Roof Inspection, Repair, and Defect Recognition
Roof Inspection, Repair, and Defect Recognition
This domain tests systematic inspection, distinguishing installation defects from storm damage, and repairing without creating new leaks.
Core rules
- Inspect safely from the ground, then from the roof only with fall protection. Check attic-side staining, daylight, and deck condition.
- Look at eaves, rakes, valleys, step flashing, pipe boots, ridge caps, and fasteners. Note exposed nails, nail pops, lifted or creased tabs, granule loss, blisters, and ponding.
- Wind damage often shows creased or folded tabs and missing shingles on windward slopes; hail shows random soft spots and granule loss; installation defects cluster along nail lines, valleys, and transitions.
- Repairs should match shingle type and exposure, lift and reseal only when the shingle is flexible, replace damaged pieces, and use compatible sealant sparingly. Find and fix the moisture source before sealing.
Worked example
A ridge shows rust streaks and exposed nail heads. The likely cause is not old age but fasteners that were overdriven or placed too high, so the ridge cap did not cover them. The repair is to reset or replace the caps, drive new fasteners in the proper nail line, and seal only the final exposed heads with approved sealant.
Traps
Diagnosing from the ground alone, sealing over wet sheathing, using the wrong sealant, and calling every stain a roof leak without checking the attic are common errors.