Building surveys in East Dulwich: choose the right report

Connect an East Dulwich attic room to the roof drawing

If the purchase includes a room in the roof, show its position beneath the slope and any front or rear dormer. Ask for the drawings relating to the conversion, including changes to the stair and openings. Identify which voids remain accessible and which are concealed by linings or storage.

Where a parapet obscures the covering from street level, state what other views or records are available. A marketing photograph of the front elevation may omit the junction relevant to an internal stain. Supply the room location and previous repair dates without assigning the leak to a particular source before inspection.

Terraces and villas set different traps

The record describes modest late-Victorian terraces beside semi-detached villas whose shared valleys, paired elevations and asymmetric extensions redirect loads and rainwater. The survey identifies which form the subject takes and reads each side's alterations separately, because a paired building's defects rarely respect the legal boundary down its middle.

Roof first, room second

Coverings, party upstands, valleys, stacks and outlets are recorded as the starting point before internal staining is explained. The report traces plausible external routes from safe viewpoints and accessible voids, and where the roof cannot be seen closely it says so and specifies the access a reliable repair decision would need.

Addition seams carry the risk

Side returns, rear extensions and loft work are recorded for checking where new construction meets old: open joints, differential movement, cold bridging and concealed bearings. The survey separates observed findings from further-investigation needs at each seam, so the owner can sequence repairs and document requests instead of facing one undifferentiated list.

Lordship Lane mixes homes and commerce

Homes above shops are recorded with older masonry, changed openings, shopfront structure and extract routes, where commercial and residential repairing duties interleave. The condition report maps which fabric serves which occupier and pairs its findings with the leases and insurance arrangements that decide who pays for what.

Modern infill is surveyed on its own terms

The record recognises modern infill and purpose-built blocks whose cladding, balconies, flat roofs and communal systems should not be read through a Victorian template. The report adapts its method to the observed construction and directs the buyer to warranties, management records and planned works for the elements a visual inspection cannot resolve.

Recorded inspection topics

• Read the roof before the room below
• Trace every addition seam
• Interrogate walls, bays and openings
• Separate flat from freehold fabric
• Connect levels, drains and gardens

Document the route from old house to extended rear rooms

Where the East Dulwich purchase has a side-return or rear extension, mark the original rear wall and the later opening on the plan. Ask for the structural and completion information that relates to that opening. Keep rooflight installation and subsequent roof repairs in chronological order so that the same junction can be followed across the documents.

Show any change in floor level between the older range and added accommodation. If the seller reports earlier damp treatment, identify its location and the investigation supporting it. A conservation description of neighbouring roofs cannot replace this house’s record of alterations and reported problems.