Is a free roof inspection worth having?

A free inspection is a quoting visit with a friendlier name. The roofer looks at the roof, decides what is wrong and offers a price to put it right. The cost of that visit is carried by the jobs that follow from it, which is a perfectly ordinary way to trade and does not make the advice worthless.

It does mean the incentives deserve a thought. The person looking is also the person who would be paid for the repair, so the safeguard is evidence. Anything claimed about your roof should come with a photograph taken on your roof, shown to you on the day, and a reason in plain words. If the findings arrive as a vague phone call and a large number, treat the offer with caution and ask for the pictures before you reply.

Four things make a free visit worth the time. First, photographs of each fault, so you can see what the roofer saw. Second, a verdict on each fault: mend it, make do for now or replace it, and why. Third, a written quote that states one total price. Fourth, a clear statement of what is not included, such as scaffolding or VAT, if either applies to the job. A quote that stays silent on those two items is a quote to question before you accept it.

Pictures of your own roof, taken on the survey, are part of what you receive from us with the written price, and the advice leans towards whichever fix is smallest while still curing the fault. If a patch is enough, you are told to patch. Compare that with a visit where nobody photographs anything and the quote is spoken. Without the pictures you cannot show the findings to anyone else, and you cannot check them later.

A free inspection you did not ask for is a different matter. A caller after a gale who says tiles looked loose from the road, and offers to look now, is a pattern to be careful about. Pressure to agree on the spot, a demand for a deposit before the work is described, or a story about danger that only grows as you hesitate are all reasons to step back.

Consumer rules give you a 14-day cancellation period on contracts made at your home, but an urgent repair you specifically asked for is treated differently, so do not rely on cancelling afterwards. The better protection is to choose who visits, get the findings and the quote on paper, and take a day to read them. Our answer on what a roof inspection report should include shows what a proper write-up looks like.

There are times when you need somebody with no interest in the repair. A house purchase is one. A dispute over earlier work is another. A report you plan to put in front of an insurer, a solicitor or a lender is a third, because it carries more weight when it comes from someone who is not selling anything alongside it.

In those cases a paid inspection is the right tool, and our answer on whether you should pay for a roof inspection sets out the typical cost and what it should buy. A free visit and a paid one are not rivals. Some people start with the free one to find out what is wrong, then commission the paid one should the problem prove to be a big one with a lot riding on it.

Prepare before the roofer arrives; ten minutes of notes saves an hour of guessing. Note where you have seen stains, drips or draughts, and photograph any ceiling marks. Decide what you want to learn, be it where a leak starts or the overall condition. Try to be at home for the visit, and ask to see the photographs on the roofer's phone before they leave, while the details are fresh and any doubt can be put to the person who saw the roof.

Ask what they can and cannot see from where they stood. A look from a ladder at the eaves tells a different story from a walk across the slope, and a flat roof or a chimney may need separate access. The roof inspections and surveys page explains how a survey is carried out, and drone or ladder compares the ways of getting a view.