Proving that a tenant’s unauthorized satellite installation caused structural damage is nearly impossible without a high-risk manual roof inspection that creates its own liability for your maintenance team.
ZeroLadder was commissioned by a Des Plaines property manager to audit an unauthorized satellite dish on a three-story brick apartment building. Instead of risking a worker on a tall extension ladder, we deployed an inspection drone to perform a “Mount-to-Deck” forensic scan of the installation site. We hovered inches from the satellite base, capturing 4K macro-detail of the mounting bolts, the absence of waterproof sealant, and the resulting shingle deformation. We specifically documented “shingle bruising” and evidence of water infiltration where the bolts penetrated the roof deck, providing a level of detail and a vantage point that is physically impossible to achieve safely from a ladder.
We delivered high-resolution proof of three structural punctures and cracked shingles directly caused by the improper mounting. This visual evidence allowed the property manager to accurately deduct repair costs from the tenant’s security deposit and schedule a targeted repair before the next Chicago rainstorm caused an interior leak.
