"Honestly, drones (thermal or otherwise) are great for initial assessments, especially on steep or tricky roofs, but nothing beats getting up close and personal with the shingles yourself."
Totally agree with this. Thermal drones are handy for spotting obvious moisture issues, but they're just one tool in the toolbox. Last summer, we used a drone to quickly pinpoint problem areas after a storm, then followed up with hands-on inspections. Saved us time and gave us peace of mind knowing we hadn't missed anything sneaky hiding under flashing or vents...
Drones definitely speed things up, but I've seen them miss subtle hail damage or hairline cracks that only show up when you're right there touching the shingles. Tech's great, but nothing beats hands-on inspection for peace of mind...especially if insurance is involved.
"Tech's great, but nothing beats hands-on inspection for peace of mind...especially if insurance is involved."
Totally agree here. Drones are awesome for initial assessments and getting a quick overview, but subtle hail damage or tiny cracks often need that tactile check. I've seen plenty of cases where drone reports looked spotless, but a closer look revealed issues that could've turned into bigger headaches down the line. Good call on double-checking manually—insurance claims can get tricky without thorough documentation.
That's a solid point—tech definitely has limits. I had a drone inspection a while back that completely missed some flashing around my chimney that was starting to peel away. Luckily, I caught it when cleaning gutters. Makes me wonder, has anyone had success combining drone footage with manual inspection photos for insurance claims? Curious if insurers trust drone imagery alone or if they always ask for hands-on follow-ups...
"Makes me wonder, has anyone had success combining drone footage with manual inspection photos for insurance claims?"
Yeah, good question... I haven't personally tried combining drone footage with manual pics, but I did submit some drone-only images once. The insurance folks seemed okay with it, but they did send someone out later anyway—guess they weren't fully convinced by my Spielberg-level drone cinematography, lol. Probably safer to have both handy, especially if you're dealing with picky adjusters. Better safe than sorry, right?
