Greater London · London and the South East
Flat roof survey in Chinatown, Greater London
Surveys of flat roofs on homes, extensions and commercial buildings for Chinatown and the rest of Greater London. We survey on any day of the week.
- Water getting in at rooflights
- Blocked or damaged outlets
- Raised blisters across the surface
How the survey works
After the inspection, everything we found is written up in a report with photos, emailed to you. On timing, it usually takes roughly 1–2 hours at a typical home, or half a day or so for a commercial building. In Chinatown, visits are available on weekdays and at weekends. London parking is often by permit or pay-and-display, so it’s useful to know what’s near you, and to clear a path to the loft hatch. A back bedroom window can be the best vantage point for a rear addition, so we may ask to use one.
- First you give us the address, what the roof covers and any leaks you’ve noticed.
- We check the roof from wherever it can be seen safely.
- Every part of the roof we can see is checked: covering, falls, upstands, outlets, trims and rooflights.
- We check the rooms or spaces under the roof for staining where we can reach them.
- You get a written report with photos and our recommendations.
Before we arrive
- Keep pets in another room
- If you’re buying, let the agent know when we are coming
- Have any paperwork from past roof work to hand
Booking a survey
Every survey is priced before it is booked, so you know where you stand. Prices start from £150, including VAT. To book, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
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Flat roof survey in Chinatown: what you get
If the house you are buying has a flat roof on an extension, dormer or garage, it’s worth knowing its condition before exchange. Many felt roofs need renewing after around 15 to 20 years, and EPDM and GRP frequently go on for longer. Our report records the covering, how it’s holding up and any defects we can see, with photographs of each. That gives you facts to raise with the seller or agent. Common reasons to book are leaks around rooflights and standing water left after rain, across single-ply membranes, felt flat roofs and mastic asphalt.
On a London roof terrace or a flat roof over a back addition, water frequently runs under the covering before it shows. Upstands against parapets, outlets and the edge where flat meets pitched are common entry points. In a converted house in Chinatown, the roof above may belong to the building rather than one flat.
How fast the report arrives depends on the package: the Basic Survey within 48 hours, the Standard Survey in 24 to 48 hours and the Premium Survey on the same day.
- Place
- Chinatown (W1F, W1D, W1T)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- When we survey
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What a survey costs
A few things affect what a survey costs:
- Height and safe access
- House, block, shop or office
- How many separate roofs there are, such as extensions, dormers and garages
- The use of thermal imaging or a drone
Thermal imaging and drone inspection (where it applies) come with the Premium Survey, which starts from £400, inc. VAT. We can help you choose the package that fits what you’d like to know.
Booking your survey
Here’s what helps us most when you contact us:
- What kind of property and roof it is
- Whether there is a loft hatch, a shared roof or tricky access
- Why you want a survey: buying, a leak, a storm or new work
- Where any leaks, stains or damp patches show inside
Our phone lines are open seven days a week. For a price or to book, ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Also near Chinatown
Other services in Chinatown
FAQs for Chinatown
Is my home in Chinatown listed or in a conservation area?
We can’t confirm that for you, but Historic England’s list and your council can. Both listing and conservation areas can limit changes of roofing material, and councils can also use Article 4 directions.
Is parking a problem for a survey in Chinatown?
In much of London, parking needs planning: a visitor permit or a bay close to the door helps a lot, so mention what’s available as you book.
What does ponding on a flat roof mean?
Ponding is worth looking into. It often means a blocked outlet, poor falls or a dipping deck, and it wears the covering faster. We record where it sits and the likely cause.
When does the report arrive?
The Premium Survey report comes the same day, the Standard within 24–48 hours and the Basic within 48 hours. Each one is emailed, ready to forward.
How long is the visit?
It usually takes about 1–2 hours for an extension, garage or dormer roof, and around 3–4 hours for a commercial flat roof. The written report follows by email.
Can you survey a flat roof on an office or unit?
Yes. We survey flat roofs on offices, shops, industrial units and blocks of flats. Larger commercial roofs are quoted for their size and access, so please phone 07833 053749 or send us an email with the details.
Is a flat roof survey the same as a building survey?
No. Our survey covers the flat roof only. It’s not a RICS Level 2 or 3 home survey or a structural engineer’s report. Many buyers use it alongside a building survey.
For landlords and managing agents
If you own several properties, you can book surveys for several addresses. To arrange surveys for several addresses, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
For a freeholder or residents’ company, a roof report is a sound basis for a maintenance plan, putting the urgent items at the top.
Why act early in Chinatown
Caught early, a split or open seam in a flat roof is often a small repair. Leave it, and water can get into the insulation and deck, which can turn a patch into a replacement. A survey now shows which you are dealing with. London’s older roofs often have bitumen felt underlay or none at all, so a slipped slate can soon mean water inside. Left alone, that means wet timbers and plaster, which is a far bigger job than the roof fault itself.
Every price we give includes VAT, and the report isn’t charged as an extra. Flat roof survey starts from £150, including VAT. Size, height and access decide where your roof falls.
What you get with us
- More than 20 years surveying roofs
- Weekday and weekend surveys
- An independent look at the roof
- A photo-illustrated written report
See our cost guide and two real surveys.
Practical tips
A little preparation and a few simple habits help. Our tips:
- Check the outlets after the leaves fall
- Check from a window for ponding after heavy rain
- Watch the ceilings below the flat roof for stains
- Limit foot traffic on the covering
The report is emailed to you, ready to share with a roofer, the seller or a managing agent. It is written in plain English, with a photograph of each defect, so anyone reading it can see what we saw.
Keep outlets, gutters and hoppers clear, especially after the leaves fall. Water that can drain away does far less harm than water that sits.
Flat and commercial roofs around Chinatown
Within a mile and a half or so of Chinatown there are several hotels, and hotels, like offices and blocks of flats, often have flat roofs. For hotels and other commercial buildings, finding the cause of a flat roof leak quickly keeps rooms in use. Close to the centre of London, a great many houses are Victorian or Edwardian terraces, many of them roofed in Welsh slate. Many have butterfly roofs draining to a central valley gutter, with parapet walls and gutters hidden behind them. If your home in Chinatown is one of them, lead flashings, party-wall upstands and shared chimney stacks are part of the picture too. Mixed in with those pitched roofs are a good many flat ones, over rear extensions, dormers, garages and shops.
Benjamin Franklin House, about 0.4 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Chinatown. Older homes nearby may have later flat-roofed extensions or dormers, often re-covered more than once. Shop and office owners around Kingly Court may find that outlets and upstands on commercial flat roofs are the places to check before trouble starts. Landlords with a home close to Tottenham Court Road station may find that flat roofs on let property tend to be checked only when they fail, which is the costly way round.
Chinatown is about 1 mile east of City of Westminster, in Greater London. Surveys in Chinatown work the same way as everywhere we cover: a careful inspection, photographs and a written report. Chinatown is one of the towns and villages in Greater London we cover for flat roof surveys.
Postcode districts we cover here for flat roof surveys: W1F, W1D and W1T. If you need a flat roof survey at a property on Duck Lane, Drury Lane and Bruton Lane or anywhere close by, we can survey it. Chinatown is on the A4 and A301, so it’s easy for us to get to. We also cover the places around Chinatown: Soho (1 mile north), St James's (1 mile south), West End (1 mile north-east), Seven Dials (1 mile north-east) and St Giles (1 mile north-east). We also work in nearby towns like Kensington (3 miles west), Shoreditch (3 miles north-east), Walthamstow (7 miles north-east), Hoxton (3 miles north-east), Whitechapel (3 miles east) and Hampstead (4 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Chinatown
Typical jobs here are in homes near LITE Regal International School, London Library and Waxy O'Connor's pub, among other places. Also close by are St Anne's Churchyard (within half a mile north-west) and Harris Westminster Sixth Form (0.8 miles south). Chinatown has its own railway station: Tottenham Court Road station. Other landmarks nearby include Leverian collection (less than half a mile south-east) and Montfichet's Tower (1.3 miles east). For a walk, there’s Barnsbury Wood and St. James's Park Lake.
What we look for on each type of roof
Felt and built-up roofs
Built-up felt is one of the most common flat roof coverings on extensions, garages and dormers. We look for blistering, cracking, split laps and worn mineral surfacing.
Mastic asphalt
Mastic asphalt is a heavy, seamless covering often found on older blocks, balconies and commercial roofs. The survey checks for crazing, cracking, blistering and splits where the asphalt turns up the walls.