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You don't need to climb up to check on your roof in the spring. Most of what matters is visible from the ground with a decent pair of binoculars, a flashlight, and an hour on a Saturday morning. Here's the walk we recommend to every Belgrade and Bozeman homeowner before April runoff and the first heavy thunderstorm cycle.
1. Walk the perimeter and look at the gutters
Sagging sections, separated joints, downspouts that have pulled away from the wall, or piles of shingle granules at the downspout outlets all mean it's time to call. Granules look like coarse black sand on the concrete pad — they're the shingles' UV protection, and a heavy accumulation means the roof is shedding faster than it should.
Also check that downspouts are discharging at least four feet away from the foundation. Water dumping at the base of the wall causes more long-term damage than most roof leaks ever will.
2. Scan the flashings with binoculars
Stand back 30 or 40 feet and look hard at the flashings around chimneys, skylights, vent pipes, and any wall-to-roof junctions. You're looking for lifted edges, gaps where caulk has cracked, missing kick-out flashings at the bottom of wall sections, and any rust streaks running down from a flashing joint. Sealant has a roughly 10-year life on exposed flashings — re-sealing is cheap maintenance and prevents leaks.
3. Look at the ridge and the field
Scan the entire visible roof for shingles that look raised, curled at the corners, missing tabs, or that have shifted out of their courses. After a windy winter you'll often spot one or two that need replacement. Catch them in spring and the repair is a $200 trip; ignore them and you're paying for interior repairs after the next big rain.
On metal roofs, look for any loose or backed-out fasteners, separated seams, or panel oil-canning that wasn't there before. Snow load can do interesting things over a Montana winter.
4. Inspect the attic after the first heavy rain
Wait for a real soaker, give it a day, then walk the attic with a flashlight. Any staining on the underside of the roof sheathing, dark spots on rafters, damp insulation, or water marks running down a truss means moisture is getting in somewhere. Mark the location and call.
Also check around chimney chases and skylight wells — those are the most common places for water to track. And take a quick look at any bath or kitchen exhaust fan ducting in the attic; you want metal duct, sealed joints, and termination through the roof or a gable, never just blown into the attic space.
5. Trim back trees and clean what you can reach
Note any tree branches now touching the roof or hanging within 6 feet of it. Branches abrade shingles, dump debris in valleys, and give squirrels a highway to your attic. Trim before leaf-out — it's easier to see what you're cutting and the trees recover faster.
Clear leaves and pine needles out of valleys and behind chimneys if you can reach them safely from a ladder at the eave. Don't climb onto the roof itself — that's our job, and the safety gear matters.
When to actually call us
If anything on this list turns up — granules in the gutter, a lifted flashing, a stain in the attic, a missing shingle — call before the runoff and storm season hit hard in May and June. Spring inspections are quick, repairs are cheap when they're caught early, and our calendar fills up the moment the first hail event rolls through.