drone and roof

Drones Are Great Tools But Aren’t A Replacement For Onsite Roof Inspections

Technology has it’s place in business and the roofing business isn’t any different. It’s how you use that technology to do your job that matters.

Today’s technologies, like using drones and satellite imagery to inspect a roof, are helpful and admittedly really cool, but we are nowhere near Star Trek levels of technology where simply scanning a home with our cool-looking tech will tell us all we need to know. Not yet anyway.

The Coronovirus pandemic brought some of these technologies to the forefront, and they are indeed great and very useful, but we’ve seen more than a few companies misrepresenting how they are used. From using Coronovirus safety measures as an excuse to not inspecting your roof in-person, to even claiming drones are superior to in-person inspections, these companies are doing their customers a disservice by telling them things that are simply not true.

Of course safety measures are important but you don’t need to forgo a proper in-person roof inspection to be safe, as we’ve proven over the entire course of the pandemic. Properly performing an in-person, on-site, roof inspection requires very few additional steps to protect homeowners and our employees without cutting corners.

It’s Not Possible To Perform A Proper Roof Inspection Without Physically Getting On The Roof

We at Atlanta Roofing Specialists see the value in using new technologies, like drones, to assist with performing a roof inspection in some circumstances, but using it as a replacement to doing a thorough, physical walk on the roof and through attic areas? No, no, no…not anytime soon anyway.

The fact is drone technology and even satellite imagery (which we use to assist us as well) are fantastic tools when performing a roof inspection but the information is limited at best. While a picture or satellite image can give us the tools to gather things like measurements and determining basic structural information it tells us very little about existing and potential problems. In fact, they differ very little from the “old fashioned” pictures we have always taken and used.

Currently, nothing replaces the physical act of getting on a roof, feeling every step and being able to get up close and physically touch suspect areas to determine if problems are cosmetic and/or potentially disastrous! Anything less and the results can prove costly, or even deadly, to homeowners.

If your roof contractor is claiming a drone or satellite pictures is all they need, be suspicious, GET A SECOND or even a THIRD opinion if you need to. You’d be surprised at how many things a picture DOESN’T show and reputable roof contractors know this.

In Metro Atlanta, Atlanta Roofing Specialists inspects every roof we see, properly, onsite, by climbing up on the roofs ourselves, every time. While we do use technology to assist us, it always compliments the process, it isn’t the process itself. For a proper onsite estimate, call us today at (770) 419-2222

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