Selling or buying a home in Las Vegas? What the roof inspection involves

Who asks for a roof certification

Buyers' agents, after a general home inspector notes "roof: tile, recommend evaluation by a licensed roofer" (which they write on nearly every tile roof because they did not walk it). Lenders, on older homes or where the appraiser flagged the roof. Insurers, when writing a new policy on a home past a certain age. And sellers who would rather hand over a report than negotiate a repair credit based on a buyer's guess.

What a good report contains

• Dated photos of every plane, valley, penetration, flashing, ridge and hip, and the attic side of the deck where accessible.
• The square count and roof plan, pitch, tile profile and approximate age.
• Condition notes by component: tile, underlayment (with tile lifted to see it), flashings, ridge, deck.
• A plain conclusion: sound; serviceable with specified repairs; or at end of life.
• A line-item scope and price for any correction, so the report doubles as a quote and the credit negotiation has a real number in it.
• For escrow: a certification letter on the roofer's letterhead once required corrections are done, stating the roof is free of leaks and serviceable for a stated period.

For sellers: answer the question before it becomes a credit

If the roof is 20 years old on original felt, the buyer's inspector will say so, the buyer's roofer will quote a replacement, and the repair credit request will be for a replacement. If you have a report in hand showing the tile is sound and a relay is the correct scope, with the price, the negotiation starts from the right job and the right number. If the roof needs nothing, the report says that too, and it closes the question. Either way it costs an hour and the inspection is free.

For buyers: the question to ask

Not "how old is the roof" but "how old is the underlayment, and has the tile ever been lifted?" A 1998 tile roof that was relaid in 2020 with high-temperature synthetic is a 2020 roof. A 1998 tile roof that has never been touched is a 1998 felt underlayment with a few years left, however good the tile looks from the kerb. Ask for the permit history (relays are permitted work) and get the tile lifted at an eave before you waive the inspection contingency. How valley tile roofs age.

Certification vs. inspection

The inspection and written report are free. A formal certification letter, the document a lender, insurer or escrow relies on, is a paid report because the roofer is putting their name on a roof for a third party; the price is stated before the roof is walked, and we credit it back if we do the corrections. We do not certify a roof we would not put our name on, which is the entire point of the document. Roof inspection & certification.