Last reviewed: 2026
A roof usually warns you before it fails. Damp patches on top-floor ceilings, slipped or missing tiles, debris in the gutters, daylight in the loft and staining around a chimney are all reasons to have the roof inspected rather than waiting for the next storm.
Signs you can check from the ground
Most early warning signs are visible without going anywhere near a ladder. Stand back from the property on a dry day and look along each roof slope, then check the roofline and the ground beneath it.
- Tiles or slates that are slipped, cracked, missing or sitting out of line
- Ridge or hip tiles with crumbling mortar, or gaps opening along the apex
- Heavy moss growth, especially where it is damming water above a gutter
- Sagging, overflowing or leaking gutters and loose downpipes
- Slate or tile fragments on paths, in flower beds or in the gutter run
- Staining, cracked cement fillets or leaning brickwork around the chimney
Signs you can check from inside
The loft tells you more than the outside of the roof does. Take a torch up on a dry day and again during heavy rain if you safely can.
- Daylight visible through the covering or around a chimney or vent
- Damp, darkened or rotting timbers, or a musty smell in the loft space
- Torn, sagging or perished underfelt between the rafters
- Water staining or blown plaster on top-floor ceilings and chimney breasts
- Wet insulation, which often shows a leak that has been running for some time
When a drone inspection makes sense
A drone inspection is useful where a roof is steep, tall, fragile, surrounded by obstructions or too storm-damaged to walk safely. It captures high-resolution stills and video of the covering, ridge, valleys, flashings and chimney without scaffolding and without disturbing the roof.
For most straightforward domestic roofs a visual and, where safe, close-up inspection is enough. We will tell you which is appropriate rather than defaulting to the more expensive option.
What happens next
An inspection should end with written findings and photographs, not a verbal opinion. That record lets you compare quotes fairly, decide between repair and replacement, and evidence the roof's condition for an insurer, surveyor or buyer.
Where repairs are recommended, we scope them so the least intrusive effective fix is priced first. Replacement is proposed when the covering or structure genuinely warrants it.