Greater London · London and the South East
Flat Roof Survey in West Norwood
Find out what’s going on with the flat roof before you spend money on it. Flat roof surveys in West Norwood.
- Standing water left after rain
- A sagging deck under the covering
- Splits, cracks and crazing
About our flat roof survey in West Norwood
Buying a home with a flat-roofed extension, dormer or garage? It’s useful to know that roof’s condition before you exchange. Felt roofs often last around 15 to 20 years, while EPDM and GRP frequently last longer. Our report records the covering, how it’s holding up and any defects we can see, with photographs of each. You then have something specific to put to the seller or agent. If you are worried about failed upstands where the roof meets a wall and damaged trims at the roof edge, a survey will tell you what’s going on, on GRP fibreglass, felt flat roofs and upstands and outlets alike.
London has a lot of flat roofs: rear additions, dormers, roof terraces and the roofs of blocks and offices. Coverings range from felt and asphalt to EPDM rubber, GRP fibreglass and single-ply membranes, and each fails in its own way. In West Norwood, as anywhere in London, the right approach depends on what the roof is made of. Older flat roofs are frequently felt or asphalt, newer ones rubber or GRP.
Report times depend on the survey you book: the Basic Survey within 48 hours, the Standard Survey in 24 to 48 hours and the Premium Survey on the same day.
- Place
- West Norwood (SE19, SE27, SE21)
- Region
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Honest limits
No survey can tell you everything, and we’d rather be clear about that before you book. Keep these in mind:
- What’s under the membrane without opening it up
- Whether old sheeting or boards contain asbestos
- Structural calculations, which need a structural engineer
If in doubt, ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email and we will point you to the right survey before you book. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
Roof types and parts we check
- EPDM rubber
- GRP fibreglass
- Single-ply membranes
- Felt flat roofs
- Upstands and outlets
- Mastic asphalt
Towns and villages near West Norwood
More services for West Norwood
What we do, step by step
A survey visit follows a simple order: we hear what you’ve seen, look at the roof from every safe viewpoint, photograph what we find and record our findings for the written report. Most visits take about one to two hours for an extension, garage or dormer roof, and around 3–4 hours for a commercial flat roof. Surveys in West Norwood can be booked for any day of the week. It helps if you can point us to a visitor permit or a nearby bay, 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.
- We start with the address and, on larger roofs, the roof area and access.
- Inside, we look for signs of water under the roof where we can reach.
- The roof is inspected from every safe viewpoint, without walking on fragile surfaces.
- We record every defect with a photo and its likely cause.
- You get a report setting out the condition and our recommendations, in order of urgency.
Preparing for the visit
- Unlock side gates and any roof access doors
- Clear the way to the loft hatch
- Gather any invoices or paperwork from past roof work
Getting a price
Photos help, if you have them. Pictures from ground level or a window are fine; never climb up to get a better view. To send them or to book, ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Read more
Can I check my roof myself?
You can learn a lot from ground level. With binoculars, look for slipped or missing slates and tiles, gaps along the ridge and leaning chimneys. Please do not climb up for a closer look.
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Use a torch and stay on the joists or boards, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.
Local flat roofs in West Norwood
Many homes in inner London are Victorian and Edwardian terraces, frequently with Welsh slate roofs. Behind many of their parapets sit butterfly roofs and valley gutters that cannot be seen from the pavement. If your home in West Norwood 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 lots of flat ones, over rear extensions, dormers, garages and shops. With Kingswood House about 0.6 miles east, West Norwood sits in an area with a long building history. On older houses around here, roofs frequently carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material.
Landlords with a home close to West Norwood station may find that flat roofs on let property tend to be checked only when they fail, which is the costly way round. If you look after a shop, office or commercial unit, for example near Centrale Croydon, outlets and upstands on commercial flat roofs are the places to check before trouble starts.
West Norwood is about 5 miles south of London, in Greater London. Bookings from West Norwood are handled just like any other: get in touch, agree the price and pick a day. West Norwood is one of the towns and villages in Greater London we cover.
We survey roofs across the SE19, SE27 and SE21 postcode area for flat roof surveys and the streets around it. If you need a flat roof survey at a property on Crown Lane, Dover Road and Moore Road or a nearby road, we can help. You’ll find West Norwood on the A214 and A215, so it is easy for us to get to. Other places close to West Norwood include Norwood New Town (1 mile south), Gipsy Hill (1 mile south-east), Upper Norwood (1 mile south-east), West Dulwich (1 mile north-east) and Crystal Palace (1 mile south-east). Within a short drive, we also cover London (5 miles north), City of Westminster (7 miles north), Marylebone (7 miles north), Kensington (7 miles north-west), St Pancras (7 miles north) and Shoreditch (7 miles north).
Around West Norwood
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Long Meadow, Norwood School and Hillcrest, among other places. West Norwood’s nearest station is West Norwood station, about 0.5 miles north-west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Centrale Croydon (3.5 miles south) and St Christopher's Hospice (1.6 miles east). The countryside around West Norwood includes Dulwich Upper Wood and Battersea Park Lake.
FAQs for West Norwood
Can parking be tricky for a visit in West Norwood?
It can be, so it helps to tell us about permits, visitor bays or off-street space when booking. That way the visit can be planned around it.
Does a conservation area affect roof work in West Norwood?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you are planning to re-roof in a different material.
Can you test old roof sheets for asbestos?
We don’t carry out asbestos surveys. Buildings built or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos, for example in cement roof sheets. Anything that might contain it is flagged, so a specialist asbestos surveyor can check before work starts.
Is ponding on a flat roof a problem?
Standing water a day or two after rain normally needs attention. The cause may be the outlets, the falls or the deck. The survey looks at each and records the likely cause.
Will you walk on the flat roof?
Where it is safe, the roof is inspected from the roof itself. Otherwise we use windows, vantage points and the spaces below, and we note any area we couldn’t see. Fragile surfaces are never walked on.
Will you fly a drone over my roof?
Yes, where it’s applicable. Flights depend on the weather on the day and airspace rules, and we check for restrictions near airports before flying. We are a CAA-registered drone operator.
Will I get photos?
Yes. Photographs are taken throughout the survey, and the report uses them to show each finding alongside our recommendations.
When to book a survey in West Norwood
Many flat roof problems start at the details rather than the main surface. Upstands, trims, outlets and rooflight kerbs each move and weather in their own way. Where they weren’t finished well, they tend to fail before anything else.
Look out for signs like these:
- Blocked or damaged outlets
- Leaks around rooflights
- Blisters and bubbles in the covering
- Splits, cracks and crazing
If you look after a building such as St Luke's Church of England Primary School, a large flat roof with a good many outlets and rooflights has many places where a membrane can fail.
What to check before booking
- Which limits apply to the survey
- How long the report takes to arrive
- Which viewpoints they use to see the roof
- Their track record with similar roofs
What a survey costs
To price your survey, we check:
- The use of thermal imaging or a drone
- Commercial roofs and larger buildings
- The shape of the roof and its details
- Basic, Standard or Premium
Prices start from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on how big and how high the roof is, access and which survey you book.
What we need to know
We’ll normally ask about:
- Where the property is, with the postcode
- When you need the report by
- What kind of property and roof it is
- Pictures of the roof from a safe spot, if you have them
Once you know what you need, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form. We will suggest a package, agree the price and find a date.
Different roofs, different checks
Rooflights and upstands
Rooflights, lanterns and upstands are where many flat roof leaks begin. We check the seals and the covering around each one.
EPDM rubber
EPDM is a synthetic rubber membrane, often laid in a single sheet on smaller roofs. We check the laps, the edges, the corners and any punctures.