Drone Roof Inspection

Why does it always rain on me...

Perhaps Scottish band Travis wrote this song in a cold damp flat prior to stardom. Out of sight is out of mind is how most private home owners manage their property roof until something goes wrong. Damage can quickly lead to significant water ingress costing thousands of pounds in damage. The UK’s increasingly disruptive weather means problems can arise any month of the year from high winds or heavy rain.

You may have been unlucky enough to first have crossed paths with a costly shared bill whilst living in a shared block. With the right home insurance much of the financial burden is covered. But this still leaves weeks of handling quotes and ensuring work is completed by different trades people all while living in a building site. All this can be avoided as a high percentage of faults are slow to occur such as slipped tiles, broken gutters or loose ridge coverings. If you had just know about the problem much of your time could have been saved.

Existing Methods and Limitations

Our first experience with a roof survey is typically within a property home report all Scottish sellers are legally required to provide to buyers. Here a building surveyor has looked from street level with binoculars or out of any roof windows. This poses problems finding suitable viewing angles from across the road or from neighbours gardens but leaves several blind spots.

Prior to camera drones traditional methods beyond this were either: ladder systems, powered access (cherry pickers / scissor lifts), or finally scaffolding. These range from hundreds to thousands of pounds to erect depending on the building height. Most importantly they each have fall danger from working a height should there be a slip. Having someone walking on your roof can also cause additional damage. Other notable mentions are roped access and camera poles.

What is a drone roof inspection?

Conducting roof inspections with drones is providing advantages in terms of speed, coverage, cost savings and more over traditional methods. Drone technology has accelerated over the past decade moving in size from large scary and noisy down to palm size toys. It is now possible to take detailed pictures of your roof with full coverage and precise location with no risk. Therefore a drone roof inspection will save you money giving you the whole picture at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.

Another overlooked benefit is preventative roof maintenance. This solution entails periodic roof inspections to identify roof problems early. This may be triggered actively by storms, or scheduled as part of a pre-winter roof check up. Periodic roof inspection also provides a historical record of the properties condition. This can be valuable for warranty claims on repairs or new installations work such as dormers or roof windows.

Our Offering

Our operators can perform a drone roof inspection on a small to medium property in around 30 minutes. For your piece of mind we are accredited by the CAA for safe use of drones via an Operational Authorisation. Our operations are also insured to £5 Million of public liability cover. On completion of the inspection we can provide you with the images via an email link. It’s your choice if you require a full set of images or just the highlights. We can also provide a digital report or provide a full survey via one of our surveying partners both for an additional fee we will quote ahead of any work.

How It Works? Just fill out the contact form below with you name, email, phone number and requirements. Most importantly please provide your full address or link to a map pin. We require this information to plan a safe flight. We can still fly near airports but require additional time to gain authorisation. Ahead of the day please make any family members or neighbours aware a drone inspection will be taking place. Some people are naturally wary given the bad press drones receive. On the day one of our operators will first meet you and go over any of your concerns.