Check the Roof Surface From the Ground
Start outside, with your feet on the ground and a pair of binoculars if you have them. You're looking for a handful of specific things, in roughly the order they tend to show up.
Shingles are the first thing to scan for. Look for any that are missing outright, cracked, or curling up at the edges — curling is often an early sign of age or heat damage rather than storm damage, and it's worth noting even if nothing looks dramatic yet. While you're at it, check the ground near your downspouts and the bottom of your gutters for a buildup of granules, the small gritty pieces that coat asphalt shingles. A few granules are normal wear. A noticeable pile suggests your shingles are losing their protective layer faster than they should.
Next, look closely at the flashing — the metal strips sealing the joints around your chimney, roof vents, and any skylights. Flashing failure is one of the most commonly cited causes of roof leaks, and it's easy to miss from the ground because the damage is often small: a lifted edge, a rust spot, a hairline crack where caulking has dried out. If you can see daylight or a gap at any of these transition points, that's worth flagging for a closer look.
Finally, step back across the street and look at your roofline as a whole. Any sagging, dipping, or unevenness along the ridge or the plane of the roof is not a DIY item — it can point to structural issues with the decking or framing underneath, and it needs a professional set of eyes right away rather than a wait-and-see approach. If you spot storm-related damage anywhere in this walk-through, Journeyman Exteriors' roofing services cover leak diagnostics and storm damage repair in addition to full roof replacements, so there's a clear next step rather than an open-ended question.
What to do with it: a few loose granules or one small curling shingle can usually wait for routine maintenance. Multiple problem areas, visible flashing gaps, or any sign of a sagging roofline means it's time to schedule a professional roof inspection before the rain starts in earnest.
Check the Attic for Hidden Trouble
This is the step most homeowners skip, and it's often the most revealing one. Grab a flashlight, head up into the attic on a dry day, and give yourself a few minutes to look around before you decide everything is fine.
The first thing to check is whether you can see any daylight coming through the roof deck. Even a pinprick of light means there's a gap somewhere in the roofing material above you — and if light can get in, water eventually will too. Next, scan the rafters, the underside of the decking, and the insulation for water stains, dark streaking, or discoloration. These marks don't always mean an active leak; sometimes they're evidence of a past problem that was never fully addressed. Either way, they're worth noting and monitoring.
Insulation itself tells a story. If it looks compressed, matted down, or has an unusual color compared to the rest of the attic, that's often a sign that moisture has been sitting there. Wet or compressed insulation loses much of its effectiveness, which compounds the problem by making the space above it colder and more prone to condensation.
While you're up there, pay attention to how the attic feels overall. A properly ventilated attic should stay close to the outdoor temperature in the winter months. If it feels noticeably warm, that's a sign heat is escaping from your living space into the attic — and that matters more than it might seem. A warm attic can melt snow or frost sitting on the roof from underneath, and the resulting runoff can refreeze at the colder eaves, forming ice dams that back water up under your shingles. It's a pattern that shows up during the freeze-thaw stretches Vancouver and Camas occasionally see in the coldest part of winter, and it's driven almost entirely by attic heat loss rather than the storm itself.
What to do with it: a slightly warm attic with no visible staining is worth watching and mentioning at your next roof or insulation service. Daylight through the decking, active water stains, or wet insulation are signs to have a professional look at your attic and roof system before winter storms arrive, since these problems tend to get more expensive the longer they sit.
Clear the Gutters and Check the Surroundings
Gutters do unglamorous work — they're the reason water goes where it's supposed to instead of pooling against your foundation or running behind your siding. Before the wet season sets in, they deserve a real look, not just a glance.
Walk the perimeter and check for sagging sections, visible clogs, or standing debris in the gutter troughs. Overflow staining on the fascia board just below the gutter line is a telltale sign that water has been spilling over the edge instead of draining through the downspout, usually because something upstream is blocked. Follow each downspout down to where it discharges and confirm the water is being carried a few feet away from your foundation rather than dumping right next to it — a downspout that empties at the base of your house is one of the more common, and most fixable, causes of basement and crawlspace moisture problems.
Look up while you're out there, too. Overhanging branches within a few feet of the roofline drop leaves and needles straight into your gutters all season, and they also give squirrels and other critters an easy path onto your roof. If it's safe to do so, trimming those branches back before winter cuts down on debris buildup considerably.
Moss and algae are worth a mention here as well, since they're such a common sight on Pacific Northwest roofs. The persistent shade and moisture found in this climate create ideal conditions for moss to take hold, particularly on north-facing slopes and roofs under tree cover, and left unchecked it can lift shingles and trap moisture against the roofing material. A thin layer of green in a shaded corner isn't an emergency, but larger patches spreading across the roof are a sign it's time to have it addressed before the rainy months.
Clogged gutters heading into the wet season are one of the most common causes of water backing up under the edge of your roofing and finding its way into your fascia or attic — a problem that's straightforward to prevent and considerably more involved to repair once it's happened. Journeyman Exteriors' gutter services cover both routine gutter replacement and repair if this walk-through turns up more than a quick cleaning can fix.
What to do with it: light moss, a few leaves, or minor overflow staining can typically wait for a scheduled cleaning. Sagging gutter sections, downspouts draining next to the foundation, or heavy moss coverage are worth scheduling a repair for before the heaviest rain arrives.
What to Do With What You Find
Walking through all three areas gives you a much clearer picture than a single glance up at the roofline ever could. If your checklist turned up one or two minor items — a bit of granule loss, light moss in a shaded spot, a little overflow staining — those are generally fine to handle as part of routine seasonal maintenance rather than an emergency call.
But if you found multiple issues across different areas, or anything at all in the attic — daylight through the decking, water stains, or wet insulation — that combination is worth a professional look before the winter storms really settle in. Small problems compound quickly once the rain becomes a daily fact of life rather than an occasional afternoon shower.
Homeowners in Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, and the greater Portland metro who spot any of these warning signs can schedule a free consultation with Journeyman Exteriors to get a full roof inspection and a straightforward read on what, if anything, needs to happen before the wet season takes hold.
