Essex · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Birch
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat around Birch, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Weekday and weekend visits available.
- Flashings that have lifted or split
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
- Roof slopes that look uneven or sagging
Pre-purchase roof survey in Birch
Buying a flat brings its own roof questions. Depending on the lease, roof repairs may fall to the building owner or a management company. We look at as much of the roof as access safely allows, and the report helps you ask your solicitor or the managing agent the right questions. If the building has a flat roof, we check that too where access allows. We survey natural slate, chimney stacks and flat-roofed extensions and dormers, and common reasons people get in touch are gaps where slates or tiles have come loose and sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes.
Some older homes in villages like Birch are listed or sit in a conservation area. That can affect what materials a new roof may use, so check with the council and Historic England’s list. Whether you’re buying or signing off new roofing, it’s worth knowing where you stand. England has around 10,000 conservation areas and about 500,000 listed buildings.
Nothing in the report is left vague: where something needs attention, it says so plainly, along with how urgent it is.
- Where
- Birch (CO2)
- Region
- Essex
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Leave it or get it looked at?
A slow leak can go unnoticed for months. Damp can spread into timbers and ceilings before anyone sees a mark. Spotting it before you buy means you know about it from day one. Matching old materials, such as handmade tiles or stone slates, can take time to source. Spotting a problem early leaves room to find them.
Our price is from £150, including VAT. Basic starts from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, VAT included, and we will tell you which fits.
Why book us in Birch
- Surveys seven days a week
- Independent findings on the roof’s condition
- 5,000+ roofs surveyed
- Drones and thermal imaging where applicable
Should I look at the roof myself first?
Look up at the roof after a storm, from ground level: broken slates or tiles in the garden, gaps along the ridge or loose lead are signs to note. Do not go up yourself.
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Water spilling over the edge can be a sign of a blockage or a gutter that has dropped.
Before and after the survey
A survey works best with a little help from you, before and after. Tips:
- Arrange the survey as soon as your offer is agreed
- Ask for any paperwork for recent roof work
- Ask for loft access on the day
- Ask when the roof was last worked on
With Standard, you get a follow-up consultation, and the Premium Survey includes an in-person consultation. If anything in the report isn’t clear, ask us.
Chimneys and flashings need watching. Watch for gaps in the pointing, cracked flaunching and loose lead. A pair of binoculars from the garden shows a lot.
What we do, step by step
After the inspection, everything we found is written up as a written report with photos, emailed to you. As for time on site, it normally takes about one to two hours at a typical home, and longer for a large or complex roof. Older rural homes like those around Birch can have a main roof, lower lean-to roofs and outbuildings all joined together. Each part is looked at from wherever it can safely be seen, and anything we cannot see is noted.
- You choose a Basic, Standard or Premium Survey to suit the home you are buying.
- We agree a visit, including weekends if that helps.
- We inspect and photograph every part of the roof we can safely see.
- Moisture detection, structural checks, thermal imaging or a drone are added where your package includes them.
- You receive the report, with findings prioritised by urgency, so you can raise them with the seller.
Preparing for the visit
- Tell us about parking before the day
- Check pets are kept safely away
- Have any paperwork from past roof work to hand
Booking a survey
Every survey is priced before it is booked, so you know the cost up front. Our price is from £150, including VAT. For a price for your roof, ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Read more
Different roofs, different checks
Clay and concrete tiles
Many post-war houses have concrete interlocking tiles. They’re heavy and hard-wearing, but they weather and can crack, and low-pitched roofs need their laps to be right.
Natural slate
Slate is common on Victorian and Edwardian houses. We check for slipped, cracked and missing slates, plus the metal clips that show earlier patching.
Birch: your questions answered
Will you come out to Birch?
Yes, we do. We work right across London and the South East, from towns to the smallest villages. The journey is planned ahead, so it’s useful to know about access.
Do you carry out roof surveys in Birch?
Yes, Birch is one of the places we work. The survey and report are the same in Birch as anywhere else, and visits run on weekdays and weekends.
Can you survey in bad weather?
A survey can usually go ahead in light rain. Heavy rain or strong wind can ground a drone and make the roof unsafe, so if conditions are not right we will arrange another day with you.
Do you need to go inside the property?
If it can be arranged, yes. Inside, the loft shows leaks, damp timbers and the underlay. If access isn’t possible, we note it in the report.
Can I take the findings back to the seller?
Yes, you can. You’ll have photos and a written description of each defect, so you can raise them with the seller or their agent. How the seller responds is up to them.
Do you go up on the roof?
When conditions and the roof make it safe, yes. We also inspect from ground level, upper windows and the loft space.
Is this an asbestos survey?
No. We do not sample or test for asbestos. The report may flag materials that could contain asbestos on buildings built or refurbished before 2000.
What this survey cannot tell you
Before booking, it’s worth knowing what a survey will not do:
- Defects hidden under coverings or inside walls without opening up
- Walls, floors, services and rooms below the roof
- Asbestos testing of any kind
If you’re not sure which survey you need, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will give you a straight answer before you book. What a survey covers and does not.
What we check
- Clay and concrete tiles
- The roof space
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Gutters and downpipes
- Chimney stacks
- Natural slate
- Lead flashings and valleys
Towns and villages near Birch
Other services in Birch
Birch homes and their roofs
About 1.7 miles south-west lies Layer Marney Tower, a reminder of how long the area around Birch has been built on. Older roofs in the wider area can hide decades of patch repairs, so the detail matters, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. If your survey includes the drone, the flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first.
If you let a flat or house near Marks Tey station, a written report helps before buying a rental or paying for a new roof on one. The streets around a church such as Church of St Peter and St Paul are often among the oldest in a place, and if your house is among the older ones nearby, older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
Birch is about 5 miles south-west of Colchester, in Essex. Wherever you are in Birch, we can come and survey your property, on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday. Across Essex, we cover Birch. Chelmsford is in our area too.
Postcode districts we cover here for pre-purchase roof surveys: CO2. We also cover Birch Green (1 mile south), Layer Breton (1 mile south), Heckfordbridge (1 mile north), Layer-de-la-Haye (2 miles east) and Copford Green (2 miles north-west). Larger places within reach include Colchester (5 miles north-east), Braintree (11 miles west), Clacton-on-Sea (14 miles east), Maldon (10 miles south-west), Witham (8 miles west) and Camulodunum (4 miles north-east).
Around Birch
We work in homes and buildings around Hare And Hounds Public House. For rail, the closest station is Marks Tey station, roughly 3 miles north-west of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Birch Castle (within half a mile south-east) and Anchor Press Museum (3.5 miles south-west). The countryside around Birch includes Roman River Valley.