, which was bare of snow. I looked at the electric mast and the B-vent. Surprisingly, I was able to see some problematic flashing details. I was also able to determine that the roof was not multiple-layer and that, from what I could see and feel, the shingles looked to be okay. Now, that does not mean that, when the snow melts, there will not be some areas where shingles have been blown off -- I just do not know.
At least, after doing that work, I know that I did all I could do. When I recommend that the flashings should be repaired and that a roofer should further evaluate the roof, when it is not covered with snow, my recommendation is valid. It is not merely my issuing stock language to cover my rear because I did not inspect the roof. Again, I admit that there are exceptions to the practice of an inspector always walking the roof -- times when a roof cannot and should not be traversed. In this state, with so many composition roofs, that is rare. Unfortunately, a number of people in the inspection industry forget that they are being hired by clients to inspect and to do that right, it often takes mussing the hair and getting the hands dirty. Sure, an inspector cannot "crank" as many jobs in a day if he or she actually makes a commitment to do the work, but doing the job thoroughly is what we are being paid to do by our clients. Even when one is trying to do the job right, it is easy to miss something. Therefore I do not understand those who are more concerned with covering-up a slip-shod job with generic disclaimers than they are in trying to serve their clients.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspections
all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
Stairs are a great example of a common item and building 101. And yet they are constructed wrong much too often.
