What an inspection costs, and what a real one includes
An inspection is worth what the access behind it is worth. The price difference between a free look and a paid report is not the climbing; it is the document that comes out of it.
The figures
| Type | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Standard inspection | $0 – $195 | Free when work follows; photographs and a verbal verdict |
| Post-storm inspection | $0 – $195 | Free; every slope walked and photographed |
| Written report for a claim | $180 – $380 | Dated images, slope findings, itemised scope |
| Pre-purchase inspection | $225 – $450 | Written, with a remaining-life estimate |
| Hail documentation with scale marking | $225 – $420 | Test squares marked and measured |
| Moisture scan, flat roof | $280 – $560 | Maps trapped water in the insulation |
| Commercial inspection and report | $240 – $620 | Per building, written |
| Attic and ventilation assessment | $120 – $240 | Included with a full inspection |
What a real inspection covers
Every slope, walked where pitch and condition allow. The covering — granule loss, curling, cracking, lifted tabs, and on metal the fastener lines and seams. Every penetration: vent boots, flashing at walls and chimneys, skylights. The valleys. The edges, where uplift starts. The gutters, because granule accumulation tells you how far through its life a shingle roof is. And the attic from underneath, which is where staining, soft decking, daylight through the deck and ventilation faults actually show.
Plus the step most inspections skip: lifting tabs around any wind damage. After a storm there is nearly always a zone of shingles whose self-seal strips broke but which are lying flat and look untouched. They hold nothing. They are found by hand and by no other method.
Why a drone on its own is not enough
Drones are genuinely useful for overview images and for roofs too steep or too fragile to walk. What a drone cannot do is lift a shingle tab, feel a soft spot underfoot, or inspect your attic. On a storm claim that is exactly the damage that matters, and an inspection consisting only of aerial photographs will miss it. If somebody is quoting a claim from drone imagery alone, ask what they did about the seal strips.
When each is worth paying for
Free standard inspection: any time you suspect something, after any named storm, or before deciding whether to claim. There is no reason not to.
Written claim report: when you are filing. The dated, slope-by-slope document with an itemised scope is what an adjuster works from, and it is worth considerably more than its cost if it prevents a claim being read as wear and tear.
Pre-purchase report: always, on this coast. A roof is one of very few things that can turn a house purchase into a five-figure problem in year one, and the remaining-life estimate is the number that matters in a negotiation. It also catches the unpermitted reroof, which in Gulfport is a real risk and a real problem at resale.
Moisture scan: on a flat or low-slope roof where you need to know whether a patch is viable or whether the insulation under a whole section is already wet.
Common questions
Why would I pay for a report when the inspection is free?
Because they are different products. The free inspection tells you what is wrong. The report is a dated, slope-by-slope document with photographs and an itemised scope that an adjuster, a lender or a buyer's surveyor can rely on, and producing it properly takes a couple of hours of desk work after the climbing is done.
How long does an inspection take?
Forty-five minutes to an hour and a half for an average house, including the attic. Complex roofs, multiple buildings and anything requiring tab-lifting across several slopes take longer. An inspection finished in fifteen minutes has not included your attic.
Do you charge to come out after a storm?
No. Post-storm inspections are free, because knowing whether you have damage worth claiming is the decision everything else depends on. The written report, if you need one for the claim, is the charged item.
Can you inspect a roof I am thinking of buying?
Yes, and it is money well spent here. You get remaining life, decking condition, ventilation, evidence of past repairs and whether they were done properly, and whether the roof appears to have been permitted — which in Gulfport matters, because an unpermitted reroof becomes your problem at resale.
Will you tell me the roof is fine if it is fine?
Yes, and you will get the photographs that show it. We would rather you came back in six years than replaced a roof with eight years left. A roof with time on it gets told it has time on it, which is not the answer that sells a job.
Related: Roof inspection · Insurance inspections · Repair cost · Insurance claims