Rented a drone for roof inspections, my ladder days are numbered

I dropped $180 to rent a decent drone with a thermal cam for a week to check hail damage on three houses we were bidding. Found two leaks in 20 minutes that would've taken me half a day on a ladder, plus the homeowner watched the screen and stopped questioning my repair estimate. The only downside was the learning curve on the controls, I nearly clipped a gutter on the first try. Has anyone else switched over to aerial surveys for smaller residential jobs, or is the rental cost still too steep for y'all?

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kimw572mo ago

Man, I gotta push back on this one! You rented it for a week at $180, but what happens when you need it for just one quick job next month? That cost adds up fast, and most of us aren't running three bids at once every week. Plus, you said yourself you nearly hit a gutter, so now you're looking at repair bills on top of the rental fee if you're not careful. And let’s be real, the homeowner watching the screen might be impressed now, but they’ll expect that high-tech view every single time, not just when you feel like renting. Ladders are boring and slow, sure, but they’re cheap, dependable, and don’t have a battery that dies halfway through a job.

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