Hertfordshire · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Tyttenhanger
Know where you stand with the roof before you spend money on it. Pre-purchase roof surveys in Tyttenhanger.
- Damp timbers or stains in the loft
- Bitumen or mortar used in place of proper repairs
- Blistered or split felt on a flat roof
Pre-purchase roof survey in Tyttenhanger
Buying a flat brings its own roof questions. The lease decides who looks after the roof, and that’s often not the individual flat owner. We inspect what access allows us to see safely, and the report gives you clear points to raise with your solicitor or the managing agent. If the building has a flat roof, we check that too where access allows. If you are worried about chimney mortar that has eroded and signs of past leaks inside the loft, we can find out what’s behind it, on chimney stacks, lead flashings and valleys and flat-roofed extensions and dormers alike.
In a village or hamlet like Tyttenhanger, homes are often older cottages and farmhouses alongside a few newer houses. 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.
Pictures do a lot of the work in our reports, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. Anything out of sight on the day is listed as such.
- Where
- Tyttenhanger (AL4)
- Region
- Hertfordshire
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Local roofs and buyers in Tyttenhanger
If your survey includes the drone, the flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first. Older houses in the South East often have slate or clay tile roofs, while many later estates have concrete tiles, with flat-roofed extensions, dormers and garages common everywhere. Each material has its own typical faults, which is what a buyer or the owner of a new roof needs to know about.
Batchwood Hall lies about 3.3 miles north-west, so building around Tyttenhanger goes back a long way. Buying a period property here means asking about the roof’s age and repairs, and about any listing or conservation area. If you own one of the older houses in the streets near Church of St Mark, the roof may have had decades of patch repairs, and the survey shows where they are.
Tyttenhanger is about 2 miles south-east of St Albans, in Hertfordshire. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Tyttenhanger. Our Hertfordshire coverage includes Tyttenhanger. Our London page covers surveys nearby.
We survey roofs across the AL4 postcode area for pre-purchase roof surveys. Streets in the area include Highfield Lane and Tyttenhanger Green, all of which we cover. Neighbouring places we cover for pre-purchase roof surveys include London Colney (1 mile south), Sleapshyde (1 mile north-east), Smallford (2 miles north-east), Broad Colney (2 miles south) and Colney Heath (2 miles east). Within a short drive, we also cover Watford (7 miles south-west), Hemel Hempstead (7 miles west), Stevenage (13 miles north), Welwyn Garden City (6 miles north-east), Harpenden (6 miles north-west) and Hitchin (15 miles north).
What’s near Tyttenhanger
Around Tyttenhanger, our work takes us to homes and buildings near The Plough pub, Highfield Park and Windermere Primary School. For rail, the closest station is St Albans station, roughly 1.7 miles north-west of the centre. Well-known places in the area include Hill End Hospital (0.9 miles north-west) and St Albans Musical Museum (1.9 miles north-west). For a walk, there is Colney Heath Local Nature Reserve and Verulamium Lake.
How it works
When we arrive, we begin with a quick chat about the roof and anything that is worrying you. After that, we look at everything we can see safely. Most surveys take about 1–2 hours at a typical home, rising to roughly 3–4 hours on a commercial building. Older roofs in small places like Tyttenhanger can have low, tight loft spaces, so it helps to know whether there’s a loft hatch and how easy it is to reach. We only go where it’s safe.
- 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.
- We start outside, looking at the roof from the ground and from vantage points.
- We then look from upstairs windows and inside the loft where it’s safe.
- The report is emailed with photos and recommendations, ready to use before exchange.
How to prepare
- Move anything stored under the loft hatch
- Dig out any old roof reports or invoices
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
How to book
When you’re ready to go ahead, call 07833 053749 or email us. We’ll suggest a package, agree the price and find a date.
Read more
Tyttenhanger questions
Is my home in Tyttenhanger listed or in a conservation area?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it’s in a conservation area. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
Is Tyttenhanger within the area you cover?
Yes, Tyttenhanger is covered. We cover the whole of London and South East England, and smaller places are part of that. Longer journeys are simply planned ahead of time.
What’s the best way to book?
To book, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email with the address, the type of property and what’s prompted the survey. We’ll confirm the price and find a day that suits.
Do I have to be there for the survey?
Someone needs to let us in if we’re looking inside or in the loft. Access is agreed with you when booking.
Is this an asbestos survey?
No. We do not 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.
Will you need to get into the loft?
If it can be arranged, yes. From the loft space we can see staining, timbers and underlay. If we can’t get in, the report says so.
Do you carry out surveys on Saturdays and Sundays?
Surveys can be booked for any day of the week: Monday to Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Tell us which days suit you as you book.
Different roofs, different checks
Gutters and parapets
The rainwater system keeps water off the walls. Leaking joints, sagging lengths and blockages are all noted.
Chimney stacks
Chimney stacks take the brunt of the weather. We check the pots, the flaunching, the pointing and the flashings.
How we price pre-purchase roof surveys
Prices vary from roof to roof, for these reasons:
- Features like valleys, chimneys, dormers and parapets
- Height and safe access
- Which survey package you book
- Extra roofs, like extensions, dormers or garages
Prices start from £150, including VAT. Packages run from Basic at £150 through Standard at £250 to Premium at £400, including VAT.
Booking your survey
You don’t need to know any roofing terms. It is enough to let us know:
- Any deadline, such as an exchange date
- Any photos you have, taken from the ground or a window
- Where any leaks, stains or damp patches show inside
- The type of building and roof, such as pitched or flat
Most bookings start with a short call: call 07833 053749 or drop us an email. The price is agreed before a date is set.
DIY checks: what’s safe
After strong wind, take a look from the pavement or garden: broken slates or tiles in the garden, gaps along the ridge or loose lead are signs to note. Leave anything above ground level to a survey.
A DIY look is useful, but it is not a survey. You will not see flashings, valleys or the backs of chimneys properly from ground level, and those are details a survey looks at closely.
What we cannot see
It helps to know what a survey won’t do before you book:
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
- A valuation or a promise of a lower price
- Anything beyond the roof, which a full home survey covers
If in doubt, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll point you to the right survey before you book. The full list of what we check.
What this survey covers
- Chimney stacks
- Natural slate
- Gutters and downpipes
- The roof space
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Lead flashings and valleys
What we are asked to look at in Tyttenhanger
Flat roofs turn up on extensions, dormers, porches and garages. A felt roof often lasts around 15 to 20 years, and ponding, blisters and splits are common signs of age. They’re easy to overlook on a viewing, particularly when they’re only visible from an upper floor.
Typical things we’re asked to look at include:
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
- Lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney
- Loose pots and cracked flaunching
For landlords with property near St Albans station, a written report helps before buying a rental or paying for a new roof on one.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- What’s outside the scope of the survey
- What experience they bring
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
- What the report includes, and whether it has photographs