Should I climb up and look at my Calgary roof myself?

Getting on a Calgary roof yourself is genuinely dangerous, and in most situations it is not necessary to do it.

What you can safely do from the ground

A surprising amount of useful information is available without ever leaving solid ground. Walk around the house and look for missing, curled or creased shingles, granules collecting in the eavestroughs or on the ground below the downspouts, and any visible sagging along the ridge or eaves. Binoculars make this much easier. After a hailstorm, look for dents in aluminium vents, gutters or window trim, because those soft metals dent easily and show where hail hit. Photograph everything from ground level; those photos matter if you file an insurance claim.

Inside the house, check the attic with a flashlight on a bright day. Water stains on the sheathing or rafters, daylight showing through, or frost on the underside of the deck in winter are all clear signs of a problem, and none of them require you to step outside.

From a properly footed ladder at the eaves, you can clear debris from the eavestrough and get a close look at the bottom course of shingles and the fascia. That is a reasonable task for a careful homeowner.

Going further than that is where the risk rises sharply. Alberta's OHS Code requires fall protection for workers at 3 metres or more above the level below, measured from the eave. That threshold is reached on a typical two-storey house before you are even at the ridge. A wet, frost-covered or steep Calgary roof in any season is genuinely treacherous, and a fall from that height causes serious injury.

Beyond the height itself, Calgary's climate adds specific hazards. Chinook cycles mean a roof that looks dry can have a thin film of ice from an overnight refreeze. Hail-damaged shingles lose granules and become slippery. Older roofs with curled or brittle shingles can give way underfoot without warning.

If water is coming in near electrical fixtures, a ceiling is bulging, or you smell something burning, get everyone out of the house and call emergency services from outside. Do not go into the attic or onto the roof.

For a proper post-storm assessment, a roofer will walk the roof with harness and anchor points, measure the damage, and produce a written report with photos. That report is also what you hand to your insurance adjuster. A paid inspection typically runs about $150 to $400, and many roofers include one at no charge when they are quoting a replacement. An insurance-grade report with measurements costs roughly $450 to $700.

The honest answer is that the ground-level and attic checks described above will tell you whether a professional inspection is urgent. Save the roof surface itself for someone with the right equipment.

Leave the roof surface to a roofer with the right gear; if you want one to inspect, our request form is free.