Two different services. A free estimate that prices the work, or a paid documented report. Call (626) 323-8814.
People use the words inspection and estimate as though they mean the same thing. They do not, and the difference decides what you pay and what you get. These are two separate services, and we keep them apart here.
One is a free estimate that gives you a price. The other is a paid documented report that gives you a written record. Read the two sections below and choose the one that matches your situation.
The free estimate answers one question, and that question is about your own roof. What will it cost to repair or replace the roof you already have? You get a price you can act on, and we bill you nothing for it.
The paid report answers a completely different question. What condition is this roof in right now, in writing, for somebody else to read? You get a document you can hand over.
Our free estimate covers repair pricing and replacement pricing alike. Roof size, stories, and access change the number we quote, never the price of the estimate itself.
Our roofing estimate is free, and it prices repair or replacement work. What you receive is a number for your own roof, not a written condition record. The documented condition report is a separate paid service for escrow files or an insurer.
We can often start from satellite imagery. Imagery gives us roof area and layout, which lets us put a realistic range in front of you.
Imagery does not reveal a soft deck, failed flashing, or a badly patched valley.
Choose the free estimate if you want a price for a roof repair or a full roof replacement. Choose it if you simply want to know what a new roof would cost.
A documented roof inspection is a separate paid service, and the free estimate does not cover it. It produces a written record of the roof's condition that you can hand to somebody else. That document is what you are paying for.
The fee varies from building to building. It depends on how large the roof is and how many stories the structure has. Call and describe the property to us instead.
We will tell you the current fee for your building before you commit to anything. No part of that conversation costs you money.
Tell us the roof type, the number of stories, and who will read the finished document. Those three details tell us what the report has to cover and what the work involves.
Escrow is one of the two main reasons this paid service exists. You are in contract, the clock is running, and you need the roof's condition in writing. A general home inspection often flags the roof and then stops right there.
What you need at that point is a roofer's written assessment.
It should describe the covering, its current condition, and whatever needs attention. That is a report rather than an estimate.
Tell us the closing date when you call about the property. Deadlines drive this work, and we would rather know about yours up front.
Insurance is the other main reason this paid service exists. Insurers increasingly ask for a roof inspection before they renew or write a policy, and they want it documented. We do that inspection, and we hand you the written record of it.
Anything you file afterward stays between you and your insurer.
An inspection is not a walk around the yard with binoculars. We examine the parts of a roof that fail, in the order they usually fail. That list stays fairly consistent across roof types, whatever the covering happens to be.
On a tile roof we pay particular attention to the layer beneath the tile. Tile outlasts its underlayment by decades, so a tile roof can look excellent from the street and still leak. We lift a small section where access allows and read the sheathing underneath.
On a low-slope section the drains and the laps carry most of the risk. Ponded water, a blocked drain bowl, and an open lap each leave marks we can photograph. Those photographs go into the report with the rest of the findings.
Most of the year here is dry, so a roof rarely leaks on the day we look at it. Failures build up unseen through those dry months, then show up together once the rain returns. So we read the physical evidence instead of waiting for water.
That is why the report describes condition and evidence rather than an active leak we happened to catch. A dry roof can still show you exactly where the water has been going.
We also record what we could not reach or safely access. An honest report names its own limits rather than implying total coverage.
A report is a snapshot of one roof on one particular date. It is not a warranty, a certification of future performance, or a promise that nothing changes. Weather after that date is outside what a document written then can cover.
It also describes measurable condition rather than remaining years. Condition is what a lender, an escrow officer, or an insurer can act on.
That limit disappoints anyone who wants a figure in years. A warranty term will not supply one either. A warranty is a commercial promise, not a measurement of how long a covering will last.
The documentation is yours once we hand it over. What you do with it afterward is entirely your decision.
Ask yourself who is going to read the end result. If the answer is you, and you want a price, the free estimate is correct. If the answer is somebody else, you need the paid written record instead of a price.
If that reader is a lender, an escrow officer, or an insurer, you need the paid report. If you are genuinely unsure, say so on the phone.
We will explain what each service covers, and that conversation costs you nothing. You then choose the one that matches your paperwork.
Roof size and the number of stories change the work enough that any published figure would mislead. A single story house and a three story building are not the same job at all. Access and roof pitch move the time again.
The same logic applies to repair and replacement pricing. We price the roof area in squares, then the stories, the pitch, and the access.
Existing layer count and hidden rot under the covering move the number further. Naming those drivers is genuinely useful to you, and naming a number would not be.
Ask for CSLB #1112525 before any roofing work starts. When a project needs a roofing permit, we help you obtain one. We promise no approval, no timing, and no particular result, because none of the three is ours to give.
The City of El Monte's Building and Safety pages place plan review, permits, and inspections with the Building Division. Real estate inspection requests sit with that same division, which also publishes the city's current design criteria.
So the Building Division is the right contact when a sale raises a roofing question about a specific address.
Our inspection work covers 91731, 91732, and 91733, areas the Census uses to organize local data. We write reports on houses and on commercial buildings inside all three of those areas. Give us the property address and the roof type, and we will confirm that we cover it.
Downtown, Park El Monte, and the rest of El Monte all sit inside the area we cover.
Call (626) 323-8814 and describe what you are dealing with. You can also start from the contact page, and our service areas page lists the rest of our map.
Say whether you need a price or a document when you call.
The confusion here almost always starts with the free estimate and the paid written report. One prices repair or replacement work, and the other documents the condition of the roof. The answers below cover the fee drivers and which of the two services you pay for.
We offer a free roofing estimate on the roofing work we quote. That estimate exists to price repair or replacement work on your own roof, and you pay nothing. A documented inspection report, the kind escrow or an insurer requires, is a separate paid service.
The fee moves with roof size and the number of stories, so no printed figure would fit. Call us, describe the property, and we will tell you the current fee. Access and roof pitch move the working time again, so we quote each building.
Our report records condition on the day we look, rather than a pass or fail result. We flag failed flashing, worn underlayment, soft decking, and old repairs that will not hold. We also record the areas we could not reach or safely access.
