How do I check my roof without climbing up?
You can assess a roof safely from the ground: photograph each side of the house straight on from 20 to 30 feet back, take close-ups of the gutters, vents and any damaged area, and check ceilings and the attic inside for stains. Never walk on a roof — it is dangerous and can cause the damage you are looking for.
Want to know what your own roof looks like? Send a few photos from the ground and get a plain-English answer.
Start my free roof checkFree · About 5 minutes · No salesperson unless you ask
The five-minute ground check
- Stand back far enough to see a whole slope in one frame, and photograph the front, both sides and the back
- Close up on the gutters and downspouts: dents suggest hail, granule sludge suggests age
- Look along the roof line from the corner of the house — a wavy or sagging line is a decking problem
- Photograph any chimney, skylight or vent where the metal meets the shingles
- Inside, photograph ceiling stains, and if you can reach the attic safely, any daylight or damp on the underside of the deck
What you can honestly tell from the ground
Quite a lot: missing and lifted shingles, bruising and granule loss, dented metal, sagging, algae streaking and failing flashing are all visible. What you cannot tell from the ground is the state of the decking underneath, whether the underlayment is intact, or exactly how far water has travelled. That is what an on-roof inspection is for.
Let the photos do the work
PointView's free roof check reads your ground-level photos and gives you a plain-English condition report — what is visible, in which photo, and what a sensible next step looks like. It is free, takes about five minutes, and there is no salesperson unless you ask for one.
Related questions
- Can I use a drone instead?
- A drone gives better angles if you already have one and can fly it legally and safely. It isn't necessary — ground-level photos show most of what matters.
- Is a photo check as good as an inspection?
- No, and we say so plainly. It's an honest first look that tells you whether a closer look is worth arranging.