Here a roof gets months of sun and dry wind, and then the first real rain finds everything summer broke. This is what to look at through the year, all of it from the ground, a window or the attic hatch.
Get a Free Estimate →Look before the rainy season, after a big wind, and during the first real rain, and look from the ground, not the roof. CSLB's roofing guide puts it plainly: "the best way to preserve your roof is to stay off of it." Your job is to notice and take dated photos. Clearing valleys, lifting tile, resealing and anything on the roof itself is roofer work.
Tile lines, pipe seals, valleys, gutters and the debris a dry summer piles up. October is the time to schedule a tune-up or inspection.
The ridge line, slipped or broken tile, lifted shingles and whatever blew into the yard. Wind damage often doesn't show until it rains.
Ceilings, the attic from the hatch, and where the water shows up. Dated photos. Stay off a wet roof.
Gutters, downspouts and fascia, a hot upstairs that points to ventilation, and anything on the roof that changed, like new solar.
Months of dry weather, then the first real rain. Whatever the summer broke, the first storm finds.
From across the street, look along the courses for tiles that sit different from their neighbors: dropped below the line, gaps of shadow, pieces sitting crooked. A few cracked tiles can be swapped. A lot of them, or tile sliding out of line, is a reason to look at what's underneath.
The seals around plumbing vents dry out and split in our heat, and caulk stretches until it cracks. A failed pipe seal is one of the most common first-rain leaks we see. And caulk is not flashing: if caulk is the only thing between the rain and a gap, that's a repair, not maintenance.
A valley catches everything: leaves, needles, dirt and grit. Look from a window. A crowded valley isn't an emergency today, but it's worth having someone look before the rainy season instead of after.
Look at the gutters from the ground and at the splash zones under the downspouts. If they're full of what looks like coarse sand, that's granules coming off the shingles.
Branches over the roof drop leaves and needles into the valleys and gutters. CAL FIRE's advice for the area right around the house is to keep dead plants and debris off the roof and out of the gutters, and to keep branches at least 10 feet from a chimney.
The National Weather Service describes Santa Ana winds as strong, hot, dusty winds that come down toward the coast from the inland deserts. In our experience wind lifts shingles and loosens tile starting at the edges, hips and ridges, and the damage isn't always obvious from the ground. A lot of it shows up the next time it rains.
Caps that are lifting, curling or showing daylight through cracks are visible from the ground. Please don't get on the roof to check.
Look for broken or slipped tile, missing or lifted shingles, and flashing that moved, especially along the edges.
Pieces of tile, shingle tabs or a lot of granules in the yard tell you something came off the roof.
Take photos from the ground and from inside, with the date, before any repair. They're the record of what the wind did.
During the wind, the National Weather Service says to get indoors, and to treat power lines on the ground as live.
The ceiling stain is the last stop on the trip, not the first. Water gets in at one spot, runs along the underlayment or the framing, and shows up somewhere else.
Walk the house during or right after the rain. Look for new stains, bubbling paint and drips, and write down which rooms and which kind of rain: every rain, or only the windy ones.
If you can get there safely, look from the hatch with a flashlight: no daylight, no stains, no soft or sagging spots, no wet insulation. Don't walk the attic if you're not sure where to step.
Paint hides the symptom, not the leak. Photograph the stain with the date first, and have someone trace it to where the water gets in.
Put buckets under the drips, move furniture and belongings out of the way, and protect what you can.
Don't touch electrical equipment if it's wet or if you're standing in water. Turn off the power to the area only if it's safe to do so.
A wet roof is dangerously slick, and no leak is worth a fall. The roof will still be there when it dries out.
Water coming into the house, a large section of roof open, or a tree on the roof is an emergency. Call a roofer. A tarp keeps the water out until a real repair. It isn't the repair.
Once the rains are done, check from the ground that the gutters are attached and the downspouts send the water somewhere useful, away from the house.
From the driveway, look along the edge. Shingles hanging over bare wood, or fascia that's peeling and dark along the top, means the roof edge isn't protected.
Every pipe, vent, skylight and solar mount is a hole in the roof with its own flashing. Note any that look different from last year.
If something was repaired, get the photos of the entry point, before and after, and keep them with what was done and when.
If the upstairs is an oven by late afternoon, the attic may not be breathing. Air needs a way in low, at the eaves, and a way out high. More in our attic ventilation post.
Whirlybirds that don't spin, rusted vents, or no high vents at all are worth having someone look at.
If panels went on and nobody has looked at the roof since, have a licensed roofer check the mounts, the tile around them and the attic below the array. More in our roof and solar planning guide.
Dry weather is when a roof can be opened without racing the rain, so summer is the time to do the work the fall check turned up.
| What you see | What it usually means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Water coming into the house, a large section open, a tree on the roof | An emergency | Call a roofer now. Buckets, and protect your things. |
| A few shingles off after wind, one failed pipe boot, flashing pulled away from a chimney, on a roof that's otherwise sound | A repair | Schedule it before the next rain |
| A few cracked tiles | Usually a tile swap | Have them replaced, and ask what's under them |
| A lot of cracked tile, or tile sliding out of line | Something underneath may be failing | An inspection that looks under the tile |
| A leak that moves after every patch | Often the underlayment is done | Inspection with instruments, confirmed from the attic |
| Granules in the gutters | The shingles are wearing | Not an emergency the first time. Plan an inspection. |
| A crowded valley | A leak waiting for a big storm | Have it cleared and looked at before the rains |
| Solar went on and the roof was never checked | Nobody knows yet | Have the mounts and the tile around them checked |
None of these alone tells you what a roof needs. They tell you it's time for someone to get up there and look.
Every two to three years is a reasonable rhythm for most Inland Empire homes, and every year before the rainy season for older roofs or homes that get more wind. Also after a big wind or rain, before you list a home, and if solar went on and nobody has looked since.
We don't recommend it. CSLB's roofing guide says the best way to preserve your roof is to stay off of it, and no leak is worth a fall. Check from the ground, a window or the attic hatch, and leave the roof itself to a roofer.
Before the rainy season, while the roof is dry and the calendar is open. October is a good month to schedule. After a big wind, don't wait for the rain to show you.
CSLB lists clearing leaves and debris from valleys and gutters as part of roof maintenance, and the same guide says the best way to preserve a roof is to stay off it. Our take: valleys and anything on the roof are a job for someone with the right equipment, and clearing them is part of a GAX tune-up.
Photograph it with the date, write down when it shows up and in which kind of rain, put a bucket under any drip, and don't paint over it. The stain is rarely right under the leak, so have someone trace it to where the water gets in.
They can. In our experience wind lifts shingles and loosens tile starting at the edges, hips and ridges, and the damage often isn't obvious until it rains. After a big wind, look at the ridge line and the tile lines from the ground and check the yard for pieces.
Want a second set of eyes before the rains? We look at it while it's dry, tell you what can wait and what can't, and put it in writing. We do four kinds of roofs: asphalt shingle roofs, tile replacement with new tile, tile lift and relay, and flat roofs, across the Inland Empire.
Next in the library: the Roof and Solar Planning Guide and How to Read a Roof Inspection.
Get a Free Estimate →Pages checked October 6, 2026. The GAX notes describe our own services. Field observations are what we see on Inland Empire roofs, not rules.