Roof Surveys Explained: What a Good Inspection Covers

Before buying a house is the obvious one. A homebuyer report will often flag the roof as needing further investigation and then stop, which leaves you guessing at a five figure unknown during a purchase.

After a storm is the second. Wind damage is often invisible from the ground: a lifted ridge, a slipped tile at the back, a torn flashing. Finding it in November is much cheaper than finding it in February.

And on a schedule. Any roof over twenty years old benefits from an inspection every three to five years, particularly on the coast where salt and wind accelerate everything.

A surveyor should look at the covering as a whole: slipped, cracked or missing tiles and slates, delamination on old slate, and surface erosion on concrete tiles that have lost their coating.

Then the details, which is where roofs actually fail. Ridge and hip bedding, verge condition, valley linings, flashings to chimneys, walls and dormers, and the state of any lead. Most leaks start at a junction rather than in the middle of a slope.

Finally the roofline and drainage: fascia and soffit condition, gutter falls and blockages, and where water is actually going when it comes off the roof.

You learn more in ten minutes in a loft than in an hour on a ladder. Daylight through the covering, water staining on rafters, black mould on the underside of the underlay, and sagging or torn membrane all tell a clear story.

Timber is the important part. Soft rafter ends, damaged purlins and historic woodworm need to be found before you spend money on a new covering that then has to come off again.

Ventilation shows up here too. A loft with condensation dripping off the underlay in winter is not leaking, it is suffocating, and the fix is vents rather than tiles. Getting that diagnosis right saves thousands.

It should tell you the condition of the roof, the specific defects found with photographs, whether each defect is urgent, soon, or monitor, and a realistic remaining life for the covering.

It should give you options rather than one number. Repair now and revisit in five years, or replace now. Both are legitimate answers depending on your plans for the house.

It should be in writing. A verbal 'it needs doing love' with a price on the back of a card is not a survey.

Watch for a price that is only valid today. No genuine roofing quote expires in an afternoon. Watch for photographs of damage that could have come from any roof, and ask to see the picture on the phone with your house visible in it.

Watch for scare language about immediate collapse. Roofs deteriorate slowly. Genuinely dangerous roofs exist but they are rare, and a real one gets made safe rather than upsold.

And watch for finance pushed before the problem is explained. Finance is a useful tool but it comes after the diagnosis, not instead of it.

We look at the roof externally, get in the loft where there is access, photograph anything you cannot see, and explain what we found in plain terms. If the roof has ten years left in it, we say so and quote for repairs.

If it genuinely needs replacing we give you a written fixed price with the specification set out line by line, so you can compare it fairly against anyone else.

It is free, there is no obligation, and it takes about forty five minutes on a typical house across Sunderland, Newcastle, South Shields and the surrounding area.