Greater London · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Shirley Oaks
Need a pre-purchase roof survey in Shirley Oaks? We can help, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Book a weekday or weekend visit.
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Bitumen or mortar used in place of proper repairs
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
Pre-purchase roof survey in Shirley Oaks
The roof is one of the most expensive parts of a home to repair, and one of the hardest for a buyer to see. Our pre-purchase roof survey gives you a close look at it before you are committed. We check the slates or tiles, the ridges and valleys, the flashings, the chimneys and the gutters, and the roof space where it is safe to get in. The findings come in a written report with photos. Common reasons to book are lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney and patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem, across clay and concrete tiles, the roof space and chimney stacks.
Many London homes have been converted into flats, extended at the back or given a loft conversion with a dormer. Every alteration brings new junctions, flashings and flat-roof areas to look at. For a purchase in Shirley Oaks, or for new roofing work there, those junctions deserve a close look. Lead work around dormers and new flat roofs is easy to get wrong and easy to miss.
Where we can’t see part of the roof, the report says so. You’ll know exactly what was inspected and what wasn’t, and what we’d suggest next.
- Location
- Shirley Oaks (CR0, SE25, CR9)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Prices
- 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
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Shirley Oaks: your questions answered
Is drone flying allowed in Shirley Oaks?
Typically it comes down to two things: the airspace at the address and the weather. London’s airspace includes flight restriction zones around Heathrow, London City Airport and London Heliport, and restricted areas over Hyde Park, the City of London and the Isle of Dogs. Every London address is checked against them before a flight. Before any flight, we check the Drone Safety Map for airspace restrictions, including zones around airports and prisons. Strong wind or a downpour also stops a small drone flying, and the rest of the survey doesn’t depend on the drone.
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Shirley Oaks?
For listing, use Historic England’s list; for conservation areas, ask the council. The answer matters most when a change of material is on the cards.
How do I book a survey in Shirley Oaks?
Simply phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the address. We’ll ask a few questions, confirm the price and agree a date.
Does your survey replace a RICS home survey?
No. We survey the roof, not the whole building, and it’s not a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey. It complements one rather than replacing it.
How many surveys have you done?
Over 5,000 surveys so far, across 20+ years of surveying roofs, and 98% of customers are satisfied.
Do I need a roof survey if I’m having a RICS survey?
It depends on the roof and how confident you want to be. Home surveys sometimes suggest a closer look at the roof, and our survey gives you that closer look. It does not stand in for a RICS survey.
At what stage of buying should I get the roof surveyed?
Book as soon as your offer is agreed. The report is most useful before exchange, because after that the roof is yours to deal with.
Checking the roof from the ground
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Overflowing water can be a sign of a blockage or a gutter that has dropped.
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, and look for staining, damp timber or daylight coming through.
Places near Shirley Oaks
More services for Shirley Oaks
Practical tips
Small things make a difference. Some pointers:
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
- Request records of any re-roofing
- For a flat, check who is responsible for the roof
- Ask the agent to check the loft hatch can be opened
If the report shows work is needed, you can raise it with the seller or agent. Some buyers ask for repairs before completion, others ask for a change to the price. The outcome is between you and the seller.
After you move in, have leaves and moss cleared from gutters and valleys, particularly after autumn. Blocked gutters cause much of the damp we see. Get a professional in rather than climbing up yourself.
Why get it checked now?
Leaving it means judging the roof from the street. That rarely shows the back slope, the valleys or the top of the chimney. We fill that gap before you are tied in, with photos of anything that needs attention. London’s older roofs often have bitumen felt underlay or none at all, so a slipped slate can soon mean water inside. Left alone, that means wet timbers and plaster, which is a far bigger job than the roof fault itself.
Prices quoted always include VAT, and the written report is part of the package. Prices start from £150, including VAT. Size, height and access decide where your roof falls.
Why book with us
- A sub-250g drone, flown with a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Thermal imaging and drones used where they help
- Professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- Satisfaction rate of 98%
Read what a roof survey costs or what we found on two real jobs.
The survey, step by step
The aim of the visit is simple: to see as much of the roof as can safely be seen and record it clearly. Everything we note and photograph goes into the written report. The visit usually takes roughly 1–2 hours at a typical home, while a commercial roof takes nearer three to four hours. In converted houses and mansion blocks, the loft hatch is often on a shared landing. If that applies to your building, it is useful to agree access with the neighbours or the managing agent first. Everything else is planned around the building, not the postcode.
- You choose a Basic, Standard or Premium Survey to suit the home you’re buying.
- A date is booked on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday.
- 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 we arrive
- Show us where any leaks or stains appear
- Leave side gates unlocked
- Have any questions written down, so nothing gets missed
Getting a price
For a price for pre-purchase roof surveys in Shirley Oaks, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email. The address, the type of property and what you need to know help us price the survey accurately.
Related advice
How the survey changes by roof type
Natural slate
Slate is common on Victorian and Edwardian houses. We check for slipped, cracked and missing slates, plus the metal clips that show earlier patching.
Chimney stacks
Our chimney check is a visual one, and it is not a flue or gas safety check. If a flue needs testing, we’ll suggest who to ask.
Local roofs and buyers in Shirley Oaks
In outer London, interwar semis with hipped, tiled roofs sit alongside older slate-roofed terraces. If your home in Shirley Oaks is one of them, bay roofs, hips and later dormers each have their own details. Each material has its own typical faults, which is what a buyer or the owner of a new roof needs to know about. Where the drone is part of the survey, we check the Drone Safety Map for restrictions before flying.
With Addington Palace about 1.8 miles south-east, the area around Shirley Oaks has a long history. If you are buying an older home nearby, it is worth knowing whether it’s listed or in a conservation area before you plan any re-roofing. The streets around a church such as Shirley Methodist Church are often among the oldest in a place, and if yours is one of the older homes nearby, older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
Shirley Oaks is about 2 miles north-east of Croydon, in Greater London. We provide pre-purchase roof surveys for homeowners, landlords and businesses in Shirley Oaks and the surrounding area. Shirley Oaks is one of the places in Greater London we cover. For surveys nearby, see our London page.
Pre-purchase roof surveys in CR0, SE25 and CR9 are booked the same way as anywhere else. Local streets include Poppy Lane, Baring Road and Craven Road, all of which we cover. Being close to the A232, Shirley Oaks is simple for us to get to for pre-purchase roof surveys. Neighbouring places we cover for pre-purchase roof surveys include Shirley (1 mile east), Monks Orchard (1 mile east), Addiscombe (1 mile west), Ashburton (1 mile north-west) and Woodside (1 mile north-west). Further out, we also cover London (8 miles north), City of Westminster (10 miles north-west), Marylebone (10 miles north), Kensington (10 miles north-west), St Pancras (10 miles north) and Shoreditch (10 miles north).
Local landmarks in Shirley Oaks
Typical jobs here are in homes near St. John's Church of England Primary School, Ashburton Park and The Cricketers pub and the streets around them. Shirley Oaks’s nearest station is Elmers End station, roughly 1.2 miles north. Other landmarks nearby include Crystal Palace Museum (2.8 miles north) and National Psychosis Unit (1.1 miles east). The countryside around Shirley Oaks includes Bramley Bank and Duppas Hill.
What we are asked to look at in Shirley Oaks
Rear extensions, dormers and garages often have flat roofs. Felt flat roofs often last around 15 to 20 years, and ponding, blisters and splits are common signs of age. A buyer can easily miss them, particularly when they’re only visible from an upper floor.
Signs worth acting on include:
- Chimney mortar that has eroded
- Worn or lifted lead flashings
- Roof slopes that look uneven or sagging
- Damp timbers or stains in the loft
If you let a flat or house near Elmers End station, it’s worth knowing a roof’s condition before you buy it, or before you sign off new roofing work on it.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Whether you can ask questions once you have the report
- Whether any drone flown is registered with the CAA
- Whether the loft is part of the inspection
- How they’ll see the roof: from ground level, the loft, the roof or by drone