Kent · London and the South East
East Malling Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat in East Malling, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Get in touch for a price.
- Sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes
- Blistered or split felt on a flat roof
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
Pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in East Malling
A full home survey looks at the whole property, and the roof is only one part of it. Our survey isn’t a RICS survey, and it doesn’t replace one. It adds a focused look at the roof on its own, with photographs of what we find and written recommendations. The two sit side by side. We survey flat-roofed extensions and dormers, natural slate and gutters and downpipes, and common reasons people get in touch are standing water on a flat extension roof and sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes.
Around East Malling, you’ll mostly find houses and bungalows of different ages. In older homes, the slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens and underlay holding them. For a purchase or a newly replaced roof, what’s under the coverings matters as much as what’s on top. Older roofs frequently have bitumen felt under the coverings, as breathable membranes only arrived in the late 1990s.
The report is written in plain words, so it makes sense without any roofing background. Each point is backed by a photograph where possible, and recommendations are put with the most urgent first where relevant.
- Location
- East Malling (ME19)
- Wider area
- Kent
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- When we survey
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What we do, step by step
Every roof is different; as a rough guide, the survey takes between one and two hours at a typical home, and about three to four hours for a commercial roof. If you have questions on the day, just ask. Being in a smaller place like East Malling does not change how the visit works: outside, inside and from any safe vantage point, in that order. Point out any stains, cracks or loose pieces you’ve spotted.
- You choose a Basic, Standard or Premium Survey to suit the home you are buying.
- We agree a visit, including weekends if that helps.
- The coverings, ridges, valleys, flashings, chimneys and gutters are inspected and photographed.
- Moisture detection, structural checks, thermal imaging or a drone are added where your package includes them.
- We send the report with recommendations ranked by urgency, ready for you to discuss with the seller or agent.
Before we arrive
- Move anything stored under the loft hatch
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- If it is not your property yet, arrange access through the agent
Getting a price
If you’re buying, it helps to book soon after your offer is accepted, so there’s time to use the report before exchange. For any other survey, just phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email when you’re ready.
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Nearby places to East Malling
What else we do in East Malling
What a pre-purchase roof survey looks like in East Malling
If the drone is used for your survey, the flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first. The wider area around East Malling has a long history of building, with Starkey Castle about 4.9 miles north. Period homes nearby can have lead valleys, tall chimneys and a patchwork of past repairs, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first.
If you own a rental within reach of East Malling 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 Church of St James: older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
East Malling is about 4 miles north-west of Maidstone, in Kent. Whether the building in East Malling is a house, a flat or a commercial unit, we can survey the roof on a weekday or at the weekend. Across Kent, we cover East Malling and the places around it.
Here we cover the ME19 postcode area for pre-purchase roof surveys. If you need a pre-purchase roof survey at a property on High Street, Chapman Way and Lister Close or a nearby road, we can help. Nearby, we also carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Well Street (1 mile south), Ditton (1 mile east), West Malling (1 mile west), Aylesford (2 miles east) and Kings Hill (2 miles south-west). Within a short drive, we also cover Maidstone (4 miles south-east), Sittingbourne (13 miles east), Dartford (14 miles north-west), Sevenoaks (11 miles west), Royal Tunbridge Wells (13 miles south-west) and Gravesend (10 miles north).
Landmarks near East Malling
In East Malling, that means homes and buildings near The Rising Sun pub, Ditton Quarry and The Malling School and the streets around them. East Malling’s nearest station is East Malling station, about 0.7 miles south-east of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Leybourne Castle (0.9 miles north-west) and Fremlin Walk (3.9 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Burham Down and Blue Bell Hill.
FAQs for East Malling
Do you cover smaller places like East Malling?
Yes, East Malling is covered. We survey roofs across London and the South East, and smaller places are part of that. The journey is planned ahead, so it helps to know about access.
Is my home in East Malling listed or in a conservation area?
Your council is the best source, with Historic England’s list for listed buildings. A change of roofing material may need consent in either case, and councils can also use Article 4 directions.
Do you carry professional indemnity insurance?
We’re covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance, for every survey we carry out.
What if it rains on the day?
Light rain doesn’t usually stop a survey. High wind or heavy rain can stop drone flights and make roof access unsafe, so if conditions aren’t right we’ll arrange another day with you.
Do you go up on the roof?
Only where it is safe. Many roofs can be seen well from windows, vantage points and the loft.
How long have you been surveying roofs?
We’ve completed more than 5,000 surveys, over more than 20 years, with 98% customer satisfaction.
Do you test for asbestos?
No. We don’t sample or test for asbestos. Where a material might contain it, like old cement sheets on a building from before 2000, the report flags it, with a recommendation to have a specialist asbestos surveyor check before it is disturbed.
Different roofs, different checks
Clay and concrete tiles
Tiled roofs often last half a century or longer. We check for slipped, cracked and missing tiles, along with odd replacement tiles that hint at earlier leaks.
Flat roofs
Repeated coatings on a flat roof can mask what’s underneath. We record what we can see and say where a closer look is needed.
What a survey costs
When we price a survey, we consider:
- Whether thermal imaging or a drone is needed
- The number of roofs, including extensions and garages
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
- The type of building, from a house to a block or an office
There are three survey packages: Basic from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, with VAT included. What your roof costs depends on its size, access and what you want to find out.
Helping us price your survey
We will typically ask about:
- Access details, such as a loft hatch or a shared roof
- Any photos you have, taken from the ground or a window
- Dates you are working to, such as exchange
- Where water is showing inside, if it is
Booking is simple: just ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form, let us know about the property and we will explain which survey suits. The price is agreed up front.
What this survey cannot tell you
Some things cannot be seen without opening up the roof, so a survey has limits:
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
- Whether materials contain asbestos (that needs a specialist asbestos surveyor)
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
If in doubt, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will recommend the right survey. What our survey covers.
What we check
- Natural slate
- The roof space
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Chimney stacks
- Gutters and downpipes
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Lead flashings and valleys
Tips that help
Small things make a difference, both for the survey and for the roof itself. Our tips:
- Check the lease for roof repair responsibilities
- Let us know your exchange date when booking
- Ask for loft access on the day
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
If you want quotes for the work, roofers can work from the report. The photos show the defects and where they are, which makes quotes easier to compare.
Check the roof from the garden and the street after a storm. Pieces of slate or tile in the garden mean something has moved. Dealing with them early keeps water out.
Can I check my roof myself?
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Water spilling over the edge can point to a blockage or a sagging run.
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. Don’t go up yourself.