Diagnosis
How a roof survey works — and what a drone actually adds
What happens during a roof survey, what a written condition report contains, and where drone inspection genuinely beats ladders and scaffold.
- Written by working roofers
- Cumbria-specific
- Updated 2025-03-05
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Emergency roofing response across Cumbria and the Borders, answered day and night.
The short answer
A roof survey inspects the covering, ridge, verges, valleys, flashings, chimneys, roofline and — where accessible — the loft, and produces a written condition report with photographs, a diagnosis and prioritised options. Drone inspection adds close, high-resolution imagery of areas that would otherwise need scaffold, which makes surveying large, steep, tall or occupied buildings both safer and quicker.
Key points
What to take away
- A survey should produce a document, not just a verbal opinion
- Photographs of each defect let you verify what you are paying for
- Drone imagery removes scaffold cost from the diagnosis stage
- Prioritised options let you phase work around a budget
What we inspect
Covering condition and fixings, ridge and hip lines, verges, valleys and gutters, chimney stacks, flashings and abutments, roofline timber and rainwater goods, and loft-side evidence of ingress, ventilation and timber condition where access allows.
What you receive
A written condition report with photographs, a plain-English diagnosis of what is failing and why, urgency ranking, and repair-or-replace options with the reasoning behind each. It is a document you can put in front of a landlord, a board, a buyer or an insurer.
Where drone survey wins
Tall or steeply pitched roofs, large commercial and estate roofs, listed buildings where scaffold is intrusive, and occupied premises where access disruption matters. It is a diagnostic tool, not a replacement for hands-on inspection where hands-on inspection is what the roof needs.
Common questions
Services
Related services
Go deeper in the advice centre
This guide is the long read. These answers take the same subject question by question — the evidence to look for, how serious it is, and what your options are.
- Diagnose your roof
- Roof inspections
- Can a drone inspect chimneys, valleys and flashings?
- Can a drone inspection avoid the need for scaffolding?
- Can a drone inspection find the cause of a roof leak?
- Can a drone roof inspection save money?
Keep reading
Related guides
Ten signs your roof needs attention (and which ones are urgent)
The urgent signs are active dripping, a sagging or bulging ceiling, daylight visible in the loft, and slates or tiles on the ground after a storm — those need a call the same day. Damp patches, blown render, blocked gutters, moss build-up, loose ridge mortar and rust-stained fixings are warnings you should have inspected within weeks, not hours.
What actually affects the cost of a roof in Cumbria
Roofing costs are driven by access and scaffolding, roof size and pitch, the covering material, the amount of leadwork and detailing, and the condition of the timber underneath, which is only fully known once the covering is stripped. A quote that ignores any of these is not comparable with one that includes them.
Get a written diagnosis on your roof
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