Why Use Drones For Roof Inspections?
Drone roof inspection is one of which is a growing number of commercial drones that can be used for a variety of purposes. The drones carry an excellent payload of high-definition digital cameras and video hardware to work with drone roof inspection software for homeowners or building contractors to regularly inspect their roofs and identify early warning signs of any type of deterioration.
What Is The Drone Roof Inspection Jobs?
- Aging and wear-and-tear of roof coverings
- Stains due to moisture retention
- Loose or missing shingles, tiles, etc.
- Bent or curled edges of metal panel roofing
- Holes made by burrowing pests, such as squirrels
- Deterioration of wooden roof soffits and fascia
- Punctures due to falling objects like tree limbs
- Malfunctioning gutter systems
What To Look For In A Roof Inspection Drone
Battery Life/Flight Time: You need a fully charged drone that can fly for at least 25 minutes and a spare battery or two at hand.
Camera Quality: You'll need at least an HD camera drone that shoots in 4k, so you can zoom in on the image to see details.
Flight Stability: You need a high-quality flight control system, strong wind resistance and obstacle avoidance.
Gimbal: The integrated gimbal is a feature, and most drones with cameras have a three-axis gimbal to keep the picture stable for shooting.
GPS System: You need a drone with a well integrated GPS, waypoint mission capability, and RTH capability.
Thermal Imaging: Drones equipped with the thermal camera option will also scan deeper structures of the house, creating more images.
Registration: Commercial drones must comply with FAA drone regulations, and drone weight matters.
New Technology for Drone Roof Inspection: Drone Thermal Imaging
Drone thermal imaging is a new technology with potential for roof inspection and maintenance. Drones equipped with infrared thermal imaging cameras can capture and display the heat distribution of target objects in real time during flight, thereby identifying potential problems and defects, such as water leakage, poor insulation, etc.
Drone thermal imaging technology fully improves inspection efficiency, reduces safety risks, saves costs during roof inspection, and provides an efficient, safe and accurate solution for roof maintenance.
The Best Commercial Drones for Roof Inspections
In drone missions for roof inspections, inspectors get fast and comprehensive inspections, full safety, real-time monitoring and data recording, high-resolution images, and cost-efficiency. This is inseparable from high-resolution camera drones and powerful thermal imaging drones. Here, we will recommend the following 2024 best roof inspection drones.
#1 Parrot Anafi Thermal
One of the first commercial drones to feature dual cameras, the Parrot Anafi Thermal Drone features a 21MP 1/2.4" RGB sensor that records 4k video and has a 69° FOV. Equipped with a FLIR Lepton 3.5 sensor, the thermal imaging camera can accurately detect temperatures between -10° and +400°.
The camera has an accuracy rating of ±5°C and supports 3 color palettes for better visual data in different environmental conditions.
Parrot Anafi Thermal Drone for sale: $7,000 USD (B&H Photo Shop)
#2 Autel EVO 2 Dual 640T Enterprise V3
$5,299USD Shop Now
This is an excellent corporate drone that is perfect for different types of building inspections. It has a dual camera consisting of an RGB camera with a 1/1.28-inch sensor capable of capturing 50MP high-resolution images and recording 8k video. The thermal imager can record 640×512 video at 30fps, and the temperature measurement accuracy is ±3°C.
The drone has a maximum flight time of 38 minutes and comes with a controller that has an integrated LCD screen for FPV and displays photo/video data. The Autel EVO 2 Dual 640T drone features intelligent flight modes, including waypoint and image tracking.
Autel EVO 2 Dual 640T Enterprise V3 for sale: $6,999 USD (Amazon Shop)
#3 DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced
DJI's most advanced Mavic drone features a 1/2-inch RGB sensor that captures 48MP images, records 4k video and has 32x digital zoom. The thermal imager can record 640×512 video, the frame rate is 30Hz, and the temperature measurement accuracy is ±2°C.
The drone is also equipped with an omnidirectional obstacle avoidance system, a 30-minute flight time and an intelligent flight mode called waypoints, which will allow operators to plan automatic flight paths for easier inspection tasks.
DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced for sale: $6,899 USD (Amazon Shop)
#4 DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0
The DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 captures 4k 20-megapixel images by a 1-inch CMOS sensor, 5-way obstacle sensing, and is capable of performing pre-programmed automatic inspections and mapping flights.
Manually controlled drones take close-up shots of roof defects.
Not equipped with any thermal imager, the flight time is 30 minutes, and it can support a large number of professional third-party software platforms to produce detailed and high-quality panoramic maps.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 for sale: $1,949 USD (Amazon Shop)
#5 Autel EVO 2 Pro V3
Autel Robotics EVO II Pro V3 Camera Drone
$2099.00 USD
Wonderful and high-quality drone is again from Autel, the Autel EVO 2 Pro V3 drone supports 6k/30fps video recording, 4x lossless zoom magnification, has adjustable aperture f/2.8-f/11, 1 inch CMOS sensor, shoots up to 20mp photos.
Autel EVO 2 Pro V3 supports 360° obstacle sensing, can perform waypoint tasks and return-to-home functions, and works with professional roof inspection software to create a 3D computer model of the customer's roof. It is a powerful member of the patrol mapping drone.
Autel EVO 2 Pro V3 for sale: $2,500 USD (Amazon Shop)
Drones Are A Good Supporting Tool For Roof Inspection Reports?
Get a roof drone for more roof inspections, roof reports and measurements.
Obviously, the practical application of enterprise drones in roofing and construction is very powerful. Not only that, they can also be used in the entire process of house construction, supervising house construction, aerial photography of houses, real estate photography, etc.
Rooftop drone inspections benefit from powerful camera performance. High-resolution visible light cameras and thermal imaging functions not only help drone roof surveys, but can also be used for fire rescue and emergency tasks, preparing for more professional fields.
Security: No need to contact directly, reducing potential danger and safety risks.
Cost benefits: greatly reduce manpower and time costs without building and demolishing ladder or scaffolding equipment.
Efficiency:Drone can quickly cover a large area of roofs quickly in a short time and provide instant feedback.
Comprehensiveness: drones can shoot roofs on different angles and heights many times to provide comprehensive information.
Environmental friendly: Using drones for roof inspection will not produce additional noise or emissions, nor will it affect the surrounding environment.
Do roofing companies use drones?
Drone roof inspections are a popular and effective way to inspect commercial and residential roofs. For these roof inspection companies, using drones for roof inspections and maintenance, damaged home insurance claim assessments is the best way.
By using advanced drone technology, roofing companies can inspect large roofs that are difficult and dangerous to inspect using traditional methods. High-resolution images and videos are taken to provide fast and safe drone inspections of roofs, which are more efficient and accurate.
Roofing companies also arrange for roofing professionals to thoroughly analyze images and videos to identify potential problems such as leaks, damage, cracks, and brittleness.
Laws and Regulations for Drones in Roofing Business
We already know the importance of drones for professional roofer inspections. Using drones, inspectors can quickly check all parts of a house and repeatedly check suspicious areas.
As a roofer, using drones for roof inspections is obviously a business activity, which requires you to have a remote pilot certificate license, you also need to register your drone over 250g, and comply with all regulations regarding drone flights.
