Have you noticed that your home or property is not very energy efficient? Have you noticed areas of your roof that look degraded? One way to find out if your roof is sound and optimising the efficiency of your premises is by getting a roof survey. There are actually several different types of roof surveys, depending on your needs. If you have any doubts about your roof, having a thorough and accurate roof inspection could save you thousands of pounds. These inspections can spot damaged or potential problem areas early so that they can be repaired before becoming a bigger issue.

Roof Survey Types

• Visual Roof Survey- as is suggested by the name, is an inspector physically examining your roof, gutters and all roof coverings, if safe to do so.

• Extended Camera Survey- if a roof is of average height but has fragile roof coverings, the inspector can use an extended camera to provide a thorough examination.

• MEWP Survey- this is used for commercial roofing where the roof level is too high for inspectors to gain access vial ladders or access hatches. The MEWP, gives access to roofs up to 100m high.

• Drone Roof Inspection- for either excessively high or unsafe roofing systems, a drone roof inspection can provide an alternative to scaffolding for examination.

• Core Sampling- if a roof is suspected of retaining moisture, the most effective and least invasive testing method is doing a core sampling. Special cutting tools are used to take a small sample of the roof, which is immediately sealed in a water tight container to be taken for testing. This will help determine where and why a roof might be retaining water.

• Thermal Roof Survey- prior to core sampling, one of the quickest ways to detect moisture in a roof is using thermal cameras to identify leaks, trapped moisture or areas that are poorly insulated.

• Electronic Leak Detection- using precision technology, that is non-invasive, leaks can be located and marked for repair.

• Moisture Probe- can be necessary to find specific areas that have suffered damage by exposing small areas of roofing and using the probe to test.

• Moisture Scanning- is an alternative moisture detection, which also used infra-red thermal detection to analyse moisture levels. This if for building that are rarely heated, contain heat sources at roof level or the roofs surface comprises of chippings.

By knowing what each of these survey types do or are for, it will help give you a better understanding of what type of roof survey you may need.