Should a roof inspection include photos?

From the street you see one or two slopes at a shallow angle, and the details that cause leaks sit where you cannot look. The valley between a main roof and an extension, the lead tucked against a chimney, the ridge tiles along the top and the felt under a slipped slate cannot be seen from the pavement. A roofer who climbs up sees them. You do not.

That gap is where photographs earn their place. Without them, a statement such as "your flashing has failed" is a claim you either accept or do not. With a picture, you can see the lifted lead, the gap at the wall and the staining below it, and you can show the image to a second roofer, a surveyor, a landlord or a lender.

It also protects the person doing the inspection. A clear image of a fault is the best record of why a repair was recommended.

Volume matters less than coverage and clarity. A useful set usually has an overview of each slope, so you can tell which part of the house is being discussed, followed by close-ups of each fault and a third picture that shows how the fault relates to what is around it. A cracked ridge tile is one picture. The same tile with the run of ridge either side is another, and tells you whether it is a single casualty or a general problem.

Labels help more than people expect. "Rear slope, left of chimney" is useful; a folder of unnamed images is not. Good photographs are sharp, in daylight, and taken close enough to see the defect without a magnifying glass.

Drone images add the overview that a ladder cannot reach, and a pole camera can show a hip or a valley without anyone stepping onto the slope. Our guide to what a drone can and cannot see explains where each method helps.

Not every picture is evidence. Be wary of images that could be of any roof: slates scattered on grass, a generic stained ceiling, a close-up with no sign of where on the building it was taken. Pictures supplied by a doorstep caller that you cannot connect to your own house deserve the same doubt. If you cannot recognise your chimney, your window or your gutter in the background, ask where it was taken.

Another warning sign is a set of photographs that stops short of the problem. A picture of the whole roof does not show why a leak occurs, and a close-up with no context does not show how serious it is. If the report says "urgent" but nothing in the images explains why, ask for more.

This is also a reason to insist on seeing the images before agreeing to work. A roofer who will talk about a fault but never show it is asking for trust that has not been earned yet.

Pictures do more than support a repair quote. A buyer negotiating a price can use them to show why a roof needs work. An owner can file a set away with a date on it, and a later comparison shows what has changed since. A landlord with several properties can use them to decide which roof to deal with first.

On a new home, photographs help with a different job: recording faults for the builder to put right. Our page on new-build roof snagging shows what to look at on a newly finished roof, and the pictures make a snagging list much harder to dispute.

Photographs of a flat roof matter just as much. Standing water, blistered membrane and open laps all read clearly in a picture, and our guide to flat roof condition surveys explains what is being looked for.

A good image also helps with sizing a job. Roof slopes seen from above, with the chimney, windows or dormers in view, give a rough sense of scale before anyone gets a tape out. Combined with plans or a drone sweep, they help a roofer work out areas for a written quote. That process, and why two quotes can use different areas, is covered in our page on how a roof is measured for a quote.

Buyers at auction often have little time and no access, so photographs from a viewing, or a quick exterior survey, can be the only evidence available. Our note on checking the roof before you bid at auction sets out which checks matter before bidding and which can wait.

The point is the same each time. A picture of your roof is a fact you can discuss. A description of a roof you have not seen is only a description.

Each of our surveys finishes with images of the house in question, delivered alongside a written quote. Every fault we propose to mend is there to be seen. We size the work to the defect, and where a repair would not hold and a larger job is the fair answer, we explain that and show why.

You can send the pictures to anyone you like. Take them to another roofer for a second opinion, forward them to a freeholder, or keep them with the house papers. Our workmanship is guaranteed for 10 years, in writing, and when we finish the site is tidy and the rubbish gone.

If you already have images, perhaps from a phone or a drone flown by a neighbour, attach them to your enquiry. They do not replace a survey, but they show us what you are seeing before we arrive. Ring 01793 626096, or read about our roof inspections and surveys first.