Medway · London and the South East
Chatham Electronic Leak Detection
Know where you stand with the flat roof membrane before you spend money on it. Electronic leak detection in Chatham.
- Leaks showing away from the breach
- New roofs to check before paving or planting
- Patched roofs that still leak
When to book a survey in Chatham
Holes in a membrane frequently come from feet, tools or debris. Some are too small to see but water still finds them.
Common reasons to book include:
- Holes left by work on the roof
- Failed seams and laps
- Breaches around outlets and penetrations
- New membranes needing a check before handover
Take a building like Wayfield Primary School: large flat roofs, common on schools and other public buildings, need their outlets, upstands and coverings checked regularly.
Before booking any roof surveyor
- Whether you can ask questions once you have the report
- Which viewpoints they use to see the roof
- Whether they hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- If they fly a drone, whether they hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
Electronic leak detection in Chatham: what you get
ELD is a way of pinpointing breaches in a flat roof’s waterproofing membrane. It works with an electrical current that passes through the membrane only where there’s a breach. That lets us locate holes that are too small to see so your roofer knows exactly where to repair. You get a report with photographs of each breach found. If you’re worried about punctures from foot traffic or tools and failed seams and laps, a survey will tell you what’s going on, whatever the roof.
Business premises in a place the size of Chatham often sit under big flat or low-pitched roofs. On a large roof, a leak can be hard to trace by eye. Where the build-up allows, electronic leak detection can help pinpoint holes in the membrane. Membranes normally fail at outlets, upstands and laps, so those get a close look.
After the visit, you get a report with photographs, emailed to you. It explains the condition of the flat roof membrane, the defects we found and what we recommend.
- Location
- Chatham (ME5, ME4, ME7, ME1)
- Wider area
- Medway
- Price
- Quoted for your roof
- Your report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- When we survey
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Other services in Chatham
Rented homes, blocks and businesses
An agent can book and manage the survey for a landlord, and the report can go to both. Access is agreed with the tenant beforehand.
For blocks of flats, a roof survey helps managing agents and residents’ management companies plan ahead. Recommendations are set out by urgency where it matters, which helps when budgeting.
What affects the price in Chatham
Prices vary from roof to roof, for these reasons:
- How big the roof is
- How complicated the roof is, with its valleys, chimneys and parapets
- If the survey needs thermal imaging or a drone
- Extra roofs, like extensions, dormers or garages
Bigger, taller and commercial roofs take more time to survey, so the price reflects that. The price is confirmed before you book.
Booking your survey
These details help when you get in touch:
- Pictures of the roof from a safe spot, if you have them
- Whether there is a loft hatch, a shared roof or tricky access
- Your postcode, so we can check access and travel
- The style of property, from a terrace to a block
Our phone lines are open seven days a week. To book or ask a question, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
How the survey works
Every roof is different; as a rough guide, the survey takes a length of time set by the size of the roof and how it’s built, and we’ll give you a guide when quoting. You are welcome to ask questions while we are there. Where a building in Chatham has a manager or access rules, those are sorted out before the day. For homes, clear the way to the loft hatch and let us know about any leaks you know of. The written report follows, with photographs.
- First, we confirm which roof areas are included.
- We get the roof ready for testing.
- We work across the roof with the test equipment.
- We mark the breach locations in our records.
- The report is sent for your roofer to act on.
Before we arrive
- Keep pets inside or away from the areas we are looking at
- If you’re buying, check with the agent that we can get in
- Tell us where we can park nearby
Booking a survey
Surveys can be booked for weekdays, Saturdays or Sundays. To arrange a day that suits you, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email.
Read more
Tips from our surveys
A few practical points come up again and again on our surveys. They apply to most roofs:
- Have roof specifications to hand
- Act on new leaks promptly
- Note where leaks show inside and when
- Use boards when working on the roof
You receive a report showing where each breach was found, with photos. Your roofer uses it to carry out repairs.
Limit foot traffic on flat roofs. Feet and dropped tools are a common cause of holes.
What electronic leak detection looks like in Chatham
Chatham is within about 4 miles of the coast, where sea air brings more salt and stronger wind than inland. Salt in the air is hard on metal flashings and fixings, and wind catches any loose edge on a flat roof. Many older homes in Kent have handmade clay tiles, including Kent peg tiles held by pegs through two holes, and tile-hanging on their upper walls. You will also find oast houses and timber-framed Wealden hall houses among the county’s older buildings. Flat roofs on extensions, dormers, garages and business units are found alongside them almost everywhere.
For landlords with property near Chatham station, a flat roof over a rented flat is easy to forget until the tenant reports a leak. For an older house near a landmark such as Christ the King, the joins between later flat roofs and the old walls are where problems usually start.
Chatham is about 29 miles east of London, in Medway. We provide electronic leak detection for homes and businesses in Chatham. Our Medway coverage includes Chatham and the places around it. There’s also a page for Maidstone.
Postcode districts we cover here for electronic leak detection: ME5, ME4, ME7 and ME1. Whether your property is on Luton High Street, Market Place and High Street or a nearby road, we can help. Chatham sits on or near the A2 and A229. We also cover the places around Chatham: Luton (1 mile north), Hale (1 mile north-east), Darland (1 mile east), Capstone (1 mile east) and Walderslade (1 mile south). We also work in nearby towns such as Rochester (3 miles north-west), Rainham (3 miles east), Strood (3 miles north-west), Park Wood (3 miles east), Twydall (3 miles north-east) and Hoo St Werburgh (5 miles north). As one of the bigger places in Medway, Chatham has every kind of building, from houses and flats to offices.
Local landmarks in Chatham
In Chatham, that means homes and buildings near The Huntsman pub, Walderslade Girls' School and Darland Banks and the streets around them. The closest station to Chatham is Chatham station, roughly 1.7 miles north. Well-known places in the area include Six Poor Travellers House (2.5 miles north-west) and Rochester Castle (2.6 miles north-west). Not far away are Blue Bell Hill and Burham Down.
What you can safely check yourself
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Take a photo and write down when you saw it.
Inside, the loft is a good place to look, with care. Use a torch and stay on the joists or boards, and look for staining, damp timber or daylight coming through.
Chatham questions
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Chatham?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it’s in a conservation area. Listed building consent is needed for changes that affect a listed building’s special interest, and conservation areas can limit changes of roofing material.
Is the coastal weather around Chatham hard on roofs?
It can do. Within about 4 miles of the sea, as Chatham is, metal fixings wear faster and gales find any loose ridge or slate.
Can every flat roof be tested?
Not every roof is suitable. Some membranes conduct electricity and some roofs lack the layer the test needs. We’ll tell you if yours is not suitable before testing.
Will you repair the leak?
No. We test the membrane and report. You get the breach locations with photos so your roofer can fix them.
How long will testing take?
It usually takes longer on a large roof than a small one, and the build-up of the roof makes a difference too.
Is this an asbestos survey?
No. We can flag materials that might contain asbestos, but confirming it is a job for a specialist asbestos surveyor. Buildings built or refurbished before 2000 may contain it.
When does the report arrive?
Each package has its own report time. Basic: within 48 hours. Standard: 24 to 48 hours. Premium: the same day. If you have a deadline, such as an exchange date, let us know when booking.