West Sussex · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Worth Abbey
Pre-purchase roof surveys across Worth Abbey, with over 20 years’ experience behind it. Every survey ends with a written report and photographs.
- Ponding, blisters or splits on a flat roof
- Lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
Roof by roof
Lead flashings and valleys
Lead flashings seal the joints where a roof meets a wall or chimney. We check whether they’ve lifted, split or been replaced with mortar or bitumen.
Gutters and parapets
A butterfly roof drains to a central valley gutter, typically to the back of the house. If yours does, we check that gutter and where it drains.
Pre-purchase roof survey in Worth Abbey: what you get
If you’re buying a flat, the roof may well be shared. The lease decides who looks after the roof, and that is often not the individual flat owner, with costs often passed on through the service charge. We check as much of the roof as access safely allows, and the report gives you clear points to raise with your solicitor or the managing agent. If the building has a flat roof, we look at that too where access allows. We survey chimney stacks, clay and concrete tiles and natural slate, and people most frequently book us about quick fixes on flashings and valleys and damp timbers or stains in the loft.
Older buildings in small places like Worth Abbey may be listed or in a conservation area. If so, re-roofing in different materials may need consent, so check with the council before work starts. For a buyer or someone with a newly finished roof, it is worth knowing which applies. England has around 10,000 conservation areas and about 500,000 listed buildings.
We write the report in plain English, so it makes sense without any roofing background. Each point is backed by a photograph where possible, and recommendations are put by urgency where it matters.
- Place
- Worth Abbey (RH10)
- Region
- West Sussex
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Nearby places to Worth Abbey
What else we do in Worth Abbey
What a pre-purchase roof survey looks like in Worth Abbey
With Gravetye Manor about 2.5 miles east, Worth Abbey sits in an area with a long building history. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead. Handmade clay tiles and tile-hung upper walls are typical of older Sussex houses. A few old Sussex buildings still carry heavy Horsham stone slabs. The covering on a house you are buying, or on a roof just finished, tells us where to look hardest.
If you own a rental within reach of Three Bridges 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 Abbey Church of Our Lady Help of Christians, older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
Worth Abbey is about 3 miles east of Crawley, in West Sussex. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Worth Abbey for houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings. Our West Sussex coverage includes Worth Abbey and the places around it.
Pre-purchase roof surveys in RH10 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Close by, we survey roofs in Balcombe Lane (2 miles south-west), Furnace Green (2 miles west), Balcombe (3 miles south), Pease Pottage (4 miles west) and Staplefield (5 miles south-west). Further out, we also cover Crawley (3 miles west), Horsham (9 miles west), Haywards Heath (7 miles south), Burgess Hill (10 miles south), East Grinstead (5 miles north-east) and Broadfield (4 miles west).
Landmarks near Worth Abbey
The closest station to Worth Abbey is Three Bridges station, about 2.6 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include County Mall (3.4 miles west) and Crawley Hospital (4 miles west). Not far away are Tilgate Lake.
DIY checks: what’s safe
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Take a photo and write down when you saw it, which helps when we look at the roof.
Look up at the roof after a storm, from the ground: 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.
Landlord and commercial surveys in Worth Abbey
Surveys can also be booked by buyers’ agents acting for a client. Reports are emailed, so they’re easy to pass on, photos included.
Where a roof is shared: access has to be agreed with whoever owns or manages the building. Let us know about it when booking and we will plan the survey around it.
Worth Abbey: your questions answered
Is my home in Worth Abbey listed or in a conservation area?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you’re planning to re-roof in a different material.
Do you carry out roof surveys in Worth Abbey?
We do. The survey and report are the same in Worth Abbey as anywhere else, and visits run on weekdays and weekends.
Does your survey replace a RICS home survey?
No. We survey the roof, not the whole building, and it is not a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey. It works alongside a home survey.
How soon is the report ready?
That depends on which survey you choose: Basic within 48 hours, Standard within 24 to 48 hours and Premium the same day. Let us know your exchange date and we’ll help you choose.
Can you survey at the weekend?
Surveys can be booked for any day of the week: Monday to Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Just tell us the days that suit you.
Is a roof survey worth having alongside a home survey?
It’s your choice, but the two do different jobs. 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 doesn’t replace one.
Do you need access inside the house?
Ideally, yes. The loft tells us a lot about the roof, and views from upper windows help too. Access is usually arranged through the agent or seller.
Before and after the survey
From years of surveys, a few habits stand out:
- Do not leave it until just before exchange
- For a flat, check who is responsible for the roof
- Ask for loft access on the day
- Find out whether the roof has been replaced or patched
Your report arrives by email, with photos of what we found. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium. Findings are set out in plain English, and recommendations are ranked by urgency where that helps.
Keep the loft ventilated. Condensation in a roof space can look like a leak and can damage timbers over time. Avoid packing insulation into the eaves so tightly that air can’t flow.
What happens on the day
We look at the roof from outside and, where it’s relevant and there is safe access, from inside the loft space too. Inside, we look for staining, damp, gaps and signs of movement, as far as the space allows. All in, the survey typically takes about one to two hours at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. Older rural homes like those around Worth Abbey can have a main roof, lower lean-to roofs and outbuildings all joined together. We work round each section in turn, from the safest viewpoints.
- Once your offer has been accepted, you book and give us the address and your timescale.
- Access is arranged through you, the agent or the seller.
- We check the roof from ground level, from windows, from the roof space and from the roof where safe.
- Each part of the roof is examined and photographed.
- You receive a written report with photos and recommendations to read before exchange.
Before the survey
- Show us where any leaks or stains appear
- If it is not your property yet, arrange access through the agent
- Have any questions written down, so nothing gets missed
Book a survey
Our price is from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on the roof’s size, access and the package, so phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email with the details.
Related advice
Why get it checked now?
When a chain is moving fast, a roof survey can feel like one more delay. We visit on weekdays and at weekends, and a Premium report comes the same day, so it can fit around a tight timetable. For an older or listed building in a place like Worth Abbey, repairs may need matching materials and consent, so leaving a defect until it’s urgent leaves less time to plan.
Our price is from £150, including VAT. The final price depends on how big and how high the roof is, how it can safely be seen and the package you choose.
What you get with us
- Prices that include VAT
- Thermal imaging and drone inspection where they help
- Surveys seven days a week
- Every finding written up with photos