Essex · London and the South East
Ickleton Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
Pre-purchase roof surveys across Ickleton, backed by more than 20 years’ experience. You get a clear report with photographs.
- Gutters that overflow or drip at the joints
- Lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
What happens on the day
On the day, we begin with a quick chat about the roof and anything that’s worrying you. After that, we check everything we can see safely. Most surveys take about 1–2 hours at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. Rural addresses near Ickleton can be hard to find from a postcode alone, so a few directions, or a note of a nearby landmark, help us arrive on time. The visit itself is the same as anywhere else.
- Once your offer has been accepted, you book and give us the address and your timescale.
- We agree a time and how we will get in, including the loft.
- We inspect the roof from ground level, windows, the loft and the roof itself where it’s safe.
- Each part of the roof is examined and photographed.
- You receive a written report with photos and recommendations to read before exchange.
Preparing for the visit
- Find any records of previous roof work
- Note where any stains or damp appear
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
How to book
Most bookings start with a short call: call 07833 053749 or send us an email, and we will ask about the building and what you need. You’ll have a price before anything is arranged.
Advice
Pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Ickleton
The best time to book is once your offer has been accepted and before you exchange contracts. That is when the findings are most useful, because nothing is binding yet. Visits run on weekdays and at weekends, 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. Typical surveys look at ponding, blisters or splits on a flat roof and old water stains in the roof space, across lead flashings and valleys, flat-roofed extensions and dormers and natural slate.
Somewhere as small as Ickleton, older cottages, farmhouses and converted buildings often sit beside a few newer homes. Older roofs there may have clay tiles, slate, stone or, in some places, thatch. Each covering has its own weak points, whether the roof is old or newly laid, and thatch is a specialist material, so we report on what can be seen. What’s under the coverings, from old felt to the battens and nails, matters too.
The report is written in plain words, so you do not need to be a roofer to follow it. Photographs show what each point refers to.
- Location
- Ickleton (CB10)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after the survey
Most of what helps is simple and safe from ground level. Our suggestions:
- For a flat, check who is responsible for the roof
- Find out whether the roof has been replaced or patched
- Ask the agent to make sure the loft hatch can be opened
- Pass the findings to your conveyancer
If you want quotes for the work, roofers can work from the report. They’ll see exactly what we found, and where, so each quote covers the same ground.
Check the roof from the garden and the street after a storm. Slipped slates, lifted ridge tiles and debris on the ground are signs to act on. Small repairs done quickly stop bigger problems later.
Landlords, agents and block managers in Ickleton
We also survey roofs for businesses and commercial landlords, including offices, shops and units. Larger roofs take longer, and they’re priced for the size.
Where a roof is shared: access has to be agreed with whoever owns or manages the building. Mention it when you contact us and we will plan the survey around it.
FAQs for Ickleton
How do I find out if my home in Ickleton is listed?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you are planning to re-roof in a different material.
Do you cover smaller places like Ickleton?
Yes, Ickleton is on our map. A small place gets exactly the same survey as a big one.
How long have you been surveying roofs?
Over 20 years and more than 5,000 surveys.
Is your roof survey a RICS survey?
No. It’s a dedicated roof survey, and you get a written report with photos. It does not cover the rest of the property, which a RICS survey does.
Can I take the findings back to the seller?
Yes. You might ask for work to be done, ask questions or ask for a change to the price. The outcome is between you and the seller, so we can’t promise any saving.
Can you inspect my roof with a drone?
Yes, where applicable and safe. We fly a sub-250g drone and we’re a CAA-registered drone operator (Flyer ID and Operator ID). It’s included in the Drone Roof Survey and, where applicable, the Premium Survey.
Do you survey on Saturdays and Sundays?
Surveys can be booked for any day of the week: Monday to Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Just tell us the days that suit you.
Signs you need a pre-purchase roof survey in Ickleton
Buildings put up or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos. Cement roof sheets, soffits and flue pipes are typical places to find it. We don’t test for it or carry out asbestos surveys, but we flag materials that might and suggest a specialist asbestos surveyor checks them before work starts.
Here are some of the things we see often:
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Blistered or split felt on a flat roof
- Signs of past leaks inside the loft
- Blocked or leaking gutters
Take an older house close to Parish Church of St Mary Magdalen: the roof may have had decades of patch repairs, and the survey shows where they are.
Questions to ask before booking
- What follow-up you get after the report
- Whether the roof space is looked at, where there is one
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
- Whether any drone flown is registered with the CAA
Also near Ickleton
More services for Ickleton
Can I check my roof myself?
You can learn a lot from ground level. Binoculars help you spot slipped slates or tiles, gaps along the ridge and a leaning stack. Please do not climb up for a closer look.
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.
Honest limits
Our survey isn’t a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey, a structural engineer’s report or an asbestos survey. It also has these limits:
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
- Asbestos testing of any kind
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
If in doubt, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email and we will point you to the right survey. The full list of what we check.
Roof types and parts we check
- Chimney stacks
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Gutters and downpipes
- The roof space
- Natural slate
- Lead flashings and valleys
Pre-purchase roof surveys around Ickleton
The wider area around Ickleton has a long history of building, with Audley End House about 4 miles south-east. On older houses around here, roofs frequently carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, 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.
For landlords with property near Great Chesterford station, a survey before purchase, or before signing off a new roof, saves surprises once a tenant moves in.
Ickleton is about 5 miles north-west of Saffron Walden, in Essex. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Ickleton for houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings. Across Essex, we cover Ickleton and the places around it. Our Chelmsford page covers surveys nearby.
All of CB10 is covered for pre-purchase roof surveys. Streets in the area include Abbey Street, Southfield and Back Lane. Other places close to Ickleton include Hinxton (1 mile north), Great Chesterford (1 mile south-east) and Elmdon (3 miles south-west). Larger places within reach include Saffron Walden (5 miles south-east), Stansted Mountfitchet (12 miles south), Elsenham (11 miles south), Church End (15 miles south-east), Thaxted (11 miles south-east) and Newport (6 miles south).
Around Ickleton
We work in homes and buildings around Red Lion Public House, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Great Chesterford station, roughly 1.1 miles south-east of the centre. A little further out are American Air Museum (2.6 miles north-west) and Saffron Walden Community Hospital (4.8 miles south-east).