Inspections
Find out what is actually wrong first
An inspection ends with a written report and photographs of everything you cannot see from the ground. It is useful whether or not you have any work done, and it is the only sensible starting point for comparing quotations.
What gets looked at
- The covering
- Slipped, broken, delaminated or missing units, and how much of the roof is affected rather than just where.
- Fixings and battens
- Evidence of nail sickness, and the condition of the battens where they can be seen.
- Underlay
- Whether it is present at all — many older roofs have none — and whether it has perished.
- Lead and junctions
- Flashings, valleys, abutments and the chimney details, which is where most leaks begin.
- The chimney
- Pointing, flaunching, pots and caps, and whether the stack is plumb.
- Rainwater goods
- Gutters, downpipes, fascias and soffits, and any staining on the wall below them.
- Loft space
- Daylight, wet timber, staining on the underlay, insulation and ventilation.
- Flat roof areas
- Falls, ponding, upstands, outlets and the junction with any pitched roof above.
- Structure
- Anything visibly out of line — a dipping ridge, a spreading roof, a leaning stack — flagged for someone qualified to assess it.
What you get
- A written report describing what was found, in plain language.
- Photographs of each finding, so you can see what is being described rather than take it on trust.
- A severity for each item: needs doing now, needs doing soon, or worth knowing about.
- Where relevant, an itemised quotation you can accept in part or in full.
The report is yours. If you take it to another roofer for a second price, that is a reasonable thing to do and we would rather you did that than felt committed.
An inspection is not a structural survey
It reports on the roof covering, its details and what can be seen of the structure. It is not a homebuyer survey and it is not a structural engineer’s report. Where something needs one of those, the report says so.
Inspection questions
Do I have to be there?
For the external inspection, no, provided we can get access. For the loft, yes — someone needs to let us in. The report and photographs arrive either way.
Is there any obligation to use you for the work?
None. The report is written to be useful on its own, and it is deliberately specific enough to get a comparable price from someone else.
How long does it take?
Typically an hour to ninety minutes on site for a house, depending on access and on how much there is to look at. The written report follows afterwards.
Not sure what your roof needs?
An inspection ends with a written report and photographs, whether or not you go ahead with the work.
Inspection fee: £99.00.