Drone, ladder or scaffold: which roof inspection do you actually need?
All three have a place. The difference is what you pay, what gets seen, and whether you end up with evidence you can hand to an insurer or three different roofers.
Side by side
| Factor | Drone survey | Ladder check | Scaffold access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | £99 fixed for a full residential survey | Often free — but usually tied to a repair quote | £600–£1,500+ just for access, before any inspection |
| Time on site | 30–45 minutes, no setup | 20–30 minutes, limited to the edges | Half a day to erect, days to book, days to strike |
| What actually gets seen | Every plane, ridge, valley, chimney and gutter, square-on | Gutter line and lower slopes only | Excellent, but only the elevations you paid to scaffold |
| Evidence you keep | High-resolution photos with each defect circled and graded | A verbal opinion, maybe a phone snap | Depends entirely on the contractor |
| Safety and liability | Nobody leaves the ground | Working at height on your property | Safe, but a structure sits on your drive for days |
| Independence | We never quote for repairs, so there is nothing to upsell | Usually carried out by whoever wants the repair job | Normally erected by the contractor doing the work |
| Disruption | No access to the house needed | Minimal | Driveway, garden and often neighbour permission |
| Insurance and claims | Dated, geo-referenced imagery insurers accept | Rarely sufficient on its own | Strong, but disproportionate cost for evidence alone |
Scaffold costs are typical Central Scotland domestic access hire ranges and vary with height, frontage and duration.
Being straight with you
A drone is not always the answer
When scaffold still wins
If work is already going ahead, or the roof needs physically probing — lifting tiles, testing timber, checking sarking from below — you need hands on it. A drone survey is diagnosis, not dissection.
When a drone can't help
Interior-only leaks with no visible external cause, roofs fully enclosed by taller structures, or flying restricted airspace with no permission. We will tell you upfront rather than take the booking.
Where a drone is unbeatable
Finding out what is wrong, proving it with photographs, and getting a fair set of repair quotes without a contractor being the only person who has seen the roof.
Start with evidence, then get your quotes
A £99 survey gives you photographs of every defect, graded by severity, before anyone prices the job. We do not carry out repairs, so the report is written for you and nobody else.