The height of roofs and aspects of them such as flat roofs, dormas can make them challenging to see for a homeowner, seller our purchaser. Given the cost of roofs and roofing repairs it is critical that these aspects are known before purchasing a new property, but often the information isn’t provided.
Buying a New Home
When purchasing a house a survey is always required by the mortgage company and insurance company by a qualified RICs surveyor. The surveyor will check the structural integrity of the premises and other factors. Some surveyors will make a ground-based assessment of the roof and others may use a camera on a pole to make a more informed assessment.
In many cases though little or no information in the form of images is collected to visually assess the roof, as the height makes it prohibitive to do so.
This leaves the purchaser with only a portion of the required information they need to make a purchase decision. Risking the need for high-cost repairs or even a roof replacement that comes as a surprise post-purchase. According to Checkatrade the average cost to replace a 3-bed residential home is in the region of £10,000-£15,000 when factoring in scaffolds, removal of current roof and skips.
A drone condition survey and report on average costs £300, takes around a week (from booking to providing a report and this can be sent to an independent roofer or surveyor to make a more detailed assessment.
Considering Having a New Roof
Roofs tend to last in the region of anywhere between 10-100 years subject to the material used and type. For example:
- Asphalt – average 15-25 years
- Metal – average of 25-40 years
- Concrete – 40-75 years
- Natural Slate – 50-100 years
- Composite – 30-50 years
Whilst the roof materials play a key role, so does the integrity of the roof in terms of how it was built, maintained and so on. To check the integrity of the roof requires a qualified RICs surveyor to investigate.
Most people tend to pay little attention to the roof of their home due to their average long-lives, often an issue occurs such as tiles becoming loose or a leak that triggers the householder to investigate further. Other triggers include guttering or roofing companies offering to ‘have a look’ and clear the gutters or make good repairs of a minor nature.
Whichever way your search for a roofing solution starts you are now at the mercy of whether the person giving the advice is, like many companies, a legitimate honest and good quality professional.
But how do you know if the advice they are giving is valid?
The simple answer is you don’t unless you are a roofing expert yourself or at least able to check the roof to see what the faults and issues are.
So rather than just taking the roofer (or builders) word for it we can help by inspecting the roof with our drones before you agree to a contract for any changes to your property. Within 3-4 days you will receive a report that includes images and video – if required, to give you a clear idea of what state your roof is in.
The report can then be sent to another roofing company to get an independent 3rd party assessment of what works (if any) are required.
This small step can save you literally thousands of pounds by protecting you from less trustworthy roofers. In our other article we explain how a customer was caught out by a rogue roofer, costing them £16,000 when no work was needed.
