East Sussex · London and the South East
Forest Row Roof Survey
A roof condition survey for homes and buildings in Forest Row, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Get in touch for a price.
- Worn lead at chimneys and abutments
- Leaking gutter joints and downpipes
- Debris building up in roof valleys
What you can safely check yourself
What you cannot do safely is get up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way. That part is for a survey, using safe viewpoints and a drone where it applies.
You can learn a lot from the ground. With binoculars, look for slipped or missing slates and tiles, gaps along the ridge and leaning chimneys. Please don’t climb up for a closer look.
How a roof survey works in Forest Row
The report is written for you, in plain language. Each defect is described with photographs and a recommendation, and we rank them by urgency where that helps. With the Standard Survey you also get moisture detection and a structural check. The Premium Survey goes further, with thermal imaging, a drone where applicable and a same-day report. Reports are sent by email. Common reasons to book are gaps in the roof where coverings have gone and cracked mortar along the ridge, on the roof space, clay and concrete tiles and chimney stacks.
Houses in smaller places like Forest Row can face open ground, where wind and driving rain hit the roof harder. That weather tells first on ridges, verges, chimneys and flashings. Checking those edges shows whether anything has begun to work loose. A loose ridge tile or slate gives the wind something to catch, and others soon follow.
We write the report in plain English, so it makes sense without any roofing background. Each point is backed by a photo where possible, and recommendations are put by urgency where it matters.
- Location
- Forest Row (RH18)
- Wider area
- East Sussex
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Common questions in Forest Row
How do I find out if my home in Forest Row is listed?
Your council is the best source, with Historic England’s list for listed buildings. A change of roofing material may need consent in either case, and councils can also use Article 4 directions.
I let a flat near East Grinstead station. Can you check the roof?
Yes, that’s a common request. Let us know whether a tenant or an agent will let us in, and the report can go straight to you or your agent.
Can you look at a roof that’s joined to next door?
Yes, we inspect your part of the roof. Next door’s roof is only inspected as far as we can see it. Shared stacks and upstands are looked at from your property.
Does this replace a RICS home survey?
No. We’re experienced roof surveyors, and our survey covers the roof rather than the whole building. For the rest of the building, a RICS home survey is a separate job.
What’s the best way to book?
Just call 07833 053749 or email us with the address. We’ll ask a few questions, confirm the price and agree a date, weekday or weekend.
Do you carry professional indemnity insurance?
Our cover is professional indemnity plus public liability, and details are available on request.
Does a roof survey replace a structural engineer?
No. Where we see something that needs a structural engineer, the report says so. We do not provide structural calculations.
What affects the price in Forest Row
We confirm the exact price before booking. This is what makes a difference:
- The size of the roof
- The shape of the roof and its details
- House, block, shop or office
- The package you choose: Basic, Standard or Premium
Roof survey starts from £150, including VAT. Basic starts from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, VAT included, and we will tell you which fits.
Helping us price your survey
Here’s what helps us most when you get in touch:
- The kind of building and roof involved
- The reason for the survey, such as buying, a leak or storm damage
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
- Photos of the roof, taken safely from ground level or a window
We survey roofs on weekdays and at weekends. To arrange a day that suits you, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Roof surveys around Forest Row
The wider area around Forest Row has a long history of building, with Standen about 2.3 miles west. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. Where the drone is part of the survey, the flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first.
For an older house near a landmark such as The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, the nails, lead and mortar on the roof may be wearing out even where the slates or tiles look fine. Landlords with a home close to East Grinstead station may find that a roof report between tenancies helps plan work before a small defect becomes a tenant’s leak.
Forest Row is about 3 miles south-east of East Grinstead, in East Sussex. If you are in Forest Row, booking works exactly as it does anywhere else: a call or an email, a price, then a date. Our area takes in places right across East Sussex, from the larger towns to small villages. Our Crawley page covers surveys nearby.
Surveys in RH18 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover properties on Evelyn Clark Square, Station Road and London Road. If you are just outside Forest Row, we cover Coleman's Hatch (1 mile east), Wych Cross (2 miles south), Upper Hartfield (2 miles east), Chelwood Gate (3 miles south) and Birchgrove (3 miles south-west). Larger places within reach include Lewes (15 miles south), Crowborough (6 miles south-east), Uckfield (9 miles south), South Malling (15 miles south), Heathfield (13 miles south-east) and Southover (15 miles south).
Landmarks near Forest Row
In Forest Row, that means homes and buildings near Foresters Arms and Greenfields School and the streets around them. The closest station to Forest Row is East Grinstead station, roughly 3.2 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include East Grinstead Museum (2.8 miles north-west) and Bolebroke Castle (3.6 miles north-east).
Do you need a roof survey in Forest Row?
Slates and tiles often outlast the fixings that hold them. On slate roofs, corroded nails let slates slip, which is known as ‘nail fatigue’. On tiled roofs, battens and pegs can rot.
Typical things we’re asked to look at include:
- Loose ridge or hip tiles
- Crumbling chimney pointing or cracked flaunching
- Standing water on a flat roof
- Slates or tiles that have slipped or broken
Take a building like Forest Row Church of England Primary School: a written record of a large roof helps plan work for the holidays rather than in term time.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Whether VAT is added on top
- How they plan to inspect the roof safely
- What they will not be able to tell you
- Do they have a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID for drone work?
How it works
You don’t need to do much on the day. Show us any stains, drips or problem areas you know about, and we’ll get on with the inspection. The survey itself takes an hour or two for most homes, depending on how many separate roofs there are. For a survey in Forest Row, we agree the time, the access and parking before the day. Weekday and weekend visits are both possible. Let us know about any garages, outbuildings or extensions you want included.
- We start by hearing what you’d like checked and why.
- We arrange a day that suits you, including weekends.
- The roof is inspected from the ground, windows, the loft and the roof itself where it’s safe.
- We check the coverings, ridges, hips, valleys, flashings, chimneys and gutters, and photograph what we find.
- Your report arrives by email, with recommendations prioritised by urgency.
Before we arrive
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
- Make sure we can get to the back of the property
- Have any paperwork from past roof work to hand
Booking a survey
Booking is simple: just phone 07833 053749 or email us and give us some details about the property and we will recommend the right survey. The price is agreed up front.
Advice
Landlords, agents and block managers in Forest Row
We survey roofs for letting agents and landlords as well as householders. The report gives you a dated record of the roof, with photos, useful for planning maintenance.
Freeholders and residents’ companies use a roof report to plan and budget.
Places near Forest Row
What else we do in Forest Row
Leave it or get it looked at?
Leaving it means relying on what you can see from ground level. You might pay for work that does not fix the real problem, or to a real problem being missed. We tell you what’s really needed. Around Forest Row, leaves and moss in gutters lead to overflowing water and damp walls. It is easy to sort the cause early and slow to dry a damp wall.
What a survey costs comes down to the roof itself: how big it is, how high it is, the number of separate roofs and how it can be reached and seen safely. Our price is from £150, including VAT.
Why book us in Forest Row
- Packages from £150, inc. VAT
- 20+ years’ experience
- PI and public liability insurance
- Plain-English reports with photos
Take a look at what a roof survey costs and our case studies.