Devon · EX31-EX32
Drone services in Barnstaple
North Devon's main town, where high rainfall and long wetting periods do the damage, and the trading estates carry as much roof area as the housing does.
Wet, and wet for a long time
Atlantic weather comes up the Taw estuary from the west with very little in the way, and rainfall here is high. Prolonged wetting rather than dramatic storm damage is the main agent of decay.
That produces slow, gradual findings: moss holding water against slate, mortar bedding softening, growth in valleys, a gutter that has been full since autumn.
None of it is exciting and all of it is cheap to catch and expensive to ignore, which makes routine condition surveys worth more here than reactive ones.
The steep wooded slopes rising north towards Exmoor mean the higher parts of the town see more wind than the low ground beside the river.
The Taw is tidal here, and the low ground beside it holds damp air that keeps shaded slopes wet, which is why two identical roofs at different levels in this town can be in visibly different condition.
Victorian terraces on the slopes
Newport and Sticklepath carry Victorian terraces on rising ground, with the usual shared valleys, party wall abutments and long slate runs.
Access on the steeper streets is awkward, and the junction between two properties is where most of the water gets in, which is exactly the thing that cannot be judged from either garden.
The Georgian and Victorian centre around the Pannier Market and Butchers Row is tightly packed and largely listed, so a record before work is a routine requirement.
Post-war estates make up a large part of the town and generate the ordinary run of ridge, verge and gutter findings.
Slate hanging appears on some of the more exposed elevations, doing the same job it does across North Devon, and it fails at the top edge or a junction rather than in the middle of a face.
Roundswell, Anchorwood and the estates
The trading estates carry substantial large-span industrial roofing: profiled sheet, rooflights, valley gutters and rooftop plant, most of it unlooked at since installation.
A single overhead pass produces a whole-roof condition picture that would otherwise take a day with a harness and produce less.
Modern development at Roundswell and Anchorwood brings the new-build defects question as well, from owners who want the outside recorded while somebody else is still liable.
Commercial landlords and managing agents make up a meaningful share of the enquiries from this town, and their interest is usually a portfolio rather than one building.
The Taw, the Tarka Trail and land work
The estuary and the Tarka Trail bring ground and access records rather than roof work, and the tidal reach means a dated record is worth more than an undated one.
Farmland towards Exmoor brings the standard agricultural mix, with large shed roofs that nobody inspects and tracks that wash out.
The town is a long run from Exeter across the county, so work here is planned and usually paired rather than treated as a same-day call-out.
Land parcels along the estuary change with the tide and the season, so a dated record is worth considerably more than an undated one wherever drainage or flooding is the actual subject.
Where to go next
Booking something in Barnstaple
Behind the survey
What people in Barnstaple are actually buying
CAA registered operator
Operator ID and Flyer ID both held and current with the Civil Aviation Authority, which is the baseline for flying commercially in UK airspace.
A2 Certificate of Competency
The A2 CofC, which allows closer flying to buildings and to people not involved in the flight than the basic qualification does. It does not extend to flying over crowds, and nothing on this site suggests it might.
DJI Mavic 4 Pro
A 100 megapixel Hasselblad camera and 6K video. Enough resolution that one flight can produce both a photograph fit to print and a frame close enough to read a hairline crack.
DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Advanced
A 640 by 512 radiometric thermal camera for the jobs where the answer is a temperature difference rather than something visible: trapped moisture, heat leaving a building, a warm shape on cold ground.
Insured with Coverdrone
Full commercial cover, and the certificate goes to anyone who needs to see it before a visit. Managing agents and site managers usually do, and asking is sensible rather than awkward.
A construction background
The person flying has worked in construction, which is why the report says what a defect is and where it sits rather than only that something looks wrong in a photograph.
Fixed price, agreed first
The price is set before the visit and travel inside the coverage area is part of it. No hourly creep, no mileage added afterwards.
Written report within 48 hours
Where the job needs a report, it lands within 48 hours of the flight. Photograph-only jobs have their delivery date agreed at booking instead.
Nearby
Also covered around Barnstaple
- BidefordA steep former shipbuilding port on the Torridge, where slate hanging is a necessity and the old town's gradient rules out most conventional access.
- IlfracombeDramatic Victorian hillside terraces on the north coast, where parapets and hidden gutters mean water problems show inside before they show outside.
- Great TorringtonA hilltop town standing above everything around it, where wind arrives from every direction and an industrial legacy adds large roofs to a small place.
- South MoltonA Georgian market town on the southern approach to Exmoor, where livestock farming means agricultural roofs and land records outnumber anything domestic.
See which one fits
Tell us what you need in Barnstaple
Send the address and what is worrying you. Sam Hembury will come back with a fixed price and the next slot that suits the weather.