What a drone roof inspection actually costs
Between $150 and $400 for most homes in the Chicago area. The spread is not arbitrary. It comes down to how much roof there is, how complicated it is to fly, and what you need the report to prove.
Estimate your inspection
This is what you pay. Travel inside our service area, FAA authorization and the report are all in the price.
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Send your address. We quote before we fly, and the quote is the bill.
The five things that move the price
Any inspector quoting your roof is weighing these, whether or not they say so out loud.
Square footage
The single biggest factor. More roof means more flight lines, more images to process and a longer report to write. This is why nearly every honest quote starts by asking your roof size rather than naming one number.
How complicated the roof is
A simple gable is one flight pattern. Multiple dormers, valleys, turrets, skylights and roof-mounted equipment each need their own passes at their own angles. Two houses of identical square footage can differ by a hundred dollars on complexity alone.
Height and number of stories
Not because the drone cares, but because taller structures need wider standoff distances, more careful launch and recovery points, and often a spotter. That is time.
Airspace restrictions at your address
If your block sits under a reduced FAA ceiling, the drone flies lower and closer, which means more passes to cover the same roof. We do not surcharge for this, but an operator who quotes purely by the hour will.
What you need the report for
A homeowner deciding whether to re-roof needs less documentation than an insurance claim that an adjuster will contest. Claim-grade reporting takes longer to assemble and should be priced accordingly.
What the price should already include
If any of these show up as a line item after the fact, you were quoted a headline number rather than a price.
- ✓The flight itself and travel inside the service area
- ✓FAA authorization for your address, filed by the operator
- ✓Full-resolution imagery of every slope, not a highlight reel
- ✓A written report you keep, in a format you can forward
- ✓Liability insurance covering the flight over your property
Where cheap gets expensive
“Free” inspections from roofing contractors
A free inspection from a company that sells roofs is a sales call. It may well be competent, but the person deciding whether you need a new roof is the person who gets paid if you buy one. That is not a reason to never use one. It is a reason not to treat it as an independent opinion.
Per-image or per-download charges
The photos are the deliverable. Paying for the inspection and then paying again to receive the images is a pricing structure designed to look cheap up front.
A quote given without your address
Airspace, roof size and access all vary by address. A firm price offered before anyone has looked yours up is either padded to cover the worst case or about to be revised.
When the inspection pays for itself
A roof replacement is a five-figure decision. An inspection is a three-figure one. The case for paying for an independent look is strongest in exactly three situations: you are about to file a storm claim and need dated evidence of the damage, a contractor has told you the roof is finished and you would like a second opinion from someone not selling roofs, or you are buying the house and the inspector could not safely get up there.
Outside those, an annual look is maintenance, not urgency. We would rather tell you your roof is fine than sell you a report you did not need.
Get a firm price on your roof
Quoted from your address, not a range. Report inside 24 hours.