7H Chartered Surveyors

25/05/2026

24/04/2026

Spot the cowshed competition.

23/03/2026

I'm pleased to announce our new website! More information, easier to navigate and adaptable for changes and more information 🙂

03/02/2026

There's a lot wrong with this. So much misinformation dressed up as 'science' around these days. Does anyone really believe ivy keeps a house warm?!

14/11/2025

Highest quality uncompromising conservation craftsmanship: fabulous to see. I wonder who had to pay though..?

17/09/2025

This simple building in a small village caught my eye for the very finely set rubbed brick arches over the windows. This is exquisite workmanship on what was just a roadside workshop, next to the village pub. Originally these were door openings since bricked up to windows. The door is a modern opening.
The arches are wide and shallow, therefore very weak: very tricky to cut each brick and set with the precision required so they don't collapse under their own weight, let alone any weight on them. And then make another to match exactly. This requires great experience and skill -almost daring. And still now, perfect without movement. Other small openings on the end of the building have fine rubbed brick arches too but those are modest. The craftsman responsible would be paid very well for such work on high status townhouses in London. I wonder how this came about?

12/05/2025

I helped survey this large site quite a few years ago. Well before the horticulturists got there!

10/10/2024

19/08/2024

Too often, surveyors encounter a desert of information regarding the history of a house; reasons are numerous: vendors are not home and don't respond to requests. The 3 D's of property sales can stop information (death, debt, divorce). Owners may have little knowledge in any case, not having owned long themselves and did little due diligence previously.
I always start a survey asking the same questions of vendors: how old is it and how long have you owned? This little cottage is a first for me and I bet exceedingly rare amongst any surveyors: the vendor replied saying he knows it was built in 1933 because he was born there in 1938 and has never left! This means every detail of every change and improvement could be shared: gold dust for understanding a building. Fascinating nuggets included the Doodlebug which landed about 50m away, demolishing 2 houses in this rural area, shifting this one over the foundations and sweeping the roof away. Which explains the concrete tiled roof (previously slate) and plasterboard ceilings. Such changes would have remained open to conjecture otherwise. Happy surveyor.😊

12/12/2023

Spray foam loft insulation: just don't. It's being promoted heavily but there's great concern amongst surveyors and Building Control that it traps moisture against timbers causing decay for the long term. Manufacturers and installers are desperately arguing their case (naturally) but the fact is, the risks are there regardless of the type of product or 'quality' of installation -if that's not a contradiction. Ultimately, think this: what's the point in keeping a great big uninhabited space warm? You're wasting heat from the rooms below. And if you're advised to remove it guess who the 'experts' are to take your money? The same blokes you paid to install it..😉