The short answer
A look from the garden with a ladder at the eaves is a short visit, often over before the kettle boils. Add the loft, a flat roof or a chimney and the visit grows. A drone flight adds time for the flying and the review, and a written survey takes longer again because the report is done afterwards. Access sets the pace more than anything.
The method sets the time more than the roof does. A quick look and a written survey are different jobs, and they take different amounts of time.
A ground check and ladder look
The quickest inspection is a walk round the house with eyes up. The roofer studies each slope, the ridge (the line along the very top), the chimney stacks, the valleys (the internal angles between slopes) and the gutters. A ladder against the wall at the eaves gives a closer view of the lowest tiles and the fascia, the board behind the gutter. On a normal house with clear access, this is a short visit and the roofer may do it while you make a cup of tea.
What makes a ground check take longer?
Tall houses, long terraces with a shared rear passage, a roof hidden behind trees, and a plot where you cannot see the back slope all add time. So does a fault. When the roofer spots something, they stop to look at it from a second angle and take pictures.
Rain makes a difference too, because wet slate and moss are slippery and a roofer will not put a ladder on a wet surface that is not safe. A dry day keeps the visit short and the results accurate.
Adding the loft, flat roofs and chimneys
Each extra area adds its own time. A loft inspection means moving through the hatch, scanning the rafters and boards with a torch, checking the insulation for damp and looking for daylight. If the loft is clear, it is quick. If it is full of boxes, the roofer works round them or asks you to move them first, and the visit stretches while someone shifts suitcases and old decorations out of the way.
Does a flat roof take longer?
Often, yes, because the covering is one continuous sheet and the faults are subtle: a blister, a split along a joint, a puddle that has not drained a day after the rain. The roofer needs to look at the outlets, the upstands (the short raised edges against a wall), and the surface itself. Our guide to flat roof inspection shows what that involves.
A chimney can add time as well. The roofer checks the flashing, the flaunching (the mortar that beds the chimney pots), the pointing and the stack itself. A tall stack limits what a ladder can show, and a pole camera or a drone speeds the job up without anyone climbing.
Drone flights and written surveys
A drone survey changes where the time goes. The flight itself is brief, because the drone can pass over every slope in a short run. The slower part is going through the footage afterwards, picking out the frames that show a fault and noting where on the roof each one sits, slope by slope, so that the findings can be matched to a repair. MyJobQuote gives £200 to £350 for a drone survey (MyJobQuote, Oct 2026), and part of that fee is the review work that follows the flight.
Why does a written survey take longer than a quick look?
Because the report is half the job. The surveyor inspects, photographs and measures, then writes up what they found, where, and what to do about it. The visit on site might be modest, but the document takes further time at a desk before it reaches you. If a buyer, an insurer or a landlord has asked for it, find out the delivery date first, and do not expect it that afternoon.
Our guide to drone roof surveys explains where they help most, and where a ladder does the job better.
What to plan around
Before the day, clear the ladder spot, open the side gate and move any car that is in the way. Those small things save more time than any clever technique. If you want the loft checked, clear the hatch so the roofer does not have to move your belongings, and decide whether you want to be home, which our answer on being home for a roof inspection covers.
How soon will I hear what the roofer found?
A good roofer tells you on the spot what they saw, shows you the photographs, and says what they think is wrong. A written price follows after the survey, once the roofer has worked out the scale of the job, and that can take a little longer than the visit itself. A report is slower again.
Do not hurry the visit, either. A rushed look misses the hairline crack in a slate or the gap behind the flashing that lets water in during a storm. When you are ready, ask our team for a roof inspection in Taunton or nearby, and say which parts you want covered.
More on inspection times
Will a roofer need the whole day?
Not for an inspection. A house survey fits comfortably inside part of a day, even with the loft and a chimney included. A repair or a re-roof is the work that takes days. If a roofer says an inspection needs a full day, ask what they plan to do in that time.
Does bad weather cancel a roof inspection?
Heavy rain, ice and strong wind can. A roofer should not put a ladder on a wet surface or climb in a gale, and a drone cannot fly safely in wind. A light shower is not a problem for a ground check, but a loft check can go ahead in any weather.
The full picture: Roof inspections in Taunton · More short answers