East Sussex · London and the South East
Polegate Roof Leak Investigation
A careful look at the leaking roof at your property in Polegate, and put it all in a photo-illustrated written report.
- Ceiling stains that grow after rain
- Wet patches on loft insulation
- Staining around the chimney inside
Questions from Polegate
Is my home in Polegate listed or in a conservation area?
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.
Is the coastal weather around Polegate hard on roofs?
Generally, yes: wind and salt air take more of a toll near the sea. Exposed details like ridges, verges, flashings and metal fixings are the ones to watch, and Polegate is within about 4 miles of the coast.
Is thermal imaging part of a leak investigation?
It can, when the conditions are right. It works best after a sunny day, with a dry roof surface and little wind. Damp areas can hold heat differently from dry ones. Its findings are confirmed with a moisture check.
Why does not the damp patch line up with the hole?
Water follows the easiest path, not the shortest. On a pitched roof it often runs down a rafter before it shows. Tracing that path is the heart of a leak investigation.
Do you climb onto every roof?
Only when it’s safe. Safety comes first, and fragile or steep roofs can’t always be walked on. Safe viewpoints, the loft and a drone where it applies let us see the rest, and the report records anything we couldn’t see.
Does someone need to be in?
Not necessarily. An outside-only look can be arranged beforehand, but anything inside needs someone there to give access.
Is it a leak or condensation?
Many apparent leaks turn out to be condensation. Leaks tend to follow wet weather and show in one place, while condensation is often spread out and worse in cold weather. We tell you which it is most likely to be.
How a roof leak investigation works in Polegate
We use moisture detection and thermal imaging where they help. Moisture detection confirms where timbers, plaster or insulation are damp. Thermal imaging shows temperature differences that can point to wet areas, not water itself, so we confirm what it suggests with moisture readings. Thermal imaging is part of the Premium Survey, and moisture detection comes with Standard. The best thermal results come after a sunny day, with a dry roof and little wind. We’re often asked to look into water coming in around a roof light or dormer and drips from nail tips in a cold loft, across slate and tile slopes, rooflights and dormers and the roof space.
Chimney stacks on older houses around places like Polegate can let water in, through worn flaunching, failed pointing or lifted flashings. Damp in a chimney breast can have more than one cause, so it isn’t always obvious where it starts. The stack, its flashings and the loft space beside it are all worth checking.
The written findings come by email, ready to forward to whoever needs them. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24–48 hours for Standard and same day for Premium.
- Where
- Polegate (BN26)
- Region
- East Sussex
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- When we survey
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What affects the price in Polegate
When we price a survey, we consider:
- Extra roofs, like extensions, dormers or garages
- Commercial roofs and larger buildings
- The package you choose: Basic, Standard or Premium
- Chimneys, valleys, parapets and other details
Thermal imaging and drone inspection (where it applies) come with the Premium Survey, which starts from £400, inc. VAT. We can help you choose the package that fits what you’d like to know.
Booking your survey
A little information up front helps. It is useful to include:
- Pictures from the garden or a window, if you have them
- Your postcode, so we can check access and travel
- Access details, like a loft hatch or a shared roof
- Where water is showing inside, if it is
Booking is simple: just call 07833 053749 or email us, let us know about the property and we’ll explain which survey suits. We confirm the price before anything is booked.
What happens on the day
We check the roof from outside and, where it’s relevant and there’s safe access, from inside the roof space too. In the loft, the signs we look for are staining, damp, daylight and sagging. All in, the survey typically takes an hour or two for most homes, though a hard-to-trace leak can take longer. Being in a smaller place like Polegate does not change how the visit works: outside, inside and from any safe vantage point, in that order. Point out any stains, cracks or loose pieces you’ve spotted.
- You pick a Basic, Standard or Premium Survey.
- We agree a date, including weekends.
- The investigation works from the stain back to the roof.
- Moisture detection and thermal imaging are used where your package includes them and they help.
- The report explains the likely entry point and what needs attention.
How to prepare
- If it isn’t your property yet, arrange access through the agent
- Agree roof access with the managing agent if it’s shared
- Let us know about any leaks, stains or damp patches you know of
Getting a price
When you are ready to go ahead, phone 07833 053749 or email us. From there it’s a case of choosing a package, agreeing the price and fixing a day, weekday or weekend.
Related advice
Tips from our surveys
Small things make a difference, both for the survey and for the roof itself. Our tips:
- Tell us if there are tanks or pipes in the loft
- Leave roof access to professionals
- Do not touch fittings that water is reaching
- Check the loft is accessible
Standard includes a follow-up consultation to talk the findings through, and Premium includes an in-person consultation. You can ask us about anything that is not clear.
After a storm, check the roof from the garden and the street. Pieces of slate or tile in the garden mean something has moved. Small faults dealt with quickly rarely become leaks.
Roof leak investigations around Polegate
The coast is about 4 miles or less from Polegate, and being near the sea means more wind and salt than a roof inland would face. Strong wind lifts anything already loose, and driving rain gets in wherever it can, while salt slowly corrodes metal fixings and flashings. About 3.2 miles north-west lies Michelham Priory, a reminder of how long the area around Polegate has been built on. Older homes in the wider area often have features worth a closer look, such as lead valleys, tall stacks and roofs that have been patched over the years, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first.
Anyone responsible for a site like Polegate Primary School will know that tracing a leak on a big roof starts with where the water appears and works back. Take an older house close to St John's Church of England Church: water on an older roof tends to find its way in at the lead, the valleys or the chimney.
Polegate is about 3 miles south of Hailsham, in East Sussex. Polegate is part of the area we cover as part of our work across London and the South East. Polegate is one of the places in East Sussex where we work. Brighton is in our area too.
We work across BN26 for roof leak investigations. Whether your property is on Station Road, High Street and Church Road or anywhere close by, we can survey it. With the A27 and A2270 close by, Polegate is simple for us to get to. If you’re just outside Polegate, we cover Wannock (1 mile south-west), Lower Willingdon (1 mile south), Willingdon (1 mile south), Filching (2 miles south-west) and Folkington (2 miles west). Larger places within reach include Eastbourne (3 miles south-east), Hastings (14 miles east), Bexhill-on-Sea (10 miles east), Seaford (7 miles south-west), Lewes (11 miles west) and Hailsham (3 miles north).
What’s near Polegate
Typical jobs here are in homes near Horse & Groom pub and Willingdon Community School and the streets around them. There’s a railway station in Polegate itself: Polegate station. Other landmarks nearby include Burlough Castle (3.4 miles west) and Eastbourne District General Hospital (2.5 miles south). Green spaces nearby include Combe Hill.
Checking the roof from the ground
The one thing to avoid is getting up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way. That’s where a survey comes in, using safe viewpoints and a drone where applicable.
Fresh stains on ceilings or walls after rain are worth noting. Photograph them and note the date, as it helps a surveyor trace the cause.
Nearby places to Polegate
Also in Polegate
Do you need a roof leak investigation in Polegate?
When a slate slips or a tile cracks, the underlay takes the water. Ageing felt underlay eventually tears and lets water through, and very old roofs may have no underlay at all. Corroded nails, known as ‘nail fatigue’, are a frequent cause on slate roofs.
Most people get in touch when they’ve noticed one of these:
- Damp ceilings under a flat roof
- Wet patches high on an inside wall
- Damp on a chimney breast
- Brown rings on upstairs ceilings
Landlords with a home close to Polegate station may find that tracing a leak quickly matters when a tenant is living with it.
Before booking anyone
- How long they’ve been surveying roofs
- How long the report takes to arrive
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
- Whether the loft space is looked at, where there is one
What this survey can’t tell you
Without opening up the roof, some things stay hidden, so a survey has limits:
- A structural engineer’s report
- An intermittent leak that shows no trace on the day
- The repair itself (the investigation finds and reports the cause)
If you are not sure which survey you need, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will give you a straight answer before you book. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
Roofs we survey in Polegate
- Flat roof details
- Lead flashings
- Slate and tile slopes
- Valleys and parapet gutters
- Chimney stacks
- Rooflights and dormers
- The roof space