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How to Inspect a Commercial Roof: Step By Step Guide

commercial roof inspection guide

It takes a great deal of training and knowledge to complete a commercial roof inspection. You need to have a deep understanding of how roofs age and know what types of roof problems occur on every kind of roofing system. It’s not enough to look for rust or water stains or to take a stroll around the roof perimeter of your building.

If you are a building owner, be sure to schedule an industrial roof inspection at least twice a year. A building roof inspection is serious business and should be completed by a roofing contractor.

Roof inspections completed by unqualified individuals may lead to expensive repairs that could have been prevented if a reliable commercial roof contractor had done the job.

Commercial Roof Inspection Checklist

Your roof inspector will check for cracks or structural defects in the following problem areas:

  • Roof deck
  • Roof surface membranes
  • Roof vents
  • Metal flashing
  • Building’s gutters
  • Drainage pipes

Now that we’ve given you a checklist of the areas typically examined during a roof inspection, let’s walk through some of the details of what you can expect.

What to Expect During Your Commercial Roof Inspection

Don’t be surprised when your professional roofing contractor begins the inspection by looking at the roof’s interior system. They will look for signs of water damage on the ceiling to direct their attention to those areas when examining the rooftop.

Once the inside of the commercial building has been inspected, the roofing contractor will walk the roof surfaces, looking for ponding water, holes in the substrate, cracks, blisters, uplifted seams, and other signs of damage.

Typically the examination will start at the roof perimeter and work toward the middle since roofing leaks and problems often begin at the endpoints of the roofing system.

Your inspector may also take core samples of the roof, which tell (among other things) how many roofing layers there are, the level of saturation or moisture that has infiltrated the layers, and the approximate age of the roof. (Of course, the roofing contractor will repair the sample area.)

Once the inspection is completed, the building owner should receive a formal report covering the results. The information will likely include photographs of the problem areas and recommendations to either repair, partially replace, or totally replace the roofing system. In addition, the report should include the estimated costs for each type of project.

Contact Nations Roof, The Premier Professional Roofing Company

Building owners looking for commercial roof contractors to perform a proper roof inspection should consider reaching out to Nations Roof. Our roof inspection program will give you details on the condition of your roof and our recommendations that take into account the building owner’s budgetary concerns.

Nations Roof is known across the country for delivering high-quality roof construction while practicing award-winning safety standards. Through our partnerships with all leading manufacturers, we can offer affordable solutions to the problems on your industrial roof.

The experts working for Nations Roof perform roof inspections all across the country. Contact us today to learn more about our commercial roof inspection plan.

Contact us today

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