The Valleys' Drone Specialists
Inspecting steep roofs in Blackwood, Ystrad Mynach & Pontypridd.
1. Get Free Quote
Submit the form. We are based in Pontypool, so we cover Caerphilly Borough with Zero Travel Costs.
2. Arrive & Pay
Accept the quote to book. To prevent fraud, payment is only taken upon arrival (or via phone on-site) once flight safety is confirmed.
3. The 20-Min Scan
Perfect for terraced streets. We launch from your garden or driveway and scan without blocking the pavement.
4. Receive Data Package
You receive a PDF Condition Report and a link to every raw image & 4K video to show your insurer or roofer.
The "Hillside" Guarantee
Valleys weather can change fast. If we drive over the mountain and cannot fly due to sudden rain or wind, you do not pay a penny.
*Disclaimer: This guarantee provides zero upfront risk for you. Rescheduled visits are billed at the original quoted rate.
Don't Block The Street.
Scaffolding in the Valleys is a headache.
On narrow terraced streets in Blackwood or Pontypridd, putting up scaffolding often means getting a council permit to block the pavement or road.
Our drone survey solves this instantly:
- ✅ No Permits Needed: We fly from your property boundary.
- ✅ No Angry Neighbours: We don't block parking spaces with skips or vans.
- ✅ Steep Roof Access: We can inspect the rear of hillside properties easily, where ladders can't reach.
Caerphilly Borough: Wind, Gradient and Old Ground
Three things that decide how a roof fails between the castle and the Aber Valley.
Roofs on a Mountain Shoulder
Caerphilly sits in a basin ringed by high ground, and the streets climbing toward the mountain and up the Aber Valley take wind loading that town-centre properties never see. Ridge tiles, verge mortar and dry-fix systems work loose on the windward slope first, which is the slope facing away from your own garden and therefore the one nobody ever checks.
Terraces That Step With the Hill
Valley terraces are built in flights, each house a course or two above its neighbour, so the roofline is a staircase and the eaves height changes every few metres. Ladders sit poorly on that and party abutments are stepped rather than flat. From above the whole run is one image, which is how you tell one slipped slate from a failing section.
Old Ground, Distorted Roofs
This is former mining country, and a century of ground movement usually shows in the roof before it shows anywhere else: a stack leaning off plumb, a ridge line with a dip along it, mortar fillets opened up along an abutment. Those are geometry problems, and you can only see them by looking along a roof rather than up at it.
Independent, and Local Enough to Come Back
We are based in Pontypool, so Caerphilly Borough carries no travel charge. We do not re-roof, re-point or clear gutters: the fee is fixed before the flight, the findings do not change it, and you keep every image and the 4K video to brief whichever trade you decide to use.
Buying or Selling?
"The Mortgage Lender has put a retention on the house."
Buying an older terrace in the Valleys? Lenders often demand a "Specialist Roof Report" due to the age of the slate. Standard RICS Homebuyer surveys often state "Roof not inspected - obscured from ground."
The Solution: We provide the independent, high-level evidence your lender requires to lift the retention.
Insurance Claims & Storm Damage
If you are claiming for "Storm Event" damage, your insurer will demand proof that the damage is new and not just "wear and tear."
- ✅ HD Evidence: Irrefutable 4K photos of fresh tile breaks.
- ✅ Date-Stamped Data: Proof of when the damage occurred.
- ✅ Independent Validation: We don't profit from the repair.
Typical Defects We Expose
Damaged / Slipped Slates
Identify slipped, cracked, or missing slates causing water ingress. Very common on Valleys terraces.
Chimney Stack Pointing
Check for cracked pointing, damaged pots, and lead flashing issues. Crucial for storm damage assessment.
Blocked Guttering Check
Spot blockages, vegetation growth, and sagging brackets.
Fascia / Soffit Issues
Identify water damage and rot on wooden fascia boards.
Right to Light & Sunlight Assessments in Caerphilly
Measured aerial evidence for daylight, overshadowing and boundary questions.
Why It Comes Up Here
Much of the Caerphilly borough is terraced housing built in tight ranks on a gradient, with rear gardens that step up or down sharply between plots. A rear extension, a dormer or a raised roofline changes what reaches the windows behind it, and the disagreement that follows is almost always about daylight and outlook.
The Data We Capture
Calibrated aerial imagery of both properties, ridge and eaves heights, relative ground levels across the boundary, and the existing outlook recorded from above. Where the site allows, we can produce a measured 3D model or point cloud so the geometry can be checked rather than argued from photographs taken at ground level.
Who Uses It
Homeowners preparing or contesting a planning application, solicitors assembling a boundary file, and rights of light surveyors who need accurate site data before running their own analysis. We supply the measurements and imagery; the formal determination stays with your surveyor or solicitor.
A Note on Scope
A right of light is a legal matter and a formal assessment is carried out by a rights of light surveyor or solicitor. We are a CAA authorised survey and data operator: our job is to give whoever advises you an accurate, dated record of what is actually there. Flights over or close to a neighbouring property are planned within CAA rules and we will tell you up front where a boundary or overflight restriction limits what can be captured.
Valleys Pricing
Transparent rates for CF & NP Postcodes.
Basic Check
From £145*
"Is my chimney okay?"
- • 15 Minute Flight
- • Raw Images Provided
- • Ideal for single issue check
Full Condition Report
From £265*
Most Popular.
- • Full Roof & Chimney Scan
- • PDF Condition Report
- • Defect Highlighting
- • For Standard 3-Bed House
*Zero Travel Cost for Caerphilly/Blackwood
Estate Agents
Volume
Property Management.
- • Marketing Photos
- • Roof Reports
- • Pre-Purchase Surveys
Pilot Certification & Insurance
Your assurance for a safe, compliant, and discreet survey.
CAA Operational Authorisation
UK CAA A2 Certificate of Competency (A2 CofC).
- ✅ Fully Insured: £5M Public Liability.
- ✅ Discreet Operation: We use quiet, smaller drones.
- ✅ GDPR Compliant: Data managed to strict ICO protocols.
Caerphilly Roof Inspections
Serving Caerphilly Borough and The Valleys. We are independent roof surveyors. Because we don't sell repairs, we give you an honest assessment.
- 📍 Caerphilly Town & Bedwas
- 📍 Blackwood & Oakdale
- 📍 Pontypridd & Treforest
- 📍 Ystrad Mynach & Nelson
- 📍 Risca & Abercarn
- 📍 Bargoed & Hengoed
Common Problems We Identify
Valleys Terrace Issues
Addressing common defects in Blackwood & Pontypridd:
- Grant Work Verification: Checking quality of recent efficiency upgrades.
- Back Boiler Flues: Inspecting old disused chimney terminals.
- Steep Pitch Access: Checking rear annexes on hillside terraces where ladders fail.
- Mining Subsidence: Visual checks for roofline distortion/cracks.
Book Your Valleys Survey
Select your package below.
Caerphilly Drone Surveys: Terraces, Stacks and Coverage
What the Valleys ask us before booking.
Do you charge travel to Caerphilly Borough?
No. Our base is Pontypool, so Caerphilly town, Bedwas, Ystrad Mynach, Bargoed and the Aber Valley are all zero travel cost, and the quoted fee is the total.
Our street is steep and terraced. Can a drone handle that?
It suits it far better than ladders do. A stepped terrace has a different eaves height every few houses, which is awkward and unsafe from a ladder and completely irrelevant from the air. We fly the whole run and photograph each slope square-on.
The chimney looks like it is leaning. Can you confirm it?
Yes, and it is worth confirming properly. We photograph the stack from several angles at its own height, which shows lean, open mortar joints, cracked flaunching and the state of the flashing far more reliably than any view from the pavement.
Will you photograph the neighbouring roof or the rear lane?
We keep the camera on the property we were instructed on. Where a defect crosses onto a shared valley or a party abutment the images show it plainly, because that is what you need in order to establish who is responsible for it.
Is the castle or the conservation area an obstacle?
Not to a non-contact survey, which is one of its advantages on protected fabric. Airspace and crowd restrictions around the castle grounds are checked as part of planning any flight nearby, and we tell you before booking if your address is affected.