The roof is the most expensive thing that can go wrong in the first two years after you close. It is also the part of the house that gets the least scrutiny during a purchase, because the paperwork you are handed does not actually tell you much about it. This is the roof due diligence worth doing while you are still inside your inspection period in Greater Cincinnati: what to ask, who to ask, and what each answer is worth when you sit down to negotiate.
Start with the disclosure form, then set it aside
Ohio sellers complete a Residential Property Disclosure Form. Section C is where the roof shows up, and it asks exactly one thing: “Do you know of any previous or current leaks or other material problems with the roof or rain gutters?”
That is a narrower question than it looks. The form is answered from what the state calls the owner’s actual knowledge, and it says in capital letters that it is “NOT A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND” and “NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANY INSPECTIONS.” A seller who bought the house four years ago, has never been in the attic, and has never had a drip through a ceiling can answer “no” truthfully while sitting under a roof with eight years of life left in it.
So read Section C as a record of what the seller has personally noticed. Everything else you have to go find. The current form is published by the Ohio Department of Commerce if you want to see the wording before you make an offer.
Your home inspector is not a roof inspector
This surprises most buyers. Under the InterNACHI Standards of Practice that a large share of inspectors work to, the roof inspection is performed “from ground level or the eaves.” The inspector is required to look at the covering, the gutters, the downspouts, the flashing, the skylights and the chimney, and to report observed indications of active leaks.
The same standards say the inspector is not required to:
- walk on any roof surface
- predict the service life expectancy of the roof
- perform a water test
- remove snow, ice or debris that blocks the view
- warrant or certify the roof
None of that makes a general inspection worthless. It makes it a different product from what buyers assume they are buying. A home inspection is a “non-invasive, visual examination” of conditions on one day, and the standards are explicit that it is “not a prediction of future conditions” and “will not reveal every issue that exists.”
Two things follow. First, ask your inspector before they start whether they will be on the roof or looking at it from a ladder, and ask for that to be stated in the report. Second, if the answer is from the ladder and the house is a 1920s Hyde Park four-square or a mid-century ranch in Montgomery with a roof nobody can date, bring in a roofer for a dedicated roof assessment during your inspection period. It is a second fee against a five-figure risk.
Six questions to ask before you sign
1. How old is the roof, and who says so?
Ask for documentation, not a number: the original contractor invoice, the manufacturer’s warranty registration, or the insurance claim file if it was a storm replacement. A seller’s recollection that it was done “about ten years ago” is worth very little, and age drives almost everything else on this list.
Buyers often try to confirm the date through permit records. In the City of Cincinnati that will not work. The city’s permit guide exempts “roof coverings (no more than two layers of roofing material),” siding replacement, like-for-like window replacement, and “gutters and downspouts” on one-, two- and three-family detached dwellings. No permit is required, so no record exists, and the absence of one proves nothing about whether the work was done well.
One exception is worth knowing in the older neighborhoods. If the property is designated historic by the City of Cincinnati, a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Urban Conservator is required before the work starts, permit exemption or not. That applies to a locally designated house in Oakley or Hyde Park and will shape what a future roof can look like. Outside the city line, Blue Ash, Montgomery and Newtown are separate municipalities with their own rules, so confirm with the building department that actually has jurisdiction rather than assuming Cincinnati’s exemption travels.
2. How many layers are up there?
Layers matter for money and for financing. FHA will accept a maximum of three layers of existing roofing, and HUD’s guidance is direct: “If more than 2 layers exist and repair is necessary, then all old roofing must be removed as part of the re-roofing.”
A second or third layer also hides the deck. Damage under two layers of shingles is hard to see and tends to surface as a much larger bill once a crew opens the roof up. If you learn there are multiple layers, price the job as a full tear-off, not a re-cover, when you look at what a roof replacement costs in Cincinnati.
3. Will the appraiser sign off on it?
If you are financing with an FHA loan, this one can hold up your closing. HUD’s standard is that “the roof should have a remaining physical life of at least two years,” and where it does not, the appraiser must report the condition and the transaction can be conditioned on further inspection or repair before approval.
Raise it early. A roof that needs work is a solvable problem in week one of a contract and a scramble in week five.
4. Is the manufacturer’s warranty transferable, and by when?
Sellers frequently describe a roof as carrying a lifetime warranty. Ask what that actually means for you, because the terms are specific and the clock starts at closing.
Under the GAF Shingle & Accessory Limited Warranty, for example, the warranty “may be transferred only once,” and “the second owner must notify GAF in writing within one year after the property transfer for warranty coverage to be transferred.” If that transfer happens inside the Smart Choice Protection Period, the second owner gets the same coverage as the original owner. If it happens after, the coverage is “reduced to the two-year period after the ownership changes.” And “Lifetime” is defined as the period the original owner, or a properly transferred second owner, owns the property, on a single-family detached residence.
Practically: get the warranty document and the registration number before closing, and diary the notification deadline. A workmanship warranty is a separate question again, because enhanced system coverage is written through certified contractors rather than attached to the shingles. Our page on how GAF warranty coverage works walks through the tiers if you want the detail before you ask.
5. Has a claim already been paid on this roof?
This question does more work in Cincinnati than almost anywhere else right now. Hamilton County was “repeatedly impacted by severe weather conditions throughout the week of August 11-14,” and the National Weather Service classified the August 11 event as a derecho and confirmed an EF-1 tornado in the county, followed by flooding in the western townships later that week.
A roof can carry paid-but-unrepaired storm damage into a sale. The seller files, the carrier pays actual cash value, the money goes somewhere else, and the shingles stay on the house. Ask directly whether any wind or hail claim has been filed on the roof, and if so, ask for the adjuster’s scope of loss. If damage was found and not repaired, that scope is the most useful document in the transaction, and our guide to storm damage and insurance claims explains how those files are usually written.
6. What will this roof do to your own insurance?
Get a quote on the specific address before your inspection period ends, not after. The Ohio Department of Insurance points buyers at the questions that decide the premium: whether the age, condition or composition of the roof affects the policy cost, whether replacing an older roof makes you eligible for replacement cost coverage, and whether the age of the roof could cause the carrier to decide against renewing.
Two terms to pin down. Replacement cost coverage pays “the full cost to repair or replace the damaged property with new materials of like kind and quality,” while actual cash value pays that cost “less depreciation” — on a fifteen-year-old roof, a large difference. And a wind or hail deductible may be a percentage rather than a flat sum, calculated, as the department puts it, “based on the amount the home is insured for, NOT the amount of damage.” Ask whether cosmetic damage is excluded while you are at it.
Do not skip the water path
Gutters, downspouts and the grade at the foundation are permit-exempt, unglamorous, and the cheapest problem on this page to fix before it becomes an expensive one. Stand at each downspout and follow where the water goes. Undersized or disconnected downspouts on a mature-tree street in Newtown or Blue Ash will back water up under the shingle edge, soak fascia, and end up in a basement. If the gutter system is failing, price it now and fold it into the same negotiation as the roof.
Turning the answers into a number
Once you know the age, the layer count, the claim history and the insurance position, you have a case rather than a worry. Two paths usually work. Take a closing credit and control the work yourself after you own the house, which lets you choose the contractor and the timing. Or have the seller complete the work before closing, in which case get the contractor named, the scope in writing, and the warranty registered in your name.
Timing is worth a thought in late September. A roof going on in the next few weeks is being installed as overnight temperatures fall, and asphalt shingles need sun and warmth to seal down properly. If a seller wants to rush a replacement in before a November closing, a credit that lets you schedule the job in settled weather is often the better trade, especially if you are still deciding between materials or you already know the roof is showing the signs that it needs replacing rather than patching.
If you are under contract on a house in Greater Cincinnati and want a straight answer on what the roof has left in it before your inspection period runs out, call Sterling Exteriors at (513) 685-8055 and we will get someone on the roof, not just next to it.
