Roof Inspections
What Does a Roof Inspection Involve?
A proper roof inspection is far more than a glance from the pavement. We assess the covering, the ridge and hip bedding, the valleys and flashings, the state of the fixings where accessible, the roofline and guttering, and — crucially — the roof space from inside where we can see the sarking">underfelt, the timbers and any signs of water ingress that never show from outside.
Where a roof is too steep, too high or too fragile to walk safely, we use a drone survey to capture high-resolution imagery of every slope, valley and stack without putting anyone at risk or disturbing the covering. This is particularly useful on the tall Victorian terraces and on any roof where the covering itself is suspect.
You receive a written report setting out the condition, the issues found, their urgency, and indicative costs to put them right. It is a document you can act on, share with an insurer, or use in a purchase negotiation — not a verbal "it needs doing." And because we credit the inspection fee against any repair work you subsequently book, the survey effectively costs nothing if you go ahead with the work.
What a Roof Survey Looks For on Ipswich Properties
An inspection is only as good as the surveyor's knowledge of the local stock. What we look for changes completely depending on which Ipswich property type we are surveying — a generic checklist misses the things that actually fail on these roofs.
Post-war concrete-tile estates — nail sickness
On the 1960s and 70s roofs across Chantry, Whitehouse, Gainsborough, Whitton and Kesgrave, the single most important thing we assess is the state of the fixing nails. Nail sickness — the corrosion of the mild-steel nails holding the tiles — is invisible from the ground and often invisible from the tile surface too. We check for the tell-tale slippage pattern and, from inside the roof, the state of the nails and underfelt. This is the finding that most often changes a homebuyer's decision.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces — slate and valleys
On the terraces off Norwich Road, around Fonnereau Road and through the California area, we look for slate delamination and nail fatigue in the original Welsh slate, the condition of the valley gutters shared between properties, and the lead flashings around the party-wall parapets. These roofs hide their problems in the valleys and at the party walls — exactly where a pavement glance cannot see.
1930s semis — felt failure and hip lines
The inter-war semis in Rushmere St Andrew and around Cauldwell Hall Road are now at the age where the original bitumen sarking felt has become brittle and stopped doing its job as a secondary barrier. We assess the felt from inside, the condition of the hip and ridge bedding, and the state of the clay or early concrete tiles. Felt failure is the finding that most often tips a 1930s roof toward re-covering.
The pre-purchase inspection
For anyone buying in Ipswich, a pre-exchange roof inspection is some of the best money you can spend. A homebuyer's survey typically notes the roof only in general terms; a dedicated roof report tells you exactly what you are taking on and what it will cost. On the estate stock in particular, knowing whether that roof has two years or twenty left in it can be worth thousands at the negotiating table.
A dedicated roof condition survey provides evidence that a standard homebuyer's Level 2 survey does not, as RICS guidance notes that roof coverings are typically inspected only from ground level or roof-space access without specialist assessment.RICS Home Survey Standard
