Free leak inspection for Houston property owners
Roof Leak Detection in Houston
The stain on your ceiling is almost never below the leak. Water runs along the decking, follows the rafters and surfaces a room away. That is why patching the stain does not work, and why finding the actual entry point takes instruments rather than a guess.
We scan the roof with thermal imaging, confirm with a moisture meter, and walk it with a thirty-point visual inspection. You get the photographs, the readings and the thermal images, whether or not you hire us to fix it.
Water coming in right now? Emergency roof repair, answered 24/7, typical response 2 to 4 hours.
- $0For the leak inspection
- 16Instruments in the kit
- 5,000+Roofs completed
- 4.8★Over 400 Google reviews
How we find it
Sixteen Instruments, and What Each One Is For
A leak inspection is not one person on a roof with an opinion. Here is exactly what we bring, what each instrument finds, and why it matters to you.
Finding the water
Thermal imaging suggests, moisture readings prove. Using one without the other is how homeowners end up paying for repairs they did not need.
FLIR thermal camera
Temperature differences invisible to the eye
Wet insulation holds heat differently from dry insulation. On a thermal scan a soaked area shows as a distinct patch long before it stains a ceiling, which is how we find the extent of a leak, not just its symptom.
Compact thermal camera
Quick thermal checks in tight spaces
Fits where the full-size camera does not: a cramped attic corner, a chimney chase, the low edge of a slope. The scan does not stop where access gets awkward.
Pinless moisture meter
Moisture behind a surface, without making a hole
Confirms whether a thermal anomaly is actually water by scanning through drywall and decking. Nothing punctured, nothing to patch afterward.
Pin moisture meter
Exact moisture content in decking, rafters and drywall
Tells an active leak from an old stain that has been dry for years. That one reading is often the difference between a repair and no repair at all.
Temperature and humidity reader
Attic temperature and relative humidity
High humidity in a hot, poorly ventilated attic points at condensation rather than a leak. The two look identical from inside the house, and the fix is completely different.
Infrared thermometer
Surface temperature across the roof and attic
Temperature differences point at inadequate ventilation and trapped heat, which is what ages a Houston roof from underneath, often with no leak involved at all.
Seeing what nobody can reach
The evidence you keep comes from these. You see what the crew saw, rather than taking anyone’s word for it.
DJI drone
The whole roof, including what nobody can walk on
A high-resolution aerial survey of every slope, including steep pitches and areas that cannot be safely walked. You get the footage. It is your roof and your record.
Head-mounted GoPro
Close-up video of what we are looking at
Worn on the roof, so you see exactly what the crew sees. Particularly useful for valleys and flashing details you would otherwise never lay eyes on.
Endoscope camera
Inside wall cavities, soffits and behind flashing
For the places nothing else reaches. Where water is running inside a wall, this is how we trace it back to the entry point instead of opening the wall to find out.
Digital microscope
Granule loss at a level you can actually see
When the granules go, the layer beneath starts to show. Under the microscope, with a drop of water, you can watch a worn shingle absorb it rather than shed it. You see the roof failing instead of being told it is.
Core sampler
What is underneath, on flat and low-slope roofs
A small extracted core shows the layers, the insulation condition and whether moisture is trapped in the system. On a commercial flat roof it is often the only way to know.
Measuring and working safely
Less exciting, and just as important. A crew that is safe and measuring properly is a crew not guessing on your roof.
Laser measure
Exact distances, inside and out
Measures where the ceiling stain sits against the walls, so we can find the same point from the attic and the roof above, and gives real dimensions for a quote instead of an estimate by eye.
Carbon monoxide detector
CO from flues that share the attic
Water heater and furnace flues run through the attic and out through the roof. A disconnected or damaged flue can leak carbon monoxide into the house. We check, because it protects you.
Voltage tester pen
Live wiring before anyone touches it
Attic wiring is often buried in insulation, right where the decking needs work. A quick check keeps a fastener out of a live cable and the crew safe.
High-output work light
What a phone flashlight misses
Attics are dark. Faint water tracks on the decking, pinholes of daylight and rusted nail tips only show under proper light.
Cougar Paws roofing boots
Grip on steep pitches
Soft rubber traction pads hold on a slope without scuffing granules off your shingles. Nobody slipping means nobody grabbing at flashing or stepping hard on a brittle shingle.
The seventeenth
Knowing which one to reach for
Any company can buy this equipment. What it cannot buy is thirteen years of watching roofs fail in one climate: knowing that a cold patch near a chimney usually means failed step flashing, that granule loss on the south slope runs ahead of the north, and that a wet reading in February often traces back to a hailstorm the previous spring.
The instruments narrow it down. Experience tells you where to point them. A thermal camera in untrained hands produces a colorful picture and a wrong answer.
What you keep
You get the evidence, not a summary of it
Thermal images, moisture readings, drone footage and close-up video, handed over with our written findings. Yours to keep, whether you hire us or take it to another contractor.
On work we carry out, you also get a link to a photo album of the entire job: not a handful of finished shots, but the whole thing, from tear-off to final sweep.
Why it is worth insisting on. A contractor who documents everything has made it impossible to cut a corner quietly. That is the point of it, and it is a reasonable thing to ask of anyone bidding on your roof.
The process
From Your Call to a Roof That Stops Leaking
Typically three to seven days from first call to completed repair, depending on the weather and what we find.
-
The call
We ask where the stain is, when it appeared, and whether it leaks in all rain or only some. That last answer narrows the search before anyone arrives: a leak that only shows in wind from the south is a different problem from one that leaks every time.
-
On site: scan, confirm, walk
A thermal scan of the affected area and the slopes above it. A moisture meter to confirm any anomaly is actually water. A drone survey for anything that cannot be safely walked. Then a thirty-point visual inspection of flashing, valleys, penetrations, ridge and edge.
The attic too, where there is access. It is often the fastest route to the entry point, because the underside of the decking shows the track the water took.
-
You see it before we explain it
Thermal images, moisture readings, drone footage and close-up video, reviewed with you on screen. Not a verdict: the evidence, so you can see what we saw and reach the same conclusion.
-
Written findings and options
What is wrong, where, and what it will take to fix. If there is more than one sensible option, such as repair now against replace sooner, you get both, priced, with our honest view of which makes more sense.
The findings are yours whether or not you hire us. Take them to another contractor if you would rather.
-
The repair
At the actual entry point, not the stain. Repairs carry a 24-month workmanship warranty, where most Houston contractors offer three to six months.
We decline repairs we cannot guarantee. On a roof too old or brittle to hold a proper fix, we will say so rather than take the money and come back in a year.
-
Verification
The repaired area is scanned again before we leave, so there is a thermal image showing the anomaly gone. Then a follow-up after the next significant rain.
If we cannot find it on the first visit
It happens, and any contractor who says otherwise is overselling. Some leaks only appear under particular conditions: wind-driven rain from one direction, a specific temperature, or several hours of steady rain rather than a downpour.
Where that is the case we say so and come back, ideally while it is raining. What we will not do is guess, replace something plausible, and invoice you for it.
Where Houston Roof Leaks Actually Start
In thirteen years, the same handful of failure points account for most of what we find. Almost none of them is the shingle above the stain.
Pipe boots
The rubber collar around a vent pipe. It cracks in Texas sun, usually first, and it is the single most common leak we find.
Step and wall flashing
Where the roof meets a wall or chimney. Water gets behind it and runs inside the wall, surfacing far from the entry point.
Valleys
Where two slopes meet, carrying the most water on the roof. Pine needles pack in, hold moisture, and the metal beneath corrodes.
Nail pops
Decking expands and contracts in Houston heat until nails back out and lift the shingle above. Small, common, and easy to miss.
Skylights and penetrations
Anything cut through the roof. The seal fails before the unit does. See our skylight repair service.
Ventilation and condensation
Not a leak at all. A poorly ventilated attic condenses moisture on the underside of the decking, and it drips. Diagnosed as a leak and repaired as one, it never goes away.
Roof Leak Detection Questions
How much does roof leak detection cost?
The inspection is free, including the thermal scan, the moisture readings and the photographs. You keep all of it whether or not you hire us.
The repair is quoted separately. Repairs start at $195, with most single-issue repairs between $350 and $900. Common repairs are priced in full on our repair page.
Why not just patch where the stain is?
Because water travels. It enters at one point, runs along the decking or down a rafter, and surfaces wherever it finds a gap in the ceiling, routinely several feet from the entry point and sometimes in another room.
Patching where the stain is treats the exit, not the entrance. It is the most common reason a leak comes back the following season.
Can you find a leak when it is not raining?
Usually. Wet insulation and damp decking hold a different temperature from dry material for days after the rain stops, so a thermal scan finds them well after the fact, and a moisture meter confirms it.
Some leaks only appear under specific conditions, such as wind-driven rain from one direction or several hours of steady rain. Where that is the case we say so and come back, ideally while it is raining.
Is it a leak, or is it condensation?
A question worth asking, because the two look identical from inside and the fix is completely different. A poorly ventilated Houston attic condenses moisture on the underside of the decking, which then drips.
Repaired as a leak, it never goes away. We read attic temperature and humidity as part of the inspection specifically to rule this out. More on attic ventilation.
Will my insurance cover it?
If the damage came from a covered peril such as hail, wind or a fallen branch, often yes. Wear, age and lack of maintenance are not covered, and that distinction decides most Texas claims.
Our documentation is what a claim runs on either way. How Texas roof claims work.
What warranty comes with the repair?
24 months on the workmanship, where most Houston contractors offer three to six.
If you later replace the roof with us, we credit up to 25% of the repair cost against the replacement.
Where we cover
Greater Houston from two offices: Harris, Montgomery, Waller, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties.
Book a free leak inspection
Thermal scan, moisture readings, drone survey and photographs, yours to keep whether or not you hire us.
JC&C Roofing Company · 1431 Graham Dr #266, Tomball, TX 77375 · 1220 Blalock Rd #345, Houston, TX 77055 · hello@jccroofing.com · text (832) 590-3700