Take the pictures from the ground, from a window, or from a step you would use on an ordinary dry day. If the surface is wet, icy, or still dropping hail, stay down. Roof Repair Kamloops can match you with a local roofer. It does not file claims, it does not read your policy, and it does not know your deductible.
What a claim photo is for
The Insurance Bureau of Canada page on how to file a claim tells people to record the details of the event, make a list of damaged items, and take photos and notes, then to call their insurance representative and read the policy. That is the insurer's process. The shots below are the set a Kamloops household can gather so a local roofer, and an adjuster if you choose to call one, are looking at the same marks.
Before you step outside, write four lines in your phone: the date and time, the neighbourhood, whether you heard hail, wind, or only saw a stain, and whether water is still coming in. Storms here are often local. A cell can mark Aberdeen and leave the North Shore untouched. The valley station is context, not a map of your street.
The shot list, from the ground
Work in this order. Two distances of the same mark beat one blurry crop.
The whole house
From the street or the lane, include the roof slope and enough of the lot that the house is recognizable later.
Each slope you can see
Get the eave and the ridge in one frame, then a closer frame from the same spot. Use an upstairs window for a hidden face. Do not lean out.
Eaves, gutters, and downspouts
Annual precipitation at the Kamloops station is 272.9 mm, so debris sits. June's normal rainfall is 38.6 mm, often the day a clog stains a wall. Photograph the corner and the stain.
Pieces already on the ground
Tabs, ridge cap, or a vent hood. Photograph them where they landed, then set them aside. Do not climb for a piece still on the roof.
Flashings you can see without going up
Chimney edges, a skylight curb, a lower roof against a wall, a pipe boot. If you cannot see it, say so.
Metal that shows impact
Gutters, downspouts, a roof vent, a metal cap. Hail often marks metal. Slow sun wear does not dent a downspout in one afternoon.
Interior water
Photograph the ceiling and the bucket, with a coin or tape for scale, plus the room from the door. If the ceiling is bulging, take one photo and get out.
One sharp repeat
Wipe the lens and retake the worst mark. A short sharp set beats a long dark one.
Name the slope when you send the photos
Put the neighbourhood and the date on the album. If you text the pictures to (236) 836-0303, name the slope: street side, back yard, shaded side, or the grassland side. On Sahali, Aberdeen, Pineview Valley, Juniper Ridge, and Mount Dufferin, take the shaded face when the light is on it, still from the ground. On Brocklehurst, the North Shore, Westsyde, Valleyview, and Dallas, photograph the sun side and the eave. On Batchelor Heights, include lifted edges and the gutter. Pinantan Lake is outside the city, so do not assume a City snow figure applies. The Pinantan Lake page says why.
Hail, heat, and wind in this valley
July's daily maximum at the Kamloops station averages 29.3°C in the 1991 to 2020 normals, with 35.9 days a year above 30°C and an extreme of 40.4°C. Hail marks are often round and sudden, including on metal. Heat aging is a slow loss of granules. Say what you heard. If you do not know, say so. The citywide page is hail damage roof repair.
Wind in the normals reaches about 1.4 days a year at or above 63 km/h, with an extreme gust of 98 km/h. Photograph a lifted edge or a limb from the ground. If a tree is in the house and the structure is moving, call 911.
Snow and ice photos follow the same ground rule. Building Regulation Bylaw No. 11-84 sets design ground snow loads of 2.4 kPa and 1.8 kPa by where the house sits relative to the Trans-Canada, Mount Dufferin, Valleyview, and Dallas. A photo of the eave and of snow piled against a wall is useful. A photo is not a calculation. The bylaw figure is a design pressure, not the depth in the picture. Do not climb to measure it. The split is drawn on emergency roof repair.
What not to do
- Do not stand on the roof for a closer picture.
- Do not fly a drone over a neighbour's yard for this checklist.
- Do not start a repair, a tear-off, or a power wash before the set is saved.
- Do not throw away fallen pieces until a roofer or your insurer has seen them.
- Do not label every missing granule as hail.
- Do not send pictures of people, children, or unrelated documents.
After the photos are saved
If water is in the room right now, use the Roof Emergency Checklist and call. If the leak is a single path and the storm has passed, roof leak repair is the next page. If you are buying a house or checking after fire season and nothing is dripping, an inspection is the better fit. The contact form is the slower option when water is not active.
Lead with the neighbourhood and whether the leak is active. Photos help the roofer. They are not a quote and not an insurer's approval.
Straight answers
Can I climb or use a drone for a closer photo?
Stay on the ground or use a window. A wet or icy roof is not a camera position. This checklist does not ask you to fly a drone over neighbouring yards.
Do photos replace a roofer looking at the roof?
No. Photos are a record. The roofer still has to see the roof before anyone can talk about scope. A photo is not a quote.
What does the Insurance Bureau of Canada say about photos?
Its page on how to file a claim says to record the details of the event, make a list of damaged items, and take photos and notes, then call your insurance representative and read the policy.
Should I throw away shingles that blew into the yard?
Not before a roofer or your insurer has seen them. Photograph them where they landed, then set them aside. Leave pieces that are still on the roof where they are.