Continuing Questions to ask on your Home Inspection

Moving onto the next two questions, “How is the ventilation in the attic?” AND “What is the general condition of the roof?” Let's dive on in!

5. How is the ventilation in the attic? 

This can sometimes be easy to see when your inspector comes down from the attic. Are they dripping in sweat? Chances are they’re going to tell you there is not the greatest ventilation in the attic and you should probably talk to a contractor about adding some. It’s an attic though, who cares right? Well, you should care. Lack of ventilation can cause many issues in the attic. Ventilation allows airflow, and that is key in most attics. Without ventilation, the air and anything in the air is trapped in your attic. Let’s go back to that first image we mentioned; the inspector coming down from the attic covered in sweat. Well that’s also probably happening to the beams and rafters in your attic too. Then it is possibly dripping down onto your insulation below. Water + heat + no airflow….that is a recipe for mold and fungal growth. Now that's something you don’t want to have, period.

Beyond this, if you’re using your attic as storage space…most everything is recommended to be stored in a temperature controlled space, that is not excessively hot or cold. Without proper ventilation your attic is going to get excessively hot. But, I know, you’re saying, “Well, we just won’t store anything up there, then we don’t have to address it. Besides, it will help melt the snow on the roof in the winter.” You’re right, it will help melt the snow in the winter, but it will also have a higher likelihood of causing an ice dam because of that. The melting snow will turn to water and then travel down your roof, but then it will hit other snow at the eaves that will cause it to refreeze. Once that happens, it’s no longer snow, it’s ice. As this pattern continues, you then have an ice dam on your roof. Not only that, but the water has a good chance of freezing and pushing shingles upwards, causing more damage to your roof and allowing the ice dam to have access to below the shingles. That is when leaks start happening.

Another issue that can be caused by ventilation are what we affectionately refer to as “Nail Pops”. These can happen for a variety of reasons, but lack of ventilation causing moisture absorption into the roof decking can cause it to swell and force, or “pop”, the nail out of it.

6. What is the general condition of the roof?

Most people just ask, “How old is the roof?” And while that’s not a bad question, it is limiting your answer to its overall condition. Roof materials have an expected average lifespan, but those are averages, and the roof you’re looking at doesn’t necessarily fit into that average. Maybe it’s an exception. As they say, life happens, and things can definitely happen to your roof to shorten the lifespan of the roof. So, even though it might only be 10-years-old, it could definitely be at the end of its lifespan.

Things like trees overhanging on the roof can drop leaves, pollen and even branches, or the tree itself can come down on it. Those things will all shorten the lifespan of the roof. Maybe there have been regular bad storms or hail, that will definitely shorten the lifespan of the roof. Maybe the ventilation in the attic is terrible, that will definitely shorten the lifespan of the roof. BUT, maybe you’re in the most ideal conditions ever and the roof is actually aging slower than expected because of it. Your home inspector is not pulling the permits that were filed with the city/town in order to determine the roof condition. We’re looking at it in person; looking for signs the coverings are having issues; looking for signs the decking that the covers are attached to are having issues; looking for signs of repairs that may have been done. 

It’s better to ask about the overall condition as well as any material defects that were noted, so you can gauge whether or not you should budget in the short term or long term for repairs or replacement. Remember, eventually all roofs need to be replaced. Whether because of many issues, or just because there are already too many layers of shingles on the roof and it's not safe to do anything else than take all the shingles off and start from scratch, the more you know, the more you can plan.