A roof inspection used to mean a ladder, a person on the shingles, and a phone camera. An aerial roof inspection covers the same roof from above, with angles a person standing on it cannot get, and nobody has to go up there.
What the flight covers
The pilot flies the roof from straight overhead, then four cardinal obliques at a matching angle, then close frames matched to the loss. After hail, that is slope-by-slope roof capture and soft metals. On a water loss, it is the roof, chimney, and flashing, so the roof can be ruled in or out as the source. On a low-slope commercial roof, it is ponding, drains, seams, and rooftop units.
Add an orthomosaic map and the frames are stitched into one scaled overhead image of the entire roof. Add a roof measurement report and you get areas, pitches, and squares for the estimate.
Why from the air
Nobody has to walk on a roof that may already be compromised. The camera sees the whole plane at once instead of one arm’s length at a time. And because each type of flight has its own shot list, two roofs documented months apart are documented the same way.
What you can do with the report
Send the gallery link to your carrier. Send the same link to several roofers and let each price from identical images instead of scheduling separate site visits. Keep it as a record of the roof’s condition on the day it was flown, which is worth having whether or not anything is wrong today. A pre-storm-season baseline is exactly that, so a future claim is not argued as pre-existing.
Choosing a flight
Pick the closest match when you order and we scope the rest:
- Residential roof hail documentation, or commercial and low-slope roof hail
- Wind roof damage, for missing and creased shingles and lifted membrane
- Roof, chimney, and flashing source check, when a burst pipe or leak is inside
- Commercial roof condition survey, and infrared roof moisture survey
- Pre-storm-season baseline, and HOA and community roof records
Every job is quoted after review. Adjuster, carrier, and contractor accounts can set up net-30 billing.
What it is not
lossmap provides aerial imagery and visual documentation. It is not a licensed roof inspection or an engineering report, and it does not decide coverage. Decisions about coverage and repairs belong with the appropriate licensed professional.
Related
For everything a full flight captures beyond the roof, see what an aerial damage assessment includes. For how the gallery fits a claim, see aerial documentation for insurance claim files.