RoofSurveys&InspectionsinBournemouth&Poole
An honest written assessment of what your roof actually needs. Useful before you buy a house, and just as useful when somebody has already quoted you for a new one.
- A written report with photographs from roof level
- What needs doing now, what can wait, and what does not need doing at all
- We will happily tell you the roof is fine
Book a survey
Tell us about the property and what you need to know.
- 1–2 wksA full re-roof, start to finish
- 15–20 yrGuarantee on roofs we install
- 5.0 ★From 21 Google reviews
- BothOwners on every job
What a roof survey gives you
A roof survey is somebody who does the work going up and telling you, in writing and with photographs, what state your roof is actually in. Not what it looks like from the pavement, and not what a quote assumes. We do them for three kinds of people. Buyers, whose homebuyer report has said the roof is beyond the scope of the inspection and recommended a specialist. Owners with a problem, who want to know whether it is a repair or a replacement before anyone starts selling them something. And people who have already had a quote and want a second opinion on whether the work in it is genuinely needed. That last one is the reason this page exists. If you have been told your roof needs replacing and something about it did not sit right, that is worth checking. Sometimes we confirm it. Often we do not.
- For buyers, owners with a problem, and second opinions on someone else's quote
- A written report with photographs from roof level
- Clear separation of urgent, soon, and not needed
Surveying from roof level
Step 1We look at all of it
Covering, ridge, valleys, flashings, chimney, roofline and the loft side of the felt. The details matter more than the tiles.
Step 2We photograph everything
You cannot see your own roof, so you should not have to take anyone's word for it. Every finding comes with a picture.
Step 3We tell you what it needs
Urgent, worth doing soon, or leave it alone. Including the parts that are perfectly fine, because that is useful to know too.
Written
Report, not a verbal opinion
Photos
Of every finding
3
Priority levels, clearly separated
5
Towns we cover
What we look at
A roof is a system. Checking the tiles and stopping there tells you almost nothing.
The covering
Tiles or slates, and crucially whether they are failing across the whole roof or in one area. That single distinction decides repair or replacement.
Flashings and valleys
Where the roof meets a chimney, a wall or another slope. This is where most roofs actually leak, and where most quotes gloss over.
Ridge and hips
Mortar bedding cracks with age on every roof. Loose ridge tiles are both a leak and a falling hazard.
The loft side
The underside of the membrane, the timbers, and any staining that tells us where water has been getting in. You learn more in a loft than on a roof.
Ventilation
Whether the roof space can breathe. A lot of what gets reported as a leak is condensation from a roof that was sealed shut.
Roofline and guttering
Fascias, soffits and gutters. Cheap to fix, and the cause of expensive damage elsewhere when they are left.
Straight answer
What a survey costs
Quotes are free. Reports are a piece of work.
If you want us to look at a problem and price the fix, that visit is free, the same as any other quote. If you want a written condition report with photographs, for a purchase or a second opinion, that is a proper piece of work and it is charged for. We will tell you which you need when you call.
- Coming out to look at a problem and quote it: free
- A written report with photographs: charged, and quoted upfront
- The report is yours, whether or not you use us for the work
- No obligation to have anything done
We would rather charge honestly for a report than give it away and make the money back by finding work that is not there.
How a survey runs
Usually an hour or two at the property, and the report follows.
You tell us why you want one
Buying a house, chasing a problem, or checking somebody else's quote. It changes what we pay most attention to.
We inspect the roof
From roof level rather than the ground, covering the tiles, the details, the ridge and the roofline.
We inspect the loft
The underside of the membrane and the timbers. Staining up there tells us where water has been getting in and for how long.
You get the report
Written, with photographs, separating what is urgent from what can wait from what does not need doing.
We answer your questions
Including awkward ones about another roofer's quote. We will give you a straight answer rather than a diplomatic one.
What surveys turn up
Photographs from real inspections across Bournemouth and Poole.
Captions name what was found and where.
What customers say
We are a new company and we are building this up honestly. These are the jobs people have been kind enough to comment on.
Sam Young
Southern Counties Roofing completed a full re roof for me. I was very pleased with outcome and there professionalism. Would deffo recommend.
Kris Pass
Great job, thanks guys. Would highly recommend.
Clive Curley
Nice guys to deal with and a good price a1
Jobs worth reading about
The things people ask
Including the one everybody is too polite to ask directly.
Will you just find work for yourselves?
It is a fair question and it is why the report is written and photographed. Everything we say needs doing comes with a picture of why. If your roof is sound, the report says so, and that is a perfectly good outcome.
Can you check another roofer's quote?
Yes, and we do it regularly. Send us the quote, we will look at the roof, and we will tell you honestly whether the work in it is needed. Sometimes it is.
I am buying the house, not living in it
That is one of the commonest reasons people book. We need access arranged with the seller or the agent, and the report goes to you.
What a bad roof inspection looks like
If any of these sound like the inspection you have had, it is worth getting a second look.
Nobody actually got on the roof
An assessment made from the ground, from a ladder at the gutter, or from a drone photo, tells you about the tiles and almost nothing about the flashings, the valleys or the ridge, which is where roofs really fail.
No photographs
You cannot see your own roof. A verbal report about a part of the house you have never laid eyes on asks you to take a great deal on trust, and it leaves you nothing to compare a second opinion against.
Everything is urgent
Real roofs have a mix of things that need doing now, things that can wait a few years, and things that are perfectly fine. A report where every item is critical is a sales document.
The loft was never looked at
The underside of the membrane shows where water has been getting in and for how long. Skipping the loft is skipping the single most informative ten minutes of the whole inspection.
If you have been told you need a new roof
A full roof replacement is a serious amount of money, and it is one of the few purchases where the buyer has no way of checking the thing being sold. You cannot see your roof. You are being asked to accept a diagnosis about a part of your house you have never laid eyes on, usually from somebody you met twenty minutes ago.
Most roofers are straight. But the incentive is obvious, and the customers who come to us most often are the ones who have already been through it. People who had a repair sold as a replacement. People who have had the same patch of ceiling fixed three times. One customer had put up with a leak for over ten years and been quoted for a whole roof more than once.
So this is what a second opinion is for. We go up, we look properly, we photograph what we find, and we tell you whether the work you have been quoted for is genuinely needed. Sometimes it is, and we will say so plainly, because a roof that has actually failed needs replacing and pretending otherwise helps nobody.
Often it is not. The most common finding is that a leak near a chimney or a wall is a failed lead detail rather than a failed covering. We repaired one of those in Dorchester in about four hours, on a roof that had been quoted for replacement. That is a difference of several thousand pounds, and the only way the homeowner could have known was to get somebody else up there.
The other common finding is a roof that genuinely is tired but has five or ten years left in it. That is a legitimate thing to know. It lets you plan and budget rather than being pushed into spending now.
None of this requires you to use us for the work afterwards. The report is yours. If the honest answer is that your roof is fine, we will write that down and you will have paid for peace of mind, which is a reasonable thing to buy.
Questions about roof surveys
What does a roof survey cost?
Coming out to look at a problem and quote the fix is free, the same as any other quote. A written condition report with photographs, for a house purchase or a second opinion, is a piece of work and is charged for. We will quote it upfront and tell you which one you actually need.
Can you check a quote I have already had?
Yes, and we are asked to regularly. Send us the quote, we will inspect the roof, and we will tell you honestly whether the work in it is needed. Sometimes we confirm it. Often we find the problem is a detail rather than the whole covering.
I am buying a house and the survey flagged the roof
That is very common. Homebuyer reports routinely say the roof was inspected from ground level only and recommend a specialist. We can look properly and give you something you can negotiate with.
Do you go up on the roof?
Yes. An inspection from the ground tells you about the tiles and almost nothing about the flashings, valleys and ridge, which is where roofs actually fail. We also look in the loft, which is often more informative than the roof itself.
What is in the report?
What we found, photographed, separated into what needs doing now, what is worth doing in the next few years, and what does not need doing at all. Plus an honest estimate of how much life the covering has left.
Do I have to use you for the work?
No. The report is yours to do what you like with, including taking it to another roofer. We would rather you had an accurate picture of your roof than felt committed to us.
How long does it take?
Usually an hour or two at the property depending on the size and access, and the written report follows afterwards.
- Service
Roof Repairs
Where the survey finds a repair rather than a replacement.
Learn more - Service
Roof Replacement
Where the covering genuinely has reached the end.
Learn more - Service
Chimneys & Leadwork
The details a survey most often finds at fault.
Learn more - Service
Roofline & Guttering
Cheap to fix, expensive to ignore.
Learn more
Where we survey roofs
Based in Bournemouth, working across the conurbation and the towns just outside it.
Find out what your roof actually needs
Before you buy the house, or before you accept the quote. We will tell you straight, and we are happy to tell you it is fine.
Get a free quote
Tell us what you need and we'll come back with a price. No pressure, no hard sell.
Prefer to talk? Call Southern Counties Roofworks Ltd on 07895 305286