Question answered
Can you check a roof from the ground?
The short answer
Yes, you can check a roof from the ground, and it is a sensible first step. Binoculars or a phone zoom show slipped or missing tiles, a sagging ridge, damaged flashings, blocked gutters and moss. They cannot show the underside, the loft or small cracks. Never climb to look closer; ask someone equipped to do it.
Plenty can be learned about a roof without leaving the garden. A slow walk round with binoculars shows the obvious faults, though some of the usual causes of leaks stay out of view.
How to do a ground check properly
Pick a dry, bright day with the sun behind you so the roof is lit, and walk right round the house. View each face of the roof from as far back as you can comfortably get, because a shallow angle shows sags, dips and lifted lines far better than standing under the eaves.
Use binoculars, or a phone with a good zoom, and take pictures as you go. A shot of each slope, each chimney and each gable end gives you something to compare next time, and something to show a roofer. Date them, and keep them in one folder so that a roofer or a surveyor can see how the roof has changed from one year to the next.
Stay on your own land or the public pavement. Do not lean over a neighbour's fence, do not stand in the road, and do not rest a ladder on fragile gutters or plastic fascias. If part of the roof can only be seen from next door, ask them first. Watch the ground as well: broken tile pieces in a flowerbed or on a path are a clue.
What you can see from below
Begin at the ridge and work downwards. The ridge, the line along the peak, should look straight. Gaps in the mortar, a run of tiles out of line, or ridge tiles that seem to lean are worth noting. Check the hips, the sloping edges on a hipped roof, in the same way.
On the slopes, look for tiles that have slipped, cracked or gone, patches of a different colour that may mean earlier repairs, and slates sitting proud of their neighbours. Heavy moss is easy to spot, and so is dark staining running down from a chimney or a poor gutter.
At the edges, study the verges (the finished edges at the gable ends), the fascias and the gutters. Sagging gutters, plants growing from them and overflow stains on the wall tell you water is not getting away. Around the chimney, look at the lead flashing and the pointing, which are early casualties.
Lastly, step back and judge the overall shape of each slope against the line of the eaves and ridge. Any dip or bow in a slope is a reason to ask for a closer look. Sagging can mean tired timbers or a slipped bearing under the covering, and it is far cheaper to find out early than after the roof has moved further.
What the ground cannot tell you
The view from below is limited by angle and distance. You cannot see the underside of the tiles, the state of the underlay, the battens or the timbers. You cannot spot a hairline crack in a tile, a lifted nail or a small gap behind a flashing.
Many leaks turn out to start in spots you cannot easily see from the garden: the back of a chimney, the foot of a valley, the junction between an extension and the main roof. A stain on a ceiling is no reliable map either, because water often travels along timbers before it drops.
Flat roofs are especially poor candidates. A flat surface cannot be seen from beneath, and a pool or blister is invisible from the garden. The same goes for concealed gutters behind parapets. Flashings tucked under a tile course or into a brick joint are likewise only visible close up, and so is the state of the nails and clips that hold the ridge. A ground check can raise a question but seldom settles it.
So treat a clean ground check as encouraging, not conclusive. A fault-free view from below does not rule out trouble under the surface.
When to ask for a closer look
Call someone when you see slipped or missing tiles, a visible dip, damaged flashing or a leaning chimney, or when there is a stain, a smell or damp in the house. Do not wait for the next storm.
A roofer can go further with a ladder, a loft inspection, a pole camera or a drone, and thermal roof surveys cover one of the more specialist options. The difference between a survey and a quote is set out in survey versus quote, and for an independent view, see an RICS surveyor or a roofer.
After our survey you receive pictures from your own roof and a written price, so the choice stays with you. We would rather you looked first and asked us afterwards than took anything on trust. For timing, read how long a roof survey takes, and for everything else, roof inspections and surveys.
And please stay on the ground yourself. Falls from ladders and roofs cause serious injuries, and no check is worth one.
Ground checks: two more questions
Are binoculars better than a phone camera for checking a roof?
Each has a use. Binoculars give a steady, bright view up close, while a phone with optical zoom records what you saw. Use both if you can, and avoid digital zoom, which blurs the very detail you are trying to see.
How regularly should the roof be checked from the garden?
A walk round twice a year, and after any severe storm, is a sensible habit. Autumn, once the leaves have fallen, and spring both suit. Photograph it each time so changes show up.
Tell us about your roof
Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.
- Photographs of what we find
- A written quote with one total price
- Or call 01903 299063
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.