Drone roof inspection has ultimately leveraged how roofing contractors assess roofs of large, complex buildings. With the rooflines getting more complicated, it is hard to inspect them the traditional way. Instead, roofers now use drones to do this job.
This guide looks at various aspects of drone roof inspection, including how you can do it and why you should do it. You will also learn the benefits of drone roof inspection and how much it will cost you to assess an entire roof. Let’s get started.
How Drone Roof Inspection Works: The Procedure
Performing a roof inspection using a drone is one of the simplest tasks. All you need to have is a drone with a high-resolution camera and the appropriate software application.
Here are the steps to follow during a drone roof inspection.
- Create a flight plan on the software app by defining the roof’s perimeter and the building’s address. You can do that in your office or on-site.
- Once you’ve prepared the plan and confirmed that everything is in place, use the mobile phone app or controller to launch and navigate the drone.
- After the launch, the drone will automatically follow the flight path created and capture images. It will also gather other information you program into the software.
- After completing the flight path, the drone will land and transfer all the collected data to the mobile device.
To improve the drone’s efficiency, you need to integrate imaging and analysis tools to create 3D models. These can detect defects that the human eye is likely to miss during an inspection. Thankfully, most drone software applications have the tools to do this.
How Much Does a Drone Roof Inspection Cost?
If you plan to hire a drone inspection professional to do the job, expect to pay roughly $150 – $400. Roof inspection costs vary, depending on the type of building and the roof’s size (square footage), design, and complexity.
Here are the cost estimates of drone inspection for various properties.
Individual Homeowners Properties
Inspecting an individual property using a drone will cost you around $0.10 – $0.15 per square foot. It involves capturing a standard image for homes up to 2,000 square feet. Similar rates apply when mapping the property.
Residential Community Properties
When inspecting the roof of townhouse units or multi-unit apartment complexes, expect to pay roughly $0.05 per square foot. Such properties tend to have many independent roofing structures and occupy larger land pieces.
Industrial and Commercial Properties
A done roof inspection of commercial and industrial facilities costs around $0.05 – $0.10 per square foot, or even more when it involves many risks. Although the inspection cost is similar to that of residential community properties, the risk level is higher.
5 Advantages of Using Drones for Roof Inspections
Now that you know how to do a drone roof inspection and the costs involved, you’re probably wondering if it’s the right choice. Drone roof inspection comes with numerous benefits. It’s a safe, cost-effective, and efficient way to assess the roof.
- Improved Accuracy and Consistency
When inspecting a roof manually, the chances of making errors are high. Even the most experienced roofer is subject to human error. Finding roof defects like insulation breakdown can also be tricky when inspecting the roof manually.
With the help of a drone, you eliminate inaccuracies and inconsistencies of manual inspections. Drones can capture high-quality roof images and take accurate measurements. The data can be helpful in roof mapping standardization.
- Enhanced Safety during Inspection
Climbing to the rooftop to manually assess the roofing condition carries many risks. It is even riskier when the building is high, and the roof design is complex. Studies reveal that most deaths and injuries suffered during roof inspection occur due to falls.
Using drones during roof inspection rather than climbing the roof mitigates the risk of falling. Besides, drones can also access difficult-to-reach points on a roof.
- Reduced Inspection Costs
Drones can help you save money in many ways, from cutting down equipment costs to reducing the time and labor spent to inspect the roof. You don’t need to buy ladders or any heavy climbing tools or access equipment.
Another way drones can help you reduce inspection costs is by lowering employee and equipment insurance costs. Drones eliminate the need to hire laborers to climb to the rooftop to inspect the roof. If you’re using drones, you won’t have anyone to insure against such injuries.
- Less Time-Consuming
Manually inspecting a roof can take many hours. You have to transport, assemble, and set up equipment to access the rooftop. You’ll also take more time to compile the data. With a drone roof inspection, you don’t have to do all of that. This can help you save time.
Once you launch the drone, it will fly for around 10 to 30 minutes to complete the inspection. It will promptly transmit the collected information to the designated place, helping you generate reports faster. Inspectors can conduct several roof inspections in a single day.
- In-Depth and Actionable Data
Another benefit of performing a drone roof inspection is that you’ll collect more accurate, comprehensive, and helpful information. Drones can access any part of the building, allowing you to collect in-depth data. You can capture images and record videos.
With drones’ help, you can get all the information you need about the roof structure you want to inspect. Software tools that can create reports from the collected data are available. This allows you to deliver the results faster, to make the decision-making process quicker.
Final Words
Conducting a drone roof inspection can help you find all the hidden defects in a roof. It can also help you improve safety, enhance accuracy, and save time and money. Find a stable drone that can capture high-quality images and videos.
Contact Roof Master for quality and affordable drone roof inspection services.
