Dry-In

What has to be true.

Three things, all at once. The roof is covered, either with its underlayment fully lapped and fastened or with the finish roofing on. Every window and exterior door opening is filled with its unit, flashed and sealed. The exterior walls carry their weather-resistive barrier, lapped and taped, with penetrations sealed. A house with two of the three is not dry; a single open window bay lets a summer storm onto the subfloor.

Regional names vary: dried in, weathered in, blacked in. They mean the same milestone.

Where the draw inspection fits.

Dry-in is one of the most commonly funded draw stages, because it is easy to see and it marks the end of the exposed phase of construction. The inspector photographs the roof covering from the ground and, where it is safe, from the eave, every elevation with its openings filled, and the wrap on each wall. Partial dry-in, such as underlayment on three roof planes with the fourth open, is reported as partial, and the lender decides what to fund. The Draw Inspection Field Guide lists the stage 4 checkpoints, and What photos are required for a draw inspection? covers the shots.

Why it matters for lenders.

The dry-in draw usually funds framing, roof materials and windows, the largest material lines in a residential budget. Funding it before the house is weathertight pays for materials that can be damaged before the next visit, and a stalled project left open at this stage loses value quickly. Supervisory guidance for construction lending expects disbursements to follow verified progress, and dry-in is the stage where verified is most literal: the water either gets in or it does not.

How RAZE handles it.

A RAZE dry-in inspection returns the photos tied to the roofing, window and exterior wall line items, with GPS and time metadata, so the lender sees the weathertight condition rather than taking it from the request.