My Home’s Roof. Here is What I learned the Hard Way

It all began with drops of water. I was in a rainstorm in the middle of a vast field with no shelter or umbrella. This field went on for miles. I wasn’t cold, but I was annoyed by the persistent dripping on my eyes and forehead. The rain was smacking me between the eyebrows, but I was standing upright, and my head and shoulders were the only parts of me that should have been taking direct hits. The only consolation was my wife was walking with me, and we were both naked as the day we were born. It was just a few more minutes before my wife asked me to wake up. My lovely dream turned into shadows in a dark room, and drops of water pelted my forehead from the ceiling above me. The water was dripping from the roof, the only thing above the ceiling.

The next half hour was spent putting our wet sheets, pillows, and clothing into the washer, pulling our mattress out of the way, and getting a bucket.

The following day, after waking up in the guest room that was once my daughter’s, I called my insurance company, and they sent someone out to inspect the roof. I didn’t see the inspector after he placed the ladder and walked up. When he was done, he knocked and said the report would be emailed by tomorrow. When I received the report, it said it was aging, and the insurance company offered to help with $2000 of the $20,000 claim. I wasn’t sure where to get $18,000 to pay the rest of the claim, but I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. It didn’t make sense. The roof had been installed fourteen years before, and the shingles were guaranteed to last for twenty. I called the original roofer, but guess what? They were no longer in business.

Every homeowner blessed to spend more than a couple of decades in one home will experience some roof failure. With a roof, we never pay attention to damage until it fails. The main reason for this is cosmetic. Many types of roof tiles can take a beating. You don’t see any damage. It is easily let go until it is too late.

With heating and cooling systems, pools, and cars, we know we have to have a skilled technician do regularly scheduled maintenance, or someone will get hurt or sick, or they will permanently shut down.

Where are the roof inspectors who will give you an unbiased look at your roof?

As a homeowner, I have heard several friends talk about how every estimator came out and always found damage their roofer should take care of. The estimators would never say, “It looks great up there,” or “You should be good for another three years.”

Every estimator was attached to a roofer except for the ones with the insurance companies, and they tend to look towards them since they are their bread and butter. When I looked for a home inspector, the fee combined all my yearly maintenance costs.

All of that was true until this year, 2024. I started hearing about a man and his retired Army buddies who were going around asking people to inspect their roofs for free. Like many others, I was skeptical, thinking it was just another roofer’s idea to sell new roofs. I asked my friends about it, and they had not heard a thing. I was searching the internet when I found this angry guy, Chris, talking about his uncle with cancer and how the insurance companies were making every excuse in the book not to pay his claim. There had been a hail storm the day before, and clear pictures of holes and tears in the roof. I assume many of us had been there with insurance companies of every type.

The biggest problem, he said, was proof — or irrefutable proof. That is why he started a company that would fly over the roof, take great, clear pictures, and use artificial intelligence to find every hole, many of which the eyes couldn’t see. He showed one of his reports, which had dozens of damaged areas. How it does it, I don’t know. However, the homeowners who used his process were having their claims accepted and a much higher percentage of the job paid because they were no longer sure of winning a lawsuit.

I called the number he put in the description and talked to him. He had a pilot schedule a flight with me. The report showed much more damage than the insurance company estimator‘s report because they stopped when they had the minimum damage necessary. Their A.I. does the whole roof.

A few days later, the pilot called to see what I thought. I told him it was enough to get half of the roof paid and that the last roofer must have done something because it shouldn’t have failed the way it did if he had done it right. I said, now I have to find a reputable roofer who won’t leave me in a lurch.

The pilot asked, “Would you like to know a reputable roofer who is available now to fix your roof?

I replied, “How do you know he is reputable?”

He replied, “We do background checks, both personal and commercial. We check for any criminal reports and call their previous customers to verify our list of vetted roofers.”

I asked, “Can I see the roofer you have for me?”

I was shown who they were and the data sheet on all their findings.

“People get taken daily by shoddy or pickup truck roofers who take a deposit and are never seen again or, in your case, do a half-assed job. Chris never wants that to happen to anyone. It is why we exist.”

So I asked him how much I owed him. He said nothing.

“Because I accepted your roofer?” I asked.

“Not at all. A few blocks over, your neighbor had me fly his just-replaced roof so he would have proof of its perfect condition in case of any future storm,” he replied. “We don’t suggest anything when the roof is sound. When your roof is fixed, call me to fly and give you a new, perfect condition report so you won’t have to bargain with the insurance company again.

I was happy as a clam. Who knew this existed?

He began to walk away and turned back, “Oh, I forgot, here is a report on the solar capacity of your roof and yard. Again, there is no charge. Call us if you are interested because we vette the solar industry just as hard as the roofers.”

So here is what I learned the hard way. Don’t wait to see how well your roof is holding up. Those free roof reports are not just for those with damage. A sound condition report in hand today saves you time and trouble and costs you nothing. They walk away when it is done and have never called or persisted. I called them. They asked for a referral a couple of times by email. I plan to use them every year if I can.

— Note: This story is from the archives of Blue Falcon Aerial. If you are interested in a free roof report, solar estimate, or both, please call Chris or Cody at (405) 237–8233