Seasonal homes
How to Inspect a Roof After Being Away From a Vacation Property
The first-hour walk-through for arriving at a shore house after the winter: inside first, then outside, then decide.
· 5 min read · Cape May Roofing Experts
Photo: Smallbones / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Credits
You unlock the door after months away. Before unpacking, spend a few minutes checking whether the roof let anything in while you were gone. The sooner a winter leak is found, the less it costs.
Inside, top floor first
- Look at every top-floor ceiling, including closets and bathrooms, for stains, bubbling paint or sagging drywall.
- Check around skylights, chimneys breasts and exterior walls.
- Sniff: a musty smell in an upper room often means damp insulation above.
- Look at window sills and carpet edges along exterior walls.
- If you can safely reach the attic, look for dark stains on the underside of the roof deck and damp insulation.
Outside, from the ground
- Missing or displaced shingles, ridge caps or metal
- Debris on the roof or packed in valleys
- Gutters sagging, overflowing or pulled away
- Roof-deck surfaces: puddles, lifted membrane edges, loose railing posts
- Stains on siding below roof edges
Reading the evidence
A dry stain with crisp edges may be old; a soft, damp or growing one is active. Stains under valleys and chimneys point to flashing or debris; stains along exterior walls often mean edge or wall-flashing entry. Several scattered stains on an older roof can mean it is reaching the end of its service.
When to call
Call promptly for any active leak, sagging ceiling or visibly open roof. For older stains or doubts, a professional inspection before guests arrive is time well spent.
The bottom line
Check ceilings and the attic before you unpack, look from the ground rather than a ladder, and get anything active looked at before the season starts.
