Roof inspection in Matthews, NC: what to check before you buy or sell a home
Buying or selling a house in Matthews usually puts the roof on somebody’s list. A home inspection report gives it a few lines. A roofer’s photo inspection shows each item up close and what it takes to fix.
The short answer
A roof inspection in Matthews, NC before a sale tells the buyer or the seller what the roof actually needs, with photos. Ours is free. Our owner walks the roof and the attic, photographs each item, and you get an honest, itemized estimate within one business day. Buyers and sellers also send us the roofing section of a home inspection report. We repair and seal the listed items and photograph each one closed out.
Why Matthews houses get a closer look
Matthews is fully built out, and a lot of its subdivisions are older than the ones south of it in Weddington and Waxhaw. Many of those roofs are on their second shingle or due for it. Some had the second layer laid right over the first, so the decking under them has not been seen since the house was new.
The center of town sits on a ridge between McAlpine Creek to the north and Fourmile Creek to the south, and the older streets there have real slopes and big trees. Shade keeps the north slopes damp, and leaves collect in the valleys. A roof can look fine from the driveway and still have a soft spot under a valley that only shows from the attic.
What the inspection checks
- Layers. We count shingle layers at the edge of the roof. A layover changes what a future replacement involves, since everything comes off to the deck.
- Decking from the attic side. Dark rings or soft wood around the vent pipes, the chimney and the valleys show up there before a ceiling stain does.
- Pipe boots and the furnace flue. On a roof well into its life, the rubber boots have often split and the flue flashing has rusted. These are the leaks that show up as a small stain near a bathroom.
- Wall and chimney flashing. Step flashing should be woven in one piece per course, and counter flashing set into the mortar joint, not caulked to the brick.
- Shingle wear. Curling and splitting across whole slopes point to a roof near the end, and the photos show how widespread it is.
- Attic ventilation. We look for a ridge vent and clear soffit intake, since dampness under the deck can be condensation and not a leak at all.
If you are selling
Having the roof looked at before you list means you hear about the pipe boot or the loose flashing from us and not from the buyer’s inspector. Small items like these may only take a few hours to fix, and you keep the before and after photos to hand over. If the photos show the roof is at the end, you find that out early and can decide how to handle it in the listing.
If you are buying
Send us the roofing section of your inspection report along with the address. We go up, photograph each listed item and price what it takes to close it out, so you know whether the report is describing a repair or a new roof. One reviewer had a couple of roofing items from a home inspection repaired and sealed by our owner. Another wrote that our owner completed the inspection, provided pictures and an explanation, patched the roof, and met with the insurance adjuster.
Our post on roof repair or replacement in Charlotte goes through the signs we use to tell which one a roof needs.
Book a roof inspection in Matthews
We are based in Weddington, just south of Matthews. Our page on the free roof inspection in Charlotte lists everything it covers, and roofing in Matthews, NC covers the rest of what we do in town. When a report item turns out to be a repair, see roof repair in Charlotte, NC. Call (704) 352-1112 or request a free roof inspection, and tell us your closing date if you have one.
