Hertfordshire · London and the South East
Buntingford Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat around Buntingford, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Book a weekday or weekend visit.
- A ridge or slope that dips
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
- Loose pots and cracked flaunching
How a pre-purchase roof survey works in Buntingford
If you’re buying a flat, the roof may well be shared. The lease decides who looks after the roof, and that is frequently not the individual flat owner. 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’re often asked to look into gutters choked with leaves and moss and sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes, on natural slate, chimney stacks and lead flashings and valleys.
In a smaller place like Buntingford, homes are mostly houses and bungalows, from older cottages to more recent builds. Older roofs may still have their original slates or clay tiles, with fixings and underlay that have done a long stint. For a purchase or a newly replaced roof, what’s under the coverings matters as much as what’s on top. Older roofs often have bitumen felt under the coverings, as breathable membranes only arrived in the late 1990s.
The written findings come by email, easy to pass on to a roofer, an agent or an insurer. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24–48 hours for Standard and same day for Premium.
- Location
- Buntingford (SG9)
- Wider area
- Hertfordshire
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
DIY checks: what’s safe
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.
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Photograph them and note the date, which helps when we look at the roof.
What we do, step by step
Photographs are taken throughout the visit, so the report shows exactly what we saw. Close-ups come from the safest viewpoint available. A typical visit takes roughly 1–2 hours at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. A visit to a smaller place like Buntingford is no different on the day: outside, inside and from any safe vantage point, in that order. Point out any stains, cracks or loose pieces you’ve spotted.
- We help you pick the package that suits the property.
- We agree a visit, including weekends if that helps.
- The coverings, ridges, valleys, flashings, chimneys and gutters are inspected and photographed.
- Standard and Premium surveys add the extra checks they include.
- You receive the report, with findings prioritised by urgency, so you can raise them with the seller.
Before the survey
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
- Check pets are kept safely away
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
Booking a survey
Unsure which package suits your roof? The easiest way is to ring 07833 053749 or send us an email and describe the roof and why you want it surveyed. We’ll talk you through the options and what they cost.
Read more
Common questions in Buntingford
Do you cover smaller places like Buntingford?
Yes, Buntingford is covered. We work right across London and the South East, and smaller places are part of that. The journey is planned ahead, so it’s useful to know about access.
Do you carry out roof surveys in Buntingford?
We do. Every survey there gets the same written report with photographs, and visits run on weekdays and weekends.
How long does a pre-purchase roof survey take?
The visit typically takes roughly 1–2 hours at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. We will give you an idea of timing as you book.
When will the report arrive?
It depends on the package: within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium. Let us know your timetable when booking.
What’s the best way to book?
Simply ring 07833 053749 or email us. After a few questions, we confirm the price and fix a day.
Does someone need to be in?
Someone needs to let us in if we are looking inside or in the loft. We’ll talk about access as you book.
Should I get a roof survey as well as a RICS home survey?
It depends on the roof and how confident you want to be. Home surveys sometimes suggest a closer look at the roof, and that’s where a roof survey helps. It doesn’t stand in for a RICS survey.
What a pre-purchase roof survey looks like in Buntingford
Across the South East, older homes tend to have slate or clay tiles, and many later ones concrete tiles. Whether you’re buying or checking new roofing work, knowing the materials helps make sense of what the inspection finds. If your survey includes the drone, we check the Drone Safety Map for restrictions before flying.
Take an older house close to Church of St Peter: older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
Buntingford is in Hertfordshire. Bookings from Buntingford are handled just like any other: a call or an email, a price, then a date. Buntingford is one of the towns and villages in Hertfordshire where we work. Chelmsford is in our area too.
Pre-purchase roof surveys in SG9 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Whether your property is on Market Hill, Station Road and High Street or a nearby road, we can help. With the B1038 close by, Buntingford is easy for us to reach for pre-purchase roof surveys. We also cover the places around Buntingford: Layston (1 mile north-east), Aspenden (1 mile south), Westmill (1 mile south), Wyddial (1 mile north-east) and Chipping (2 miles north-west). Larger places within reach include Stevenage (7 miles west), Bishop's Stortford (9 miles south-east), Welwyn Garden City (13 miles south-west), Hitchin (11 miles west), Hoddesdon (13 miles south) and Hertford (11 miles south).
Near you in Buntingford
In Buntingford, that means homes and buildings near Freman College and The Jolly Sailors pub, among other places. A little further out are Anstey Hales Farm (3.7 miles north-east). Not far away are Hawkins Wood.
Common roof problems in Buntingford
Buildings put up or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos. It’s frequently found in cement sheets, soffits and flue pipes. We do not test for it or carry out asbestos surveys, but our report flags materials that could contain it so a specialist asbestos surveyor can check before anything is disturbed.
We’re frequently asked to look at:
- Loose pots and cracked flaunching
- Quick fixes on flashings and valleys
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
Around Buntingford, as everywhere, small roof faults are simplest to sort before they let water in.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Which limits apply to the survey
- What experience they bring
- What happens after the report arrives
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
What else we do in Buntingford
For landlords and managing agents
For a freeholder or residents’ company, a roof report is a sound basis for a maintenance plan.
Shared roofs need a little more planning: we need access agreed with the building owner or managing agent. Let us know about it when booking and we will plan the survey around it.
What we cannot see
Without opening up the roof, some things stay hidden, and that sets some limits:
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
- Confirmation of asbestos in cement sheets or soffits
- Defects hidden under coverings or inside walls without opening up
If in doubt, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will recommend the right survey. The full list of what we check.
What we check
- Lead flashings and valleys
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Gutters and downpipes
- Natural slate
- Chimney stacks
- The roof space
- Clay and concrete tiles
What happens if roof problems are left?
A seller may honestly not know the state of the roof. Their answers on the property forms only cover what they know about. An independent look tells you how the roof is now, whatever anyone remembers. Blocked gutters on homes around Buntingford overflow and soak walls, especially where trees overhang. It is easy to sort the cause early and slow to dry a damp wall.
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 with us
- Clear package prices, inc. VAT
- Surveys seven days a week
- Professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- Thermal imaging and drone inspection where they help