Surrey · London and the South East
Pre-purchase roof survey in Caterham, Surrey
Find out what’s going on with the roof before you decide what to do next. Pre-purchase roof surveys in Caterham, with photographs and a clear written report.
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
- Gaps where slates or tiles have come loose
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
What we do, step by step
Safety comes first on every visit. We inspect what can be seen safely, and anything we cannot see is noted in the report. Most visits take an hour or two at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. A typical visit in Caterham begins with the street side of the roof and then moves round the building. The back garden is often where extensions, dormers and rear slopes are best seen. The loft comes next, where there’s safe access.
- You choose a Basic, Standard or Premium Survey to suit the home you are buying.
- A date is booked on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday.
- We inspect and photograph every part of the roof we can safely see.
- Standard and Premium surveys add the extra checks they include.
- We send the report with recommendations ranked by urgency, ready for you to discuss with the seller or agent.
Before we arrive
- Leave side gates unlocked
- Have any questions written down, so nothing gets missed
- Dig out any old roof reports or invoices
How to book
Surveys can be booked for weekdays, Saturdays or Sundays. To arrange a day that suits you, phone 07833 053749 or send us an email.
Advice
Pre-purchase roof survey in Caterham: what you get
Some roofs can’t be seen well from ground level or from windows. Our Premium Survey includes thermal imaging and, where it applies, a drone inspection, and the report arrives the same day. Where a flight is not possible, because of airspace rules or the weather, we tell you and look from ground level, windows and the loft instead. If you’re worried about worn or lifted lead flashings and damp timbers or stains in the loft, a survey will tell you what’s going on, whatever the roof.
Caterham is the kind of town where older houses and newer estates sit side by side. Older houses often have slate or clay tiles on timbers that have done decades of work, while many later ones have concrete interlocking tiles. Whether you’re buying or have just had a new roof, the checks depend on which you have. Many older roofs also have felt underlay or none at all, which matters as much as the tiles.
The report doesn’t just list problems. It explains what we found, why it matters and what we recommend, so you can decide what to do next.
- Place
- Caterham (CR3)
- Region
- Surrey
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Survey days
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Your questions about pre-purchase roof surveys in Caterham
What do I need to do before a survey in Caterham?
Mostly, it is about access: the loft hatch, any locked gates and where to park in Caterham. Let us know about known leaks or past repairs as well.
How do I find out if my home in Caterham is listed?
Historic England’s list shows listed buildings, and the local council can tell you about conservation areas. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
Do you cover Caterham?
Yes. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Caterham, and the service is the same as everywhere else we work.
Which days do you carry out surveys?
We survey on any day from Monday to Sunday, during the day, which suits people who work during the week. Just say which days work for you.
Is a roof survey worth having alongside a home survey?
That depends on how much you want to know about the roof. A home survey may recommend further investigation of the roof, and that’s where a roof survey helps. It isn’t a replacement for a RICS survey.
How long does the survey visit take?
Allow an hour or two at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. We’ll confirm what to expect when we arrange the visit.
Can you inspect my roof with a drone?
Yes, where it’s applicable. Whether we can fly on the day depends on the weather and the airspace rules, and we check for restrictions near airports before flying. We are a CAA-registered drone operator.
Tips from our surveys
Here are a few things we’d tell any owner, before and after a survey:
- Ask the agent to make sure the loft hatch can be opened
- Find out whether the roof has been replaced or patched
- Let us know your exchange date when you book
- Book once your offer is accepted
The Standard Survey includes a follow-up consultation to talk the findings through, while Premium includes a consultation in person. If anything in the report isn’t clear, ask us.
Keep the loft ventilated. Poor ventilation lets condensation build up, wetting timbers and insulation. Keep insulation clear of eaves vents so air can move.
Checking the roof from the ground
You can learn a lot from the ground. Binoculars help you spot slipped slates or tiles, gaps along the ridge and a leaning stack. Never climb onto the roof to look.
Inside, the loft is a good place to look, with care. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, and look for staining, damp timber or daylight coming through.
Places near Caterham
More services for Caterham
Why it is worth a survey now in Caterham
A mortgage valuation is not a roof survey. It looks at whether the property is suitable security for the loan, not at the condition of each slate and flashing. Our survey is done for you, and the report is written for you to use. On a house in a town like Caterham, wet loft insulation stops working and can stay damp for a long time. That’s an extra cost on top of the roof work itself.
Prices start from £150, including VAT, for a Basic Survey. The Standard Survey starts from £250 and the Premium Survey from £400, both with VAT included. You’ll know the exact price before booking.
Why book with us
- A sub-250g drone, flown with a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Every finding written up with photos
- Surveys on any day of the week
- 5,000+ surveys completed
Landlords, agents and block managers in Caterham
We also survey roofs for businesses and commercial landlords, from shops and offices to industrial units. Larger roofs take longer, so they’re priced to suit.
Freeholders and residents’ companies use a roof report to plan and budget, with the most urgent items set out first.
Local roofs and buyers in Caterham
Titsey Place, about 4.7 miles east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Caterham. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first. Many older homes in Surrey have handmade clay tiles and tile-hung upper walls. A few of Surrey’s oldest buildings have heavy Horsham stone slab roofs. The covering on a house you are buying, or on a roof just finished, tells us where to look hardest.
For landlords with property near Caterham station, it’s worth knowing a roof’s condition before you buy it, or before you sign off new roofing work on it. Take an older house close to Sacred Heart Church: the roof may have had decades of patch repairs, and the survey shows where they are.
Caterham is about 11 miles south-west of Orpington, in Surrey. Caterham gets the same service as everywhere else we work: a careful inspection, photos and a written report. Caterham is one of the towns and villages in Surrey we cover for pre-purchase roof surveys. Crawley is in our area too.
We cover every part of CR3 for pre-purchase roof surveys. Local streets include High Street, London Road and Park Road. Caterham is on the B2030 and B2031, so it is easy for us to get to. Nearby, we also carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Woldingham Garden Village (2 miles east), Tyler's Green (2 miles south-east), Woldingham (3 miles east), Godstone (3 miles south) and Church Town (3 miles south-east). We also work in nearby towns like Epsom (8 miles north-west), Horley (8 miles south-west), Redhill (5 miles south-west), Ewell (8 miles north-west), Reigate (6 miles south-west) and Walton-on-Thames (15 miles north-west).
Near you in Caterham
In Caterham, that means homes and buildings near Sunnydown School, The King And Queen Public House and de Stafford School, among other places. The nearest railway station is Caterham station, about 0.7 miles south-east. Well-known places in the area include Bletchingley Castle (3.4 miles south) and East Surrey Museum (0.6 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include South London Downs National Nature Reserve and Mercers Lake.
What a pre-purchase roof survey doesn’t cover
Before booking, it’s worth knowing what a survey won’t do:
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
- Structural calculations (that is a structural engineer’s job)
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can ring 07833 053749 or email us and we’ll tell you before you book. What our survey covers.
What we check
- Chimney stacks
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Gutters and downpipes
- The roof space
- Natural slate
- Lead flashings and valleys