Handnail Roofing does free roof inspections in Conroe and across Montgomery County. Andy Hughes, the owner, checks the attic first, then walks the roof, photographs everything and sends a plain-English report to your phone. There’s no charge and no obligation, and inspections are booked on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
We start in the attic because that’s where a roof tells the truth. Water trails on the rafters, daylight around a pipe, insulation that’s damp on one side: those show up in the attic a year or two before a stain shows up on your ceiling. Then we go up top and look at the things that actually fail on a Conroe roof, which are almost never the shingles in the middle of a slope.
What a free roof inspection includes
1. The attic
Flashlight first. We look for stains and trails on the underside of the decking, rusted nail tips, wet insulation, daylight at penetrations, and whether the soffit vents and ridge vent are actually moving air. An attic that holds heat because nothing is venting is a finding too.
2. The roof
We walk every slope we can safely walk. Pipe boots, flashing, valleys, ridge and hips, the field shingles, the gutters and the edges. On a storm inspection we chalk a test square on each slope and count hits the way an adjuster would.
3. Photos of everything
Every slope, every penetration, every problem, and the things that are fine. You never have to climb a ladder to check our work or anyone else’s.
4. A report you can read
Each photo gets one line: fine, wearing, or needs work now. If something needs work, there’s a written price next to it, sent to a portal where you can ask questions from your phone. If nothing needs work, the report says so and we’re done.
When to get your roof inspected
After a storm
Hail an inch or bigger, or wind strong enough to bring down limbs. Hail bruising and creased tabs don’t leak right away, and the claim window doesn’t wait for them to. See hail and wind damage.
Buying a home
A general home inspector looks at the roof from the ground or a ladder. We walk it and go in the attic. Get us out during the option period, before the numbers are final.
Selling a home
A dated report with photos answers the roof question before the buyer’s inspector raises it, and small fixes now are cheaper than a credit at closing.
Before hurricane season
June through November. A lifted tab or a loose ridge cap found in May is a two-hour repair. Found in August, during a Gulf storm, it’s a tarp and a ceiling.
Roof over 10 years old
Pipe boots crack, sealant at flashing dries out and the first shingles start losing granules around year 10 in this climate. An inspection every couple of years from then on catches the cheap fixes while they’re cheap.
Insurance renewal
Carriers in Texas are asking for roof age and condition at renewal, and some send their own inspector. Our report with photos tells you what they’ll find before they find it.
What we look for, area by area
- Pipe boots. The rubber collar on every plumbing vent. They crack after 8 to 12 years of sun and they’re the most common leak we find in Conroe.
- Flashing. Step flashing at walls, counter-flashing at the chimney, the kick-out at the bottom of each wall, and whether any of it has been caulked over instead of fixed.
- Valleys. Where two slopes meet and all the water runs. We check for cracked shingles, exposed nails, debris dams and whether the valley was built with metal or ice-and-water shield underneath.
- Ridge and hips. Cap shingles take the most wind. We look for lifted, cracked or missing caps and for exposed nails on the last cap.
- Field shingles. Granule loss, cracking, curling, bruising, creasing, and whether the tabs are still sealed down.
- Decking. From the attic, for soft spots, stains and delamination. From the roof, for the spongy feel underfoot that means a sheet is going.
- Ventilation. Intake at the soffits, exhaust at the ridge, and whether they’re actually connected. Read why it matters in attic ventilation.
- Gutters. Granule piles at the downspouts, sagging runs, and fascia rot behind them.
What Conroe weather does to a roof by year 10
Attics in Conroe pass 140°F on a July afternoon. That heat cooks the asphalt in a shingle from underneath and dries out every rubber boot and every bead of sealant on the roof years ahead of schedule. Spring brings hail up I-45; the stones that bruise a shingle without tearing it are the ones that turn into leaks two or three years later. Then there’s the Gulf. The May 2024 derecho and Hurricane Beryl two months later lifted tabs and stripped ridge cap on roofs all over Conroe, Willis and The Woodlands, and a lot of that damage is still up there, unfound, because it never dripped. Lakefront homes on Lake Conroe take extra wind off the water and fail earliest at the ridges and rake edges. Those are the spots we check first.
What happens after the inspection
One of four things. The roof is fine, which is the most common outcome, and we tell you so. It needs a repair: most of ours cost between $800 and $2,000, and the most common one, a leaking pipe vent with rotted decking under it, is usually about $1,250. It has storm damage worth a claim, in which case we document it the way the adjuster needs and walk the insurance claim with you, or it has storm damage that isn’t worth a claim, and we tell you that instead of filing for nothing. It’s done: a replacement in the Houston area runs $400 to $600 per roofing square installed in 2026, our 2026 replacements have averaged just under $400 per square, and a typical 25-square home lands between $10,000 and $15,000. Financing is available, including 0% APR for up to 18 months for qualified buyers, subject to credit approval.
Why the inspection is free and what we won’t do
We don’t charge for inspections because it’s how we find our work, and because most people won’t put a roofer on the roof if it costs money to hear the roof is fine. We won’t tell you a four-year-old roof needs replacing. We won’t file a hail claim on a roof that doesn’t have the hits. We won’t send a salesman; the person on your roof is the owner or one of his crew leads, and the price you get is the price. If you had someone knock on your door after a storm and you want a second opinion, that’s a common call for us, and it’s still free.
Roof inspection questions from Conroe homeowners
Is the roof inspection really free, and what's the catch?
It's free, the photos are free and the written report is free. There's no catch and no obligation: we get to look at a lot of roofs, and a fair share of them need nothing. If yours is fine we tell you it's fine and leave. If it needs work, you get a written price and you decide.
How long does a roof inspection take?
Usually under an hour for a typical one-story home. A big two-story with a tight attic, or a roof that has been through a hailstorm, takes longer because we photograph and chalk every slope. The photos go to your phone, not to a salesman.
Do I need to be home for the inspection?
Someone needs to let us into the attic, because that's where the inspection starts. The roof itself we can do without you. If you can be there for the walk-through at the end, it's easier to show you what we found than to explain it by text.
Should I get a roof inspection before selling my house in Conroe?
Yes, and before you list, not after the buyer's inspector finds something. A dated report with photos of every slope answers the roof question up front, and a cracked pipe boot fixed for a few hundred dollars now is cheaper than a credit at closing. If you're the buyer, get us out during your option period.
Does every storm mean I need a roof inspection?
No. Most rain and most wind do nothing to a sound roof. Hail an inch or bigger, gusts strong enough to bring down limbs, or shingle pieces in the yard are the reasons to call. After a storm like that we'll check the roof and tell you straight whether there's anything worth a claim.
What's in the inspection report?
Photos of every slope, every pipe and vent, the flashing, the valleys, the ridge and the attic, with a short note on each: fine, wearing, or needs work now. Anything that needs work has a price next to it. Nothing in the report is something you have to buy.
Do you inspect roofs outside Conroe?
Yes. We're based in Spring and inspect roofs across Montgomery County and the north Houston suburbs, including The Woodlands, Montgomery, Willis, Magnolia, Tomball and Cypress. The inspection is free everywhere we go.
Inspections beyond Conroe
We’re based in Spring, about twenty minutes down I-45, and we inspect roofs across Montgomery County and the north Houston suburbs: Conroe, Montgomery, Willis, The Woodlands, Spring, Magnolia, Tomball, Pinehurst, Cypress, Huntsville and Sugar Land. There’s a longer guide to Montgomery County roof inspections on the blog.
