Essex · London and the South East
Gilston Flat Roof Survey
Surveys of flat roofs on homes, extensions and commercial buildings for Gilston and the rest of Essex. Surveys run on any day of the week.
- Raised blisters across the surface
- Edge trims that have lifted or split
- Failed upstands where the roof meets a wall
Can I check my roof myself?
It helps to keep a record: when leaks happen, ground-level photos and any past roof work. Send it with your enquiry.
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Overflowing water can point to a blockage or a sagging run.
How a flat roof survey works in Gilston
Each flat roof is looked at from the safest viewpoints we have: on the roof where it’s safe, from windows and higher ground, and from the rooms below where we can reach them. Fragile rooflights and fragile sheets are never walked on. If part of the roof can’t be seen or reached safely, the report says so, so the limits of the survey are clear. We survey mastic asphalt, GRP fibreglass and EPDM rubber, and the problems we’re asked to look at most are damaged trims at the roof edge and raised blisters across the surface.
Flat roofs on exposed homes in small places like Gilston take more wind and rain, so edges, upstands and laps take a beating. Older felt roofs, frequently around 15–20 years in life, show it first. EPDM rubber and GRP coverings last longer, but their edges and joints still need checking. On an exposed roof, the edges tend to go first.
Most points in the report come with a picture, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. If something couldn’t be seen safely, the report is clear about it.
- Location
- Gilston (CM20)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- When we survey
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Places near Gilston
More services for Gilston
How we price flat roof surveys
Several things affect the price of a survey:
- Basic, Standard or Premium
- The type of building, from a house to a block or an office
- The shape of the roof and its details
- Whether thermal imaging or a drone is needed
A Basic Survey starts from £150, with VAT included. The Standard Survey starts from £250 and the Premium Survey from £400. We confirm the price for your roof before booking.
Getting in touch
When you call or email, these details help:
- Anything about access we should know
- The property’s address and postcode
- What kind of property and roof it is
- The reason for the survey, such as buying, a leak or storm damage
If you are buying, it helps to book soon after your offer is accepted, so there is time to use the report before exchange. Otherwise, simply ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email whenever suits you.
Gilston: your questions answered
How do I find out if my home in Gilston is listed?
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.
Should a flat-roofed garage or porch in Gilston be checked too?
Normally, yes: tell us about it when booking so the visit can include it. Flat-roofed garages and porches are common in new towns like Harlow, and older felt coverings may be near the end of their life.
Is it a structural engineer’s report?
No. We note visible signs such as sagging or deflection, but we do not carry out calculations or give an engineer’s opinion. If we think you need an engineer, the report says so.
Do you work in Gilston?
Yes. Our area covers London and South East England, and that includes Gilston.
Does the report include photos?
Yes. We photograph the roof as we go, and they go into the written report.
Do you look in the loft space?
Usually, if there is one and it can be reached safely. The roof space can show things the outside can’t, such as damp timbers, staining or daylight.
Does someone need to be in?
It depends on what we need to see. For inside areas and the loft space, someone has to give us access.
What we look for on each type of roof
Single-ply membranes
On single-ply roofs, the welds between sheets are the key detail. Seams, corners and the details around outlets and upstands get a proper look.
Mastic asphalt
Without seams, asphalt tends to fail through cracking and at its skirtings. Our report notes crazing, cracks and any likely entry points.
For landlords and managing agents
Landlords, agents and building managers in Gilston and across Essex can book any of our surveys. For a price for a let property or a block, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Roof problems in a rented home affect tenants as well as the building. A survey helps you spot issues early and plan the work around your tenants.
How the survey works
Once we have finished looking, we write up our findings in a report with photographs, sent to you by email. On timing, most surveys take about one to two hours for a small flat roof at home, and longer for a large commercial one. Somewhere like Gilston needs a little journey planning: let us know about lanes, gates and parking. On the day, we inspect what can safely be seen, inside and out.
- You let us know about the roof, its covering if you know it, and any leaks.
- We view the roof from ground level, from windows and from the roof where it’s safe to do so.
- We check and photograph the covering, the falls, the upstands, the outlets, the trims and any rooflights.
- Inside, we look for damp and staining under the roof where there’s access.
- The findings are written up with photographs and recommendations and emailed to you.
Getting ready for the survey
- Show us where any leaks or stains appear
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
- Leave side gates unlocked
Booking a survey
To arrange a survey, call 07833 053749 or email us and tell us the address and what’s prompted the survey. We’ll confirm the price before booking.
Read more
Local flat roofs in Gilston
Weatherboarded walls and clay tile roofs are typical of older Essex buildings, while many towns grew with post-war and newer estates. Flat roofs fill the gaps in between, on extensions, garages, dormers and business premises. Gilston is part of Harlow, one of the post-war new towns. Many homes in the new towns date from the post-war decades, with concrete interlocking tiles, low-pitched roofs and flat-roofed garages and porches. Flat-roofed garages, porches and extensions from that era may have been re-covered more than once, or not at all.
For site and facilities teams at buildings such as St Alban's Catholic Academy, a large flat roof with a good many outlets and rooflights has many places where a membrane can fail. With Much Hadham Palace about 4.8 miles north, the area around Gilston has a long history. Older homes nearby may have later flat-roofed extensions or dormers, frequently re-covered more than once. The streets around a church such as Parish Church of St Mary are frequently among the oldest in a place, and if your house is among the older ones nearby, the flat roofs on later extensions tend to wear out long before the main roof.
Gilston is about 2 miles north-west of Harlow, in Essex. Gilston gets the same service as everywhere else we work: a careful inspection, photos and a written report. Our Essex coverage includes Gilston and the places around it. You can also see our page for Chelmsford.
We work across the CM20 postcode area for flat roof surveys and the streets around it. If you need a flat roof survey at a property on Pye Corner and Eastwick Road or anywhere close by, we can survey it. Neighbouring places we cover for flat roof surveys include Eastwick (1 mile south-west), Little Parndon (1 mile south-west), Great Parndon (2 miles south), Staple Tye (3 miles south) and Roydon (3 miles south-west). Within a short drive, we also cover Brentwood (14 miles south-east), Loughton (10 miles south), Waltham Abbey (8 miles south-west), Great Dunmow (13 miles north-east), Epping (6 miles south) and Stansted Mountfitchet (9 miles north-east).
Around Gilston
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to The Plume Of Feathers pub, Burnt Mill Academy and Harlow Marsh. For rail, the closest station is Harlow Town station, about 0.6 miles south. Well-known places in the area include Mark Hall Cycle Museum (1.3 miles south-east) and Harlow Mill (1.2 miles east). The countryside around Gilston includes Hunsdon Mead.
Tips from our surveys
Getting the most from a flat roof survey starts before we arrive and carries on afterwards. Some tips:
- Ask contractors to protect the roof if they work on it
- File the paperwork for the roof and any repairs
- Have the roof looked at again after a severe storm
- Check new fixings through the roof are properly sealed
The report is emailed to you, ready to share with a roofer, the seller or a managing agent. Each defect is described in plain words and shown in a photo, so anyone reading it can see what we saw.
Book a survey every few years, and again after new fixings, units or rooflights go in. That catches changes early and builds up a record of the roof.