Good points, thermal imaging definitely helps but isn't foolproof. I've seen cases where thermal scans looked totally clear, and then a year later, surprise—rotted decking underneath shingles. Makes me wonder, aside from thermal imaging, has anyone had luck catching structural issues early with drone inspections or other tech? Curious if there's something else out there worth trying...
"Makes me wonder, aside from thermal imaging, has anyone had luck catching structural issues early with drone inspections or other tech?"
Drones can be pretty handy for spotting obvious stuff like missing shingles or flashing issues, but they're still limited when it comes to hidden rot. Honestly, nothing beats getting up there and physically checking suspect areas... old-school but effective.
"Honestly, nothing beats getting up there and physically checking suspect areas... old-school but effective."
Yeah, drones are cool and all, but I wouldn't fully trust them for structural stuff either. Had a drone inspection done last year—looked super high-tech, fancy PDF report and everything—but it totally missed some soft spots in the decking. Ended up climbing up myself later (fun times 🙄) and found issues the drone didn't catch. Tech is handy, but sometimes you gotta trust your gut (and ladder).
Yeah, drones definitely have their blind spots. Had a similar experience myself—inspection looked flawless on paper, but when I got up there, found some flashing issues around the chimney the drone completely overlooked.
"Tech is handy, but sometimes you gotta trust your gut (and ladder)."
Makes me wonder if there's a sweet spot between drone tech and manual inspection... maybe using drones just as a first pass before climbing up? Curious if anyone's tried combining both methods.
I've actually tried combining both before and found it works pretty well. The drone's great for quickly spotting obvious issues like missing shingles or major damage, but you nailed it with the chimney flashing example—
"inspection looked flawless on paper, but when I got up there, found some flashing issues around the chimney"
Had almost the same thing happen on a recent inspection. Drone pics looked good, but once I climbed up, I saw subtle signs of water intrusion around the vents. Seems like using drones to narrow down problem areas first can save a lot of ladder time and guesswork.
