The roof took 40 minutes. The inspection report takes your evening.
How familiar does this sound? You were on the roof at 2:00 with the phone, took 30 photos, slope by slope, talked the damage into a voice note on the way down, and the homeowner asked when she'd have something in writing. The inspection report gets written at 9 tonight at the kitchen table: which photo is which slope, what the measurements were, a summary she can read and hand to her adjuster, the estimate behind it. Two hours, fumbling over everything. Or it gets written Thursday, or it doesn't, and the roofer who sent his inspection report over the same afternoon gets the job.
Every piece of that inspection report exists by the time you climb down. The photos are on the phone, in order. The measurements are in whatever you measured with. The findings are in the voice note. What's missing is two hours of typing, three nights a week if you're busy, and that's the part I'd hand off.
I'd have each photo labeled by slope and damage type from your tech's own notes, the measurements dropped in, and a plain summary written from what the tech said. You read the inspection report on your phone before the truck is out of the driveway, fix whatever it got wrong, and the homeowner has it before supper, estimate with it. Nothing in it says what her policy covers, because that was never yours to say.
Then it keeps running without you watching it. Every Monday I send a practice inspection through it, start to finish, to make sure nothing broke. If something did, you get a text. Once a month you get a short note: how many reports it wrote and how many went out the same day.
What I'd set up
Your tech's photos and voice note come back as an inspection report the homeowner can read: each photo labeled by slope and damage, the measurements, one plain paragraph on what was found. You read it on your phone and approve it, she has it the same afternoon with your estimate, and the same inspection report does for her adjuster if she files. Friday it checks back with her. Every Monday I run a practice inspection through it to make sure nothing broke, and you get a text if something did.
The rules it follows
- Your tech decides what the damage is. The inspection report only writes up what the tech said.
- It never says what a policy covers or what a claim will pay. Those questions go to the insurance company.
- No prices in the inspection report. Those are on the estimate.
- Nothing goes to a homeowner or an adjuster until you've approved it.
- Every Monday I run a practice inspection through it, start to finish, to make sure nothing broke. If something did, you get a text.
The inspection, the call on what the damage is, and the estimate stay with your people.
Working demo
One roof, 30 photos, an inspection report before supper.
Put your company's name in, then follow one roof from your tech's photos to Teresa's phone. You're the owner.
Company, homeowner and roof are made up. The inspection report and the texts were written in advance and play back in your browser. Nothing you type leaves this page.
It signs the inspection report and every text here, and never leaves this page.
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Tuesday
A roof in Gallatin, five days after the storm.
30 photos and a voice note
Everything the inspection report needs is on the phone before the ladder is.
Teresa, Gallatin. Two-story, architectural shingle, four slopes.
30 photos, slope by slope
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
Voice note, on the way down
North slope first, street side. Six creased tabs, two missing by the chimney, flashing's lifted. East is hail, eleven hits in a ten by ten. South and west are clean.
From the measuring app
- 16 squares on four slopes, all 6/12
- One chimney, two pipe boots
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Tuesday
In the driveway, the inspection report on your phone.
Read it, move one photo, approve
You move one photo and tap approve.
Roof inspection report
For Teresa, Gallatin, from Station Camp Roofing
North: six tabs creased, two missing by the chimney, flashing lifted, gutter dented. East: hail, eleven hits in a test square. South and west: clean. 16 squares, 6/12.
- North, street side 12
- 1Wind: Creased tabs along the ridge
- 2Wind: Creased tabs, closer
- 3Wind: Two tabs missing by the chimney
- 4Wind: The missing tabs, closer
- 5Flashing: Chimney flashing lifted
- 6Flashing: Flashing, the lifted corner
- 7Gutter: Gutter dented under the chimney
- 8Wind: Ridge cap, one tab loose
- 9For the record: North slope, whole
- 10For the record: North slope from the ladder
- 11For the record: Chimney, all four sides
- 30For the record: Front of the house, from the street
- East 9
- 12Hail: Test square, eleven hits
- 13Hail: Hail hit, soft spot
- 14Hail: Second hit, closer
- 15Hail: Granule loss
- 16Hail: Granule loss, closer
- 17Hail: Hail on the vent cap
- 18For the record: Pipe boot, east
- 19For the record: East slope, whole
- 20For the record: East slope from the ladder
- South 5
- 21For the record: South valley, from the north side
- 22For the record: South slope, whole
- 23For the record: South ridge, clean
- 24For the record: South valley, clean
- 25For the record: South slope from the ground
- West 4 moved by you
- 26For the record: West slope, whole
- 27For the record: West ridge, clean
- 28For the record: Pipe boot, west
- 29For the record: West slope from the ground
What we found on the roof, not what your policy covers or what a claim pays. Those questions go to your insurance company.
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Tuesday
Teresa's phone, two minutes later. Then Friday.
Teresa has it before you pull out
Sent the same minute, followed up Friday.
- Station Camp RoofingHey Teresa, Station Camp Roofing. Inspection report's at the link.
- Teresawow that was fast, thank you
Friday, 9:00 AM
- Station Camp RoofingMorning Teresa. Inspection report come through OK? Need anything, just reply.
- Teresayes got it. adjuster is coming tuesday at 10, can somebody be here
Text to you
Teresa, Gallatin: adjuster Tuesday at 10, wants you there. On your calendar.
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Monday
Every Monday, before anyone's up.
A practice inspection, every Monday
A practice roof through every step. If something broke, you get a text.
Monday's practice run: passed
From the practice phone: four photos, a voice note, one measurement.
- 6:00 Photos labeled, 4 of 4.
- 6:01 Report built, insurance line in it, on your approval list marked PRACTICE.
- 6:02 Practice report cleared. Nothing sent to anyone.
The text you'd get if it failed
Station Camp Roofing Monday practice run: the report got written but never reached your approval list. Check today's inspections by hand. Joe got the same text and is on it.
Your evenings, added up
Put in how many inspection reports you write up at night in a week and how long each one takes, and the hours change with them.
Count last week's. Thursday's write-up of Tuesday's roof counts.
Sorting the photos, finding the measurements, typing the summary. The starting figure is an example; put in yours.
Hours at the kitchen table
- A week
- 6 hours
- A month
- 26 hours
- A year
- 312 hours
Rough math: the week times 52 for the year, divided by 12 for the month. Three inspection reports at two hours each is 6 hours a week, 26 a month, 312 a year.
How you'd set this up yourself
Five steps, and none of them needs a particular product.
Have the tech say the slope before the photos
On the roof, say the slope out loud into the voice note before shooting it: north, then east, and so on. The photos come down in order, so the note tells you which slope each run belongs to.
Ask the AI for the labels and the summary
Paste the voice note and measurements into a business AI account with training off (two questions first), add the photos, and ask for a label per photo and one paragraph on what was found. Nothing about coverage, claims or price.
Read it on your phone and fix it
Check every label against its photo; it will put one on the wrong slope now and then. Your name goes on the inspection report, so you read every line before it goes.
Send it the same day, with the estimate
Text the homeowner the link from your own number, estimate behind it. One inspection report serves the homeowner and the adjuster both, so there's nothing to rewrite if a claim gets filed.
Set the follow-up, then count
A reminder three days out: "Morning, did the inspection report come through OK?" At month's end, count the reports that went same day and the follow-ups that got an answer. Those two numbers tell you whether to keep it.
If you'd rather not build this, I'll set it up on the phones and the measuring app your techs already use, run a practice inspection through it every Monday, and send you a short note once a month on what it did. You approve every inspection report before a homeowner sees it.
