How to Do a Roof Inspection Using a Drone- Tips and Tricks

Roof inspections are one of the few professional services that are still performed using traditional methods like a ladder and a pair of binoculars. But drones are increasingly being used to perform roof inspections.

A roof inspection should be done at least once a year, even more, if you think you need to. You can easily buy a drone, but this will not be enough to make sure your roof inspection is successful. You need to know how to use it and what you should be looking for. Here is a guide on how to do a roof inspection with a drone.

How much Does Drone Roof Inspection Cost?

There is no fixed cost of a drone roof inspection. It depends on some determiners. For that reason, it is pretty hard to tell you the cost of a drone roof inspection. But it estimates that the price may be from $150 to $400. Here I give some- 

Some Factors Where the Cost Depends

There are some factors where roof inspection by drone cost depends. These factors Impart below in short.

Drone Quality: The quality of drones for roof inspections is essential. Because roof report accuracy depends mainly on the drone quality, a quality drone contains a powerful camera that is very important for accurate measurements and reports.

Roof Area: How long is your roof? If it is huge, then the cost must be higher. But if it is small, then it will take less time and cost. Roof inspection companies count the price based on this a lot.

Roof Geometry: There are different shapes on our roof. These shapes change drones’ flight paths and take more time to make roof damage reports or roof reports. So, it is natural to take more money. Sometimes chimneys and solar panels on the roof do some tricks.

Roof Inspection Software: To get a detailed roof inspection report from our Drone-based roof inspections, drone roof inspection software plays an essential tool. If the software is strong, then the information will be the best and most accurate.

Expertness of Drone Pilot: If your drone pilot is an expert, it will take less time and provide the best quality service. Drone for roof inspection will give the best service to you if the pilot is an expert. So, it will cost you more.

It does not need thousands of dollars to get a detailed roof report. Instead, a professional roof inspection is possible only for $150 to $400. 

How to Do a Roof Inspection with a Drone at Present

There is no hard and fast rule of drone roof inspection; it is like regular roof inspections. In manual measurements and inspection, you need a ladder and a roofing expert to get the thing done. But this is a risky process. But after the advent of drone technology, the roofing industry gets a serious helper who can do drone roof inspection jobs easily. As a result, roofing contractors now use a drone because they are risk-free and easy to use.

The simple process of How do drones do roof inspections:

Step 1: At the beginning of the whole process, the pilot sets up the drone. This section shows the drone parts setup, software installation, fixing flight path, and more things.

Step 2: Now, the drone is ready to take its flight. Drone flight control by the software sometimes and sometimes by the pilot.

Step 3: The drone makes its flight following a path and takes close pictures of the roof. Taking pictures and video is the primary way of roof inspection. The autonomous flight mode of drones covers the whole roof’s video.

Step 4: Make accurate roof measurements and roof repair reports. Then the roofing professional makes his supervision over the information given by the drone video. And the final decision.

It is the workflow of drone roof inspection. It is not the only way to do this. May take your own way of inspecting. You just need to cover the whole roof are by drone videography. Nothing else is a must for you. I hope now you know how to do a roof inspection with a drone.

Best Drone for Roof Inspections

Some special features are a must for roof inspection drones. Because the inspection process is not like regular videography drones, the entire process should be inspection-friendly with high-quality cameras or high-resolution, optical, and thermal sensors. Considering these things, I gather some roofing-friendly drones that may help you if you want to involve yourself in a roofing company as roofing inspections project manager.

Powerful Sensor

The sensor is essential for roof inspections. It will help you to get a perfect report if your drone has a powerful sensor specification. DJI Mavic Mini has almost the best sensor in this budget range of drones. That will give you a detailed view of roof damage, leakage, and also moisture.

High Definition Camera

It is the most important thing that a drone should have, especially roofing drones. If your drone has a less quality camera, it will capture more petite quality video and image, and the result will be terrific. DJI Mavic Mini has a 2.7k Camera. It is the specialty.

Flight Time

It is also essential for a roof inspection. A big roof needs a long time to inspect. If the drone has less flight time, then you will face difficulty in doing the task. DJI Mavic Mini has a 30 minutes flight time. Therefore, it is perfect for a roof inspection.

Others

Features like flight stability, flight missions, flight plan, drone weight, speed, software features, etc., are also crucial for this task. Based on the types of roofs, Mavic 2 pro tool for roof inspection is also good enough.

For these reasons, DJI Mavic Mini is the best to give you the full project details 100% okay.

Why is Drone Roof Inspection Important?

There are so many reasons behind roof inspection done by homeowners. These reasons are fair insurance claims from insurance companies, preparing roof plans before roof replacement, damage checks after a natural disaster or bad weather conditions, solar panel installation planning, and many more.

But behind the use of drones, there are some special reasons. These are given here.

Safety

Safety is the essential thing in one’s life. When a professional roof inspector uses a ladder to claim up the roof, it has some risk. But if they take drone service, then it will be entirely risk-free for its safe distance photography. These aerial vehicles are perfect for regular roof maintenance, accurate roof plan, advanced roof inspections, and many more. There are hundreds of companies that use commercial drones for aerial roof inspections and avoid any dangerous situation.

Low Cost

The cost of roof inspection drones is high enough, but the company that gives you the service of drone mapping technology is perfect for your wallet. The aerial photography of aerial drone roof inspection makes the task easy. In this system, professional roof inspectors are no more needed. Therefore, the aerial roof inspection services are low-cost. For this reason, it is very much essential to do.

Take Less Time

The mapping mission drones do in inspection is very fast. Therefore, they save time on your roof’s task. For example, one commercial drone pilot takes the highest 20/30 minutes to inspect your roof. So, this type of inspection saves you a lot of time. For this reason, drone roof inspection companies use this drone.

Do Professionally

For solar installation to damage check after a natural disaster, a professional inspection is very much necessary. In addition, insurance companies always expect accurate reports from roofing companies. So, it is essential to do a professional check for informed decisions. Drone inspections are ready to do that by its super technology.

Give Accurate Roof Report

The report will play the role of documentation for the insurance industry or insurance adjuster. So, an accurate roof report is very important. The thermal sensor provides thermal images, and HD Cameras provide HD aerial photos of your roof is essential for safe distance visual inspection. An aerial drone roof inspection is done like a pro inspection based on roof features.

What Should I Expect From a Roof Inspection?

There are a few things we can expect from inspections that are very common for all homeowners. However, these things are not denied. If you think of inspecting your roof, then you expect these things from it. 

Find Water Intrusion: One of the main things we expect from roof inspection is finding water intrusion from our roof. When it is rain time, the water may enter our house through leaks. It will cause moisture inside the roof. The roofer will check this from the inside part of the house. It’s an essential expectation from our inspection.

Next Repiration Date: Inspection gives us complete information about the roof condition of our house. It also helps us to get an idea about the next repair date. As we repair our roof after a certain period, we need some information about roof condition. Then, based on the situation, we fixed the next date of roof repair. 

Roof Damage: Another thing we expect from an inspection. That is the roof damage condition. After any natural disaster like a tornado, cyclone, and other bad weather conditions, we need to check the roof damage condition. It is another excellent expectation.

Replacement Cost: Sometimes we find that our roof is at the last time of its life. Then we need to replace it. At that time, we expect roofing costs from inspection. In the traditional method, the tape measure was the main to estimate the price per square foot. But now, drones are being used for roof mapping and cost estimating.

How to Do a Roof Inspection with a Drone: Conclusion

Thanks for reading our blog about how to do a roof inspection using a drone. We hope the tips we shared will help you get the most out of your inspection. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding drone inspections.

FAQs