Most roof defects are reported from the ground with binoculars, because the alternative is scaffolding. That’s a poor basis for a decision about a roof, and it’s no longer the only option.
What the ground doesn’t show you
From ground level on a two or three storey property you can see roughly the lower third of a pitched roof, and the parts of the chimney that face you. Everything else is inference.
What gets missed:
- Slipped, cracked or delaminating slates on upper slopes and hidden pitches
- Failed flashings and soakers at abutments and around chimneys
- Mortar loss and spalling to chimney stacks, and the condition of flaunching and pots
- Valley and hidden gutter condition, which is where a great many leaks begin
- Ridge and hip bedding
- Vegetation and blocked outlets on flat roofs and behind parapets
On a Cotswolds stone roof, where the material is heavy and the detailing particular, the difference between a visual guess and an actual look is considerable.
Why a drone rather than scaffolding
Scaffolding to inspect a roof is expensive and takes time to arrange, and you’re committing to it before you know whether the roof needs anything.
A drone survey produces high resolution imagery of every slope, the chimney, the parapets and the gutters, in a short visit, with no access equipment and no disruption to the occupants. If the imagery shows work is needed, you then put scaffolding up to do the work rather than to look.
It also reaches what scaffolding struggles with: roofs over conservatories and extensions, elevations over a neighbour’s land, and buildings where access would need a licence or a neighbour’s agreement.
On listed and historic buildings
Historic roofs are where the case is strongest. Fixing scaffolding to a listed building has its own considerations, and a non-contact inspection avoids them entirely.
It also allows a condition record to be built up over time: the same roof photographed from the same positions year on year shows deterioration far more reliably than a written description does. See our guides to roof and chimney defects and listed building consent.
Boundary disputes
Aerial imagery has a second use, and it’s a different kind of problem.
Boundary disputes turn on what’s actually on the ground and where it sits relative to the registered extent of the land. Title plans are indicative rather than definitive, and the gap between what the plan shows and what exists is where disputes live.
An aerial view provides:
- A clear record of what’s physically present – fences, walls, hedges, structures – and how they relate to each other
- A plan view of features that can’t be seen properly from the ground, particularly where a boundary runs behind buildings or through dense planting
- A dated record, which matters where the question is what changed and when
- Imagery that can be read against a plan, rather than a description that each party interprets differently
It doesn’t by itself decide where a boundary is. That’s a question of the title documents, the physical evidence, and often the history. But it removes a good deal of the argument about what is actually there.
See our guide to boundary disputes and how surveyors help.
Where it fits with other work
Drone imagery often accompanies a condition survey, a defect investigation or a measured survey rather than standing alone. Combined with internal inspection it gives a complete picture of a roof: what’s happening on top, and what’s showing underneath.
See measured building surveys and schedule of condition surveys.
Talk to us
We carry out drone surveys for roof inspection and boundary matters across the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire and Bath. Get in touch to discuss a property.
Frequently asked questions
For inspection purposes it gives a far better view than the ground does, without access equipment. Where close physical examination is needed, it tells you where to put the scaffolding.
Particularly so, because nothing is fixed to the building and no access equipment is needed.
It records what’s physically present and where, which removes a lot of the argument. Where the boundary legally sits is a separate question involving the title documents and the history.
