Glass half full or half empty?
It’s amazing how, depending upon where you stand (literally in the case of Chartered Building Surveyors or structural Engineers) you can see things differently. It takes experience and knowledge as well as thoughtful assessment to decide what is best and consider costs and value also it’s amazing how Costs soon add up!
Valley gutters can be problematic Drone aerial view - 360 photo
Take a Good look at an Example Building Survey CLICK HERE
Before you really can choose the right Surveyor you need to see what they can do - Ask to see an example Building Survey - Take a good look at the Executive Summary:-
Does it make sense?
Can you understand it?
Does it give you advice or sit on the fence?
Does it give you costs?
Does it give you options of what to do Does it really help you?
Replaced roof ridge tiles photo taken using a drone
Balanced View - Eyes wide open view
We appreciate when you have lived in a house awhile you can sometimes no longer see things or if you are an incentivised Estate Agent keen to sell a property you may say whatever is needed to sell the property knowing that by law the Buyer has to find the problem. Just read the same print on an estate agents details or ask a solicitor or legal adviser you trust about “caveat emptor.” The principle is that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods before a purchase is made - "Caveat emptor” still applies when you are buying your house!
This is why it is so important to a have a building survey to ensure your eyes are opened to any property problems and associated costs prior to committing to purchase your new home.
Tudor Example Survey
Grade II Listed Tudor house
Georgian Example Survey
Grade II Listed Georgian house
Regency Example Survey
Grade II Listed Regency house
Victorian Example Survey
Grade II Listed Victorian house
Drones and building surveys
Aerial view - 360 Photo via Drone of roof and chimney
Our Building Surveyors use drones (and similar devices) to access difficult to observe areas of buildings to take aerial view 360 photos to assist and identify problem areas.
In the past building surveyors used ladders, or access/views from windows and experience and knowledge of typical problems - whilst these methods are still used the Surveyor rarely got a very good view of some areas of the building.
For example:
Main roofs, chimneys, gutters and famously problematic areas like valley gutters and flat roofs.
Prior to the use of drones Surveyors used long ladders, cherry pickers, scaffold towers or scaffolding to view high-level areas. Due to the cost of hiring this type of viewing platform frequently this was not used until prior to work commencing on the high-level areas. If this type of viewing platform was available the Surveyor could get a good view but if not it limited how and what the Surveyor could advise on.
Hiring and erecting scaffolding is expensive and time consuming whereas using a drone is quick and less expensive.
Building Surveyors using Drones
Looking at deterioration to a high-level chimney
Within our building surveys we include many aerial view 360 photos many of which are taken using drones or high-level static poles using wifi to a camera. A drone used for structural building surveys is a great tool enabling not only digital high-resolution photography but also thermal imaging and 3D mapping of properties too.
We believe that we are at the forefront of Building Surveyors using drones and whether looking at a Listed Building or modern home drones help making our building surveys the best money can buy.
Drones and other similar devices are a great way to view areas of the building (you do need expertise to fly them close to buildings particularly on poor weather days). The views and photos that can be achieved by using drones (and similar devices) allows a better understanding of any problems and this in turn allows a good Surveyor to give good recommendations and costs before you commit to buy a property or agree to costs of a repair.
We are always keen to use technology, however we equally understand sometimes the old tested ways are the best.
What is a Drone?
Inspecting high-level flat roof
A Drone is the common name used by the public for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) in other words an aircraft without a human pilot. Drones are controlled by various methods including:-
Remote control by individual located on the ground or another vehicle
On board computers
For some time now Drones have been available on the market for the military, commercial use and hobbyists and we are hearing more and more about them via the media. As is often the case with new technology drones were at first expensive but have subsequently become more affordable. Drones too have developed from their early days where they reached lower heights and stability and quality of imagery was limited. Today’s drones reach high altitudes; carry high quality cameras with complex software with less expensive models available too.
Our Surveyors use drones during structural building surveys to inspect high-level areas and as drone technology has improved we have up-dated our drones to the latest on the market giving excellent results to help with our surveys.
Drones in the media
Inspecting chimney lead flashings
The mainstream media frequently have articles about drones such as
BBC News: ‘Drone’ hits BA plane: Police investigate Heathrow incident
BBC News: “Why the future of drones is up in the air”
Evening Standard: “Drone pilot ‘breaks every rule in book’ with incredible video footage of London”
Sky News: “Calls to Police over drones up by 2,000%”
Daily Mail: British drone strikes have killed 305 ISIS targets in the last year without causing ANY civilian casualties
Whether scare mongering or promoting drones are a media topic that is frequently making headlines with the drone market expected to be worth higher and higher figures.