Drone roof surveys
We fly your roof.You keep the survey.
A measured survey of your roof — imagery, dimensions, pitch and every defect we can see — is yours to keep whether or not you hire us. No hostage quote, no doorstep close.
- Roof area
- TBD
- Pitch
- TBD
- Slate count
- TBD
- Defects found
- TBD
The survey is yours.
Hire us or don't. The imagery, the measurements and the defect list are sent to you either way, in a format you can hand to another roofer.
Measured, then priced.
Area, pitch and course count are read off the survey, not estimated from the kerb. The arithmetic is shown beside the figure it produced.
No ladder to quote.
A survey flight puts no weight on the slates and no ladder against the gutter. We only set foot up there once there is work to do.
Four steps, no mystery
This is the whole process, start to finish. If anything below does not happen at your house, we have not done the job.
Step 01: We arrive and set up
The pilot walks the perimeter, checks the airspace and takes off from the pavement or your drive. Nothing is attached to the building and nothing is leaned against it.
Step 02: The roof is flown
A grid pass at fixed height, then obliques of every pitch, valley, ridge and stack. Twenty to forty minutes for a typical terrace or semi.
Step 03: Measured from the imagery
The imagery is scaled against known dimensions on the building, then areas, pitches and course counts are taken off it. You see the same pictures we do.
Step 04: You get the survey
A measured drawing, the defect list, and the imagery it was read from — sent to you within a few working days. Yours to keep, and yours to shop around with.
A real survey, marked up
This is one pitch of one roof, marked up the way yours would be. Four findings, each with what it is, what caused it and what it would take to put right.
Select a marker to read its finding. Every one of them is written out below the photograph as well — a defect you can only find by hovering a picture is not a record of anything.
01 · slipped
Two slates slipped, sixth course
Nail fatigue rather than impact — the slates below are sound. A localised strip and re-hang, not a re-roof.
02 · cracked
Cracked ridge tile at the stack
One tile split along its length where the ridge meets the stack. Water is reaching the bedding mortar behind it.
03 · moss
Moss holding water in the courses
Heavy on the shaded pitch. It is not urgent, but it keeps the laps wet and it is what will age these slates fastest.
04 · perished
Perished mortar along the verge
The bedding has gone soft over roughly two metres. Repointing the verge is the cheapest thing on this list and the one we would do first.
What we work in
A survey names the material it found, because what a repair costs depends on it. These are the four we see most, photographed rather than described.
Slate, in courses - Weight
- TBD
- Expected life
- TBD
Flashing and detail - Code
- TBD
- Expected life
- TBD
Clay pantile - Weight
- TBD
- Expected life
- TBD
Profiled steel sheet - Gauge
- TBD
- Expected life
- TBD
Weights, gauges and expected lives read TBD: this is a template, and a specification invented to look convincing is worse than an empty field. The buyer fills them from their own supplier's data.
What we won’t do
None of the four below is a favour. They are the things this trade does that we decided not to do, written down so you can hold us to them — and so you can ask the next roofer whether they will put the same list in writing.
No same-day pressure pricing.
The figure we give you on Tuesday is the figure on Friday. There is no discount for signing now, because there was never a loading for thinking about it.
No finance up-sell on the doorstep.
We do not introduce lenders, we are not paid a commission by one, and nobody will produce a payment plan while standing in your hallway.
No charge for the survey if you walk away.
The survey fee covers the survey. You keep the drawing and the imagery whether the work goes to us, to somebody else, or nowhere at all.
No subcontracting without telling you first.
If part of the job goes to another firm — scaffolding usually does — you are told who and why before it is booked, not after they arrive.
One survey, one price
Survey fee, per property
£240
Charged once, whatever the survey finds, and not charged again if you decide against the work. If you do hire us, it comes off the first invoice.
Figures are illustrative placeholders for this template.
What the fee includes
- The flight itself, and a second flight if the weather cuts the first one short.
- A measured drawing of every pitch, with areas, pitches and course counts.
- The full defect list, each item with a cause and a suggested remedy.
- The raw imagery the measurements were read from, at full resolution.
- A costed repair schedule, itemised, with nothing bundled into a single figure.
Charged separately
- Scaffolding, and any access equipment a repair needs.
- Internal inspection — lofts, ceilings and anything requiring entry.
- Structural engineering reports, where a survey finds we need one.
- The repair work itself, which is quoted from the schedule above.
Frank answers
Including the awkward ones — what happens in bad weather, whether the survey is really yours to keep, and what we do when the drone cannot fly at all. If a question you have is not here, it is because nobody has asked it yet, not because we would rather not say.
What happens if the weather stops the flight?
We rebook, at no extra charge, and we will keep rebooking. A drone will not fly safely in rain or above roughly 20mph of wind, and a survey flown in marginal conditions produces imagery too soft to measure from. Nobody is served by us pushing it.
Is the survey really free to keep?
The survey is not free — it is £240, illustratively, and you pay for it. What is unconditional is that it is yours: the drawing, the defect list and the imagery are sent to you regardless of who does the work, and there is nothing in it that only we can read.
What if the drone can't fly at your property?
It happens: restricted airspace near an airfield, no safe launch point, or overhanging trees that make the pass useless. We check the airspace before we book, and if we find out on the day we do not charge you.
Can you survey a flat roof, or a very tall building?
Flat roofs, yes, and they photograph well from above. Buildings over three storeys we take case by case — the flight itself is fine, but the repair access usually is not, and we would rather say so before you pay for a survey.
Do you use the survey to find work that isn't there?
You can check. Every finding names what it is, where it is and what caused it, against imagery you also hold. Take it to another roofer and ask them whether they agree — that is the point of you keeping it.
How long before I get it?
A few working days for most properties. If it is going to be longer than that, we tell you when we book rather than when you chase.
Book a flight window
Tell us where the roof is. We will come back with two or three windows that suit the forecast, and confirm the fee before anything is booked.
- Telephone
- TBD
- TBD
- Office
- TBD
- Covering
- TBD — the buyer's service area
Contact details read TBD because this is a template for a fictional company. An invented number would look exactly as real as a true one, and would be worth nothing.