Kestrel’s method for turning a close-up capture of a roof into a measurement is protected by two patent-pending processes. You don’t need to know how they work to use them. What matters is the result: a measurement of the roof as it stands today, that shows how the roof is built, and that carries from the estimate all the way to the work order.
What does “patent pending” actually mean?
It means a patent application has been filed and is being examined, but hasn’t been granted yet. That’s the accurate word for where we are, so it’s the word we use. You won’t see us call Kestrel “patented” until it is. When that day comes, you’ll read about it here first.
Why won’t we tell you how the processes work?
Because they’re the part of Kestrel that took the longest to get right, and while the applications are pending, the details stay private. Every contractor reading this understands that. You don’t hand your best estimator’s spreadsheet to the shop across the street.
What we will do is show you what they produce, on a real roof, as many times as you like.
What do the two processes do for you?
Together they answer the questions a roof measurement should answer and usually doesn’t.
Is this the roof that’s actually there?
Kestrel starts from drone photos your team takes a few stories over the roof, on the day you’re there. Not an archive photo shot from an airplane months ago, before the addition went up or the tree grew in. The measurement is of the roof as it stands today.
Does it know how the roof is built?
Most reports give you lines and squares. An estimate needs more: every facet and its pitch, the ridge, hip, valley, eave and rake runs, the step and headwall flashing lines, the vents, pipe jacks and other penetrations. That’s what comes out of a Kestrel measurement, laid out on a labeled diagram with a schedule for every plane.
It goes past what’s on the roof today, too. Where step flashing meets a roof-to-wall connection, the report calls out the kickout diverter code calls for, even if the old roof never had one. Ridge vent, chimneys, exhaust vents: if it belongs on the estimate, it’s on the report.
Does it carry through to the order?
The same measurement that prices the job at the table, good, better or best, generates the material order and the work order once the homeowner signs. Nobody retypes a square.
One thing Kestrel isn’t: a damage report. Kestrel measures the roof and shows how it’s built. It doesn’t judge condition or structure, and it isn’t a code inspection. That still takes someone with their feet on the roof.
Why does the method matter if the output is a number?
Because every number in your business sits downstream of that one. The estimate, the material order, the install crew’s day, the margin you keep. When the measurement is a guess, everyone after it pads it a little, and the padding ends up in a dumpster. When the measurement is something you trust, the whole chain gets tighter. That’s what we mean by from wow to work order.
What should you ask any measurement provider?
- How high was the camera? A few stories up, or thousands of feet?
- How old is the picture? Today, or whenever the plane last flew?
- Does it carry through? From the estimate to the material order, or does somebody retype it?
- Does it know how the roof is built? Flashing lines and penetrations, or just squares?
We built Kestrel so we’d like our own answers to all four.
Where can you see it?
At RCAT 2026 in Grapevine, Texas, October 21–23, booths 510 and 512. Or book a demo and we’ll walk a real roof with you.