another arguement for always walking the roof

from todays inspection

9221 NW 7 St Boca Raton(Grenn) 046.jpg

This is the view from the attic

9221 NW 7 St Boca Raton(Grenn) 038.jpg

Bill,
Good catch.
Do you normally walk tile roofs?
I walk others, but not tile.
Any problem with breaking tiles?

ed

I walk tile roofs…there are too many items to miss up there.

All the roofs here are all the same right now. White and fluffy.

William, if you would not have slipped and grabed that vent, it would not be broken. :mrgreen::twisted:

Nice find, and how did you stay up there without breaking tiles?:):smiley:

He used his rocket pack of course! It’s the only way to properly inspect a tile roof :mrgreen: We’re now selling them to all inspectors for the low price of $100,000 (includes free cup holder and butt cushion). Let me know if anyone is interested!

:mrgreen::mrgreen:

Any daily specials coming up?;):slight_smile:

I walk every roof that I can. The only ones I really try to avoid are the clay tile, as they tend to crack easily. The concrete tile roofs are pretty durable and I have no problem with walking on them.

I could throw in a 12 pack to go with the cup holder in case you get thirsty while flying around :mrgreen:

I agree that walking concrete tile roofs is very important if you feel comfortable doing so. Here in AZ we have many, many of them. If you have a ladder that is tall enough to allow you to look down and use binoculars to scope every inch that would be visible if walked then that may be an alternative. It could be difficult to image some of the defects though.
Many opinions on this subject and each inspector needs to decide what their comfort level is. Most SOP’s do not require walking roofs and as long as you explain why in your report and inform your client of the limitations you should be fine.

I try to walk only on the dome portion and haven’t broken one yet(knock on wood). I do not walk on cracked or broken ones.

The original Solatube? :slight_smile:

From yesterdays inspection. This is leaking at the stack and the pipe is filled with water.

I walk on nearly all of them…

I have broken a few over the years too! 0 broken tiles in '09 though!! Luckily the times I have broken them there were other issues present and I let the customer know what the deal-i-o was and I would be responsible to the extent of the damage I caused. Even with that, I find enough other issues that I can easily offset the liability created by me walking them to the liability of missing issues with the roof.

As a matter of fact, unless it is fairly new construction, the majority of the time there is something up on the roof that will need repair or at least maintenance.

Here’s a good poll, how many roofs receive “Roof Covering in Acceptable Condition” (or similar) as a percentage of roofs inspected…Meaning that you found no defects and no repairs of any type needed.

3 out of 10 roofs I see have chimney flashing issues that could not possibly be seen without being right on it. But look fine from below.

I walk every roof I can… That’s not to say, however, that in a majority of cases, I simply cannot.

Remember personal safety, as well as ladder safety. The life and limb you save may be your own.

Nice pic. I looked at one similar to that recently.

How often do you break tiles, Russel? Do you pay for the damage when you break them? Do you walk all tiles or use judgment on which to walk?

If it can break… don’t walk it. You have no right to damage the homeowner’s property during an inspection.

Will it break? There are as many answers as there are roof types, but there are no easy answers.

You need to know what you’re doing and be able to evaluate what you’re looking at accurately. InterNACHI offers courses that will help.

Hi Kenton,

In light of a comment about promoting walking roofs, and an injury recently to a fellow Nachi Member and an inspector locally to me, I’ll “walk” lightly on recommending doing so.

At this point in my inspection career, I’m pretty sure I know and am comfortable with what I’m doing, in regards to what types, benefit vs. risk etc. Not to say we can’t all learn more, myself included. That’s why I come here! If you were directing the comment towards me, I certainly don’t walk the very friable tiles, such as clay or many of the concrete that are in visibly poor condition before stepping onto the roof. The other neat one is some of the older homes in CA that were skip sheathed and then tiled, if you’ve stepped on one, you’ll know :slight_smile:

As far as the “If it can break and we have no right to damage” comment. There are many things we do and inherit certain risks, as we all know when it comes to our profession. I agree we have no right to damage property, although I think it’s a stretch to construe that a tile roof should not be walked on the premise that a possibility of breaking a tile exists. What about a cold day? If it’s very cold and say… a roof was sheathed with 7/16 OSB and you step on a seam between 2 pieces of ply while walking a COMP ROOF, are you not possibly damaging it as well?

My point was multi fold, but to include at least: Walking/surveying in/on Roofs, Attics, crawlspaces even walking around a pool etc. have both personal risks and like it or not some risk to the property, that’s why I and I’m sure many here are insured and careful. Something I had also made clear was to be upfront about damage that we may cause. This is true in any circumstance for most of us.

If I’m stating the obvious, I’m wondering specifically what the comment was for is all. If it is a generalization or a specific response I’m curious to know.

Thanks