Roof Surveys
Roof surveys are strongly recommended in cases where the condition of the roof is in question due to age, condition or geographical location.
Find out before tendering the works, because not all roofing contractors visit site before submitting their tender documents.
Why Do You Need A Roof Survey?
Liquasil is the UK’s only roof coatings manufacturer that is owned and operated by building surveyors.
Because of this, we know exactly what can and what cannot be coated and will always provide you with clear, objective and unbiased recommendations that you won’t always get from other coating manufacturers.
Our building surveyors can help professional specifiers in a number of ways, including visiting site and conducting the actual survey, or simply providing recommendations from photographs you supply.
However, we recommend a full survey in cases where roofs have been coated or treated previously, since prior repairs can hide a multitude of defects, rendering a roof unrepairable.
Surveys are available for metal and asbestos roofs on industrial premises only.
Free Roof Surveys
As a roof coatings manufacturer, we are keen to provide as much assistance as possible to professional specifiers and for this reason, we can provide free roof surveys when Liquasil products are being specified on live projects.
The scope of a free survey is limited to determine whether or not a roof can or cannot be coated, based on the current condition of the roof.
A free survey does not include professional advice and is used solely and exclusively for the specification of Liquasil products.
Safe access costs are charged at cost. Typically, £550 for cherry picker hire, but varies depending on height and location.
Paid Roof Surveys
For those seeking the assurance of a professional roof survey, we offer a roof surveying service via our own chartered building surveying practice.
The difference is that by paying for a survey, you are receiving professional advice that’s 100% impartial and does not make specific reference to Liquasil products.
Your report will also include budget-cost indications for a number of different options, including coating, over-cladding and replacement roof.
This service is open to landlords, tenants, surveyors and contractors.
For more information, please see our dedicated roof survey site.
Direct Access
We strongly recommend the use of a cherry picker to conduct roof surveys. They allow the surveyor to directly access or get close to the roof surface so that any defects can be identified, examined and documented. Roofs can only be accessed where it is safe to do so.
Drone Survey
Drone surveys can be conducted when weather and flight conditions allow. Flights cannot take place in restricted areas such as close proximity to airports and flight paths. It should also be noted that although drone photography can be very good, it is also quite limited for identifying certain defects.
Desktop Study
If you have conducted your own roof survey or have detailed photographs of your roof, a desktop study might be appropriate. Our specialist roofing surveyors can use your images to provide an indication as to whether or not your roof is suitable for coating.
Hidden Roof Defects
Hiring a cherry picker to get access to an industrial roof might seem like an added expense, but it really can pay dividends, since it allows the surveyor to see exactly what is happening at roof level and make the correct assumptions with regard to coating and other repairs.
In the image opposite, you can see where a previously treated area of cut edge corrosion has been scraped away to reveal extensive corrosion beneath, leading to perforation of the roof sheets.
If this defect was not known prior to works commencing, any roof coating specification would have been incorrect.
This would have resulted in substantial, additional costs that had not been budgeted for.
The cost of a cherry picker is around £550. The extra cost of treating a defect like this can run into several thousand pounds.
It is not always posible to identify the extent of damage to a roof from drone surveys or non-specific photographs.