Essex · London and the South East
Stanway Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
Know where you stand with the roof before you spend money on it. Pre-purchase roof surveys in Stanway, with photos and a clear written report.
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Flashings that have lifted or split
- Damp timbers or stains in the loft
Pre-purchase roof survey in Stanway: what you get
Older homes frequently have roofs that have been patched over the years. Slates slip when their nails corrode, lead valleys and flashings wear, and chimney pointing crumbles. Little of that is easy to judge from the pavement on a viewing. Our survey picks it out, with photographs that show you exactly where. Each finding is explained in plain words, so it’s clear what it means for your purchase. Typical surveys look at old water stains in the roof space and gutters that overflow or drip at the joints, across clay and concrete tiles, chimney stacks and flat-roofed extensions and dormers.
Somewhere as small as Stanway, older cottages, farmhouses and converted buildings frequently 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. What’s under the coverings, from old felt to the battens and nails, matters too.
The report records the roof as we found it on the day. It is useful straight away, and a good reference for later, such as when you want to compare after future work.
- Place
- Stanway (CO3, CO6)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Tips that help
A survey works best with a little help from you, before and after. Tips:
- Don’t leave it until just before exchange
- Share the report with your solicitor
- Ask when the roof was last worked on
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
With the findings in hand, you can talk to the seller or their agent. Some buyers ask for repairs before completion, others ask for a change to the price. What happens next is your decision and the seller’s, and we can’t promise any result.
Keep an eye on chimneys and flashings in your new home. Watch for gaps in the pointing, cracked flaunching and loose lead. A pair of binoculars from the garden shows a lot.
Checking the roof from the ground
The one thing to avoid is getting up close. Roofs are fragile and slippery, and falls from height are serious. That is where a survey comes in.
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Take a photo and write down when you saw it.
Towns and villages near Stanway
Also in Stanway
What we cannot see
To be straight with you, there are limits to any roof survey:
- Asbestos testing of any kind
- Whether timbers meet design loads
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
If you’re not sure which survey you need, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll give you a straight answer before you book. The full list of what we check.
Roof types and parts we check
- Gutters and downpipes
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- The roof space
- Lead flashings and valleys
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Chimney stacks
- Natural slate
Leave it or get it looked at?
Once you exchange, the roof’s problems become yours. Before then, you can still ask questions, ask for work to be done or reconsider. Finding out later gives you the same facts, but with far less room to act on them. Where a roof is exposed, as many are in small places like Stanway, driving rain gets into any weakness, and older walls, once damp, take a long time to dry.
A small, low roof with good viewpoints takes less time than a tall, complicated one, and the package you pick makes a difference too. We will give you the figure before anything is booked.
Why book us in Stanway
- Surveys seven days a week
- Independent findings on the roof’s condition
- Two decades and more of roof surveys
- Package prices that include VAT
See how roof surveys are priced and what we found on two real jobs.
What happens on the day
Every visit follows the same pattern: we listen to what’s been worrying you, look at the roof from every safe viewpoint, photograph what we find and make notes for the report. It normally takes an hour or two at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. Rural addresses near Stanway 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 is accepted, you let us know the address and when you hope to exchange.
- Access to the house and the loft space is agreed in advance.
- The visit begins outside, from ground level and any safe vantage points.
- Inside, we check the loft space and look at the roof from windows.
- You get a written report with photos and recommendations before you exchange.
Getting ready for the survey
- Have any paperwork from past roof work to hand
- Jot down any questions you want answered
- Buyers: confirm access with the estate agent or seller
Getting a price
We survey roofs on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. To arrange a day that suits you, phone 07833 053749 or send us an email with the address and the days you’d prefer.
Advice
Stanway: your questions answered
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Stanway?
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.
Is Stanway within the area you cover?
Yes. Stanway is within the area we cover, which takes in towns, villages and rural addresses. Our area covers London and the South East. Just mention lanes, gates or anything else about the route when booking.
How long have you been surveying roofs?
We have more than 20 years’ experience and have completed over 5,000 surveys across London and South East England.
Is a roof survey worth having alongside a home survey?
They do different things. A RICS home survey covers the whole building, while ours looks only at the roof, in more detail. Our survey complements a RICS survey and does not replace one.
Can I take the findings back to the seller?
Yes. The report sets out what we found, with photos, so you can raise them with the seller or their agent. We can’t promise how the seller will respond.
Are you insured?
Professional indemnity and public liability insurance cover our surveys. Ask if you need details for a managing agent or building owner.
Will you need to get into the loft?
Where we can, yes. Inside, the loft shows leaks, damp timbers and the underlay. If we cannot get in, the report says so.
Different roofs, different checks
Lead flashings and valleys
Flashings are a common source of leaks, so they get close attention in a pre-purchase survey. Any that need attention are photographed and explained.
Natural slate
On a slate roof, the underlay may be old bitumen felt, or there may be none at all on very old roofs. Where we can see it from the loft, we say what condition it is in.
What a pre-purchase roof survey looks like in Stanway
The wider area around Stanway has a long history of building, with Layer Marney Tower about 4.2 miles south. On older houses around here, roofs frequently carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area. Older buildings in Essex often have clay tiles and weatherboarding, while many towns grew with post-war and newer estates. The covering on a house you’re buying, or on a roof just finished, tells us where to look hardest.
If you own a rental within reach of Marks Tey station, a written report helps before buying a rental or paying for a new roof on one. If you live in an older home near Parish Church of St Albright, a survey will show how the roof has been repaired before, which helps you judge what’s coming.
Stanway is about 2 miles west of Camulodunum, in Essex. We survey roofs in Stanway and the rest of Essex. Stanway is one of the places in Essex where we work. Our Chelmsford page covers surveys nearby.
We work across CO3 and CO6 for pre-purchase roof surveys. Local streets include Church Lane, Red Panda Road and Turkey Cock Lane, all of which we cover. Close by, we survey roofs in Beacon End (1 mile east), Copford Green (1 mile south-west), Eight Ash Green (1 mile north), Heckfordbridge (2 miles south) and Lexden (2 miles east). We also work in nearby towns such as Colchester (4 miles east), Braintree (11 miles west), Clacton-on-Sea (15 miles east), Maldon (12 miles south-west), Witham (10 miles south-west) and Halstead (9 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Stanway
We work in homes and buildings around White Hart Toby Carvery pub and The Stanway School. Stanway’s nearest station is Marks Tey station, roughly 1.5 miles west of the centre. Nearby you will also find Social History Museum (3.5 miles east) and Birch Castle (2.6 miles south). The countryside around Stanway includes Iron Latch.