Oxfordshire · London and the South East
Pre-purchase roof survey in Garsington, Oxfordshire
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat in Garsington, using drones and thermal imaging where applicable. Get in touch for a price.
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
- Blistered or split felt on a flat roof
- Slates or tiles that have slipped or gone
Why act early in Garsington
A good many buyers go ahead anyway, but with their eyes open. You’ll know which jobs are urgent and which can wait, so you can plan work before small faults get bigger. For an older or listed building in a place like Garsington, repairs may need matching materials and consent, so leaving a defect until it is urgent leaves less time to plan.
One thing that affects the price is the package: from £150 for Basic, £250 for Standard and £400 for Premium, inc. VAT. Size, height and access can affect the price too.
Why book with us
- Plain-English reports with photos
- 98% of customers satisfied
- 5,000+ surveys completed
- Drones and thermal imaging where it applies
Take a look at how roof surveys are priced or two real surveys.
How a pre-purchase roof survey works in Garsington
The best time to book is once your offer has been accepted and before you exchange contracts. At that point you can still ask questions, because nothing is binding yet. We survey on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, which helps when the chain is moving fast. Basic reports arrive within 48 hours, Standard within 24 to 48 hours and Premium the same day. Common reasons to book are gutters that overflow or drip at the joints and a ridge or slope that dips, on clay and concrete tiles, chimney stacks and flat-roofed extensions and dormers.
Being in a small place like Garsington makes no difference to the inspection itself: it just means planning the journey and access beforehand. Mention any outbuildings, barns or garages with roofs you’d like looked at when booking. Buyers and owners of new roofs get the same approach as anywhere. Weekday and weekend visits are both available.
The report records the roof as we found it on the day. It’s useful right away, and a good reference for later, for example when you want to check whether anything has changed.
- Where
- Garsington (OX44)
- Region
- Oxfordshire
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Pre-purchase roof surveys in Garsington: local notes
Garsington Manor, about 0.6 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Garsington. 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. Older buildings in west Oxfordshire frequently have Cotswold stone slate roofs, and some Oxfordshire villages still have thatch. In this part of the South East, older roofs are mostly slate or clay tile and many newer ones concrete tile. 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 Radley station, the roof is worth checking before you add another property to a portfolio or pay a roofer in full.
Garsington is about 4 miles south-east of Oxford, in Oxfordshire. Bookings from Garsington are handled just like any other: a call or an email, a price, then a date. We cover towns and villages across Oxfordshire, from the larger towns to small villages.
All of OX44 is within our area for pre-purchase roof surveys, from the main roads to the quietest streets. Streets in the area include Oxford Road, Combewell and Hazel End, all of which we cover. Nearby, we also carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Blenheim (1 mile east), Denton (1 mile east), Horspath (1 mile north), Cuddesdon (2 miles east) and Littleworth (2 miles north). Within a short drive, we also cover Oxford (4 miles north-west), Didcot (8 miles south-west), Bicester (13 miles north), Abingdon-on-Thames (6 miles south-west), Witney (15 miles west) and Thame (9 miles east).
Around Garsington
Typical jobs here are in homes near Red Lion pub, The Oxford Academy and Library Farmhouse, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Radley station, roughly 3.8 miles south-west of the centre. A little further out are NHS Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (1.9 miles north-west) and British Tattoo History Museum (2.9 miles north-west). The countryside around Garsington includes Shotover and CS Lewis Nature Reserve.
How the survey changes by roof type
Chimney stacks
A stack stands exposed above the roof line. The pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings are all checked.
Gutters and parapets
The rainwater system keeps water off the walls. We check for blockages, leaking joints and sagging runs.
Questions from Garsington
Do you carry out roof surveys in Garsington?
Yes. We survey roofs across London and South East England, and Garsington is part of that. Just call 07833 053749 or drop us an email and tell us about the property, and we will talk through which survey suits.
Will you come out to Garsington?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. We cover the whole of London and South East England. Let us know about access, parking and anything unusual about getting there when booking.
Should I get a roof survey as well as a RICS home survey?
They do different things. A RICS home survey covers the whole building, and ours concentrates on the roof alone. Our survey complements a RICS survey and doesn’t replace one.
Which days do you carry out surveys?
Surveys can be booked for any day of the week: weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Just let us know the days that suit you.
What insurance do you have?
We are covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance, for every survey we carry out.
Can you tell me if my roof has asbestos?
No. We don’t sample or test for asbestos. Where a material might contain it, such as 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.
When should I book a pre-purchase roof survey?
After your offer is accepted and before you exchange contracts. That way you can still act on what we find, whether that means asking questions or negotiating.
The survey, step by step
When we arrive, we start by asking what you’ve noticed and what you’d like to know. After that, we look at everything we can see safely. Most surveys take an hour or two at the house you’re buying, depending on its size and how much of the roof can be seen. In a small place like Garsington, access is typically the main thing to plan. Let us know about outbuildings, past repairs and any leaks you’ve noticed. Visits can be on weekdays, Saturdays or Sundays.
- Once your offer is accepted, you let us know the address and when you hope to exchange.
- We arrange access with you, the agent or the seller, including the loft.
- The visit begins outside, from ground level and any safe vantage points.
- We then look from upstairs windows and inside the loft where it is safe.
- The report is emailed with photos and recommendations, ready to use before exchange.
Getting ready for the survey
- Leave side gates unlocked
- Dig out any old roof reports or invoices
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
Arrange a survey
Our price is from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on the roof’s size, access and the package, so call 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the details.
Advice
When to book a survey in Garsington
Viewings rarely include a proper look at the roof. You see the rooms, not the slates, and a quick glance from the street misses a lot. New paint on a ceiling can hide old water stains, so a closer look is worth having before you commit.
Typical things we are asked to look at include:
- Quick fixes on flashings and valleys
- A ridge or slope that dips
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
If you own one of the older houses in the streets near Church of St Mary, ask the seller about past roof repairs, because older roofs often have patched valleys, replaced slates and reset ridges.
Before booking anyone
- How long they’ve been surveying roofs
- Are they insured for the work?
- Do they have a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID for drone work?
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
Other services in Garsington
Before and after the survey
A few practical points come up again and again on our surveys. They’re worth knowing whatever the roof:
- Ask whether there are papers for past roof work
- Ask when the roof was last worked on
- Check the lease for roof repair responsibilities
- Let us know your exchange date when booking
Once the home is yours, the report becomes a maintenance list. Deal with the urgent items first, and use the photos as a record of how the roof looked when you bought. Premium comes with a follow-up after 12 months.
Once you’ve moved in, keep gutters, valleys and outlets clear, particularly after autumn. Overflowing water is behind a lot of damp. Use a gutter contractor rather than going up a ladder yourself.
What we cannot see
Without opening up the roof, some things stay hidden, and that sets some limits:
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
- The condition of the rest of the house (that’s a RICS home survey)
If you are not sure which survey you need, call 07833 053749 or email us and we’ll give you a straight answer before you book. The full list of what we check.
Roof types and parts we check
- Lead flashings and valleys
- Clay and concrete tiles
- The roof space
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Natural slate
- Chimney stacks
- Gutters and downpipes