Drone survey in Taunton

Taunton sits on the flat floor of the Vale of Taunton Deane, ringed by the Quantocks, Blackdowns and Brendon Hills. It is drier than Devon and sheltered on most sides, but it is low-lying and it holds fog and frost, and the surrounding hills produce localised gusting in storms.

Frost on a low vale floor works on mortar and on porous tile in the same way it does at Cullompton, and it is the reason ridge and verge details here need attention on an ordinary maintenance cycle rather than only after a storm.

There are very large post-war and late twentieth century estates and continuing major new development on all four sides. That gives a spread of roof ages from brand new to sixty years old, all within a few miles.

The interesting group is the middle: roofs of twenty five to forty years, past the point where anything is under warranty and not yet old enough for anybody to be thinking about replacement. That is the age at which a survey most often changes what somebody does next.

Single ply and felt flat roofs on commercial buildings are everywhere here, and they fail in predictable ways: ponding where the falls were never right, movement at upstands, outlets that stop working, and damage from plant that was installed after the roof was laid.

None of that is visible from the car park and all of it is visible from above. For a facilities manager the useful output is a dated record showing where water sits, which is the thing that decides whether a repair is urgent or can wait a year.

Flat ground, plenty of open space and gardens throughout the estates make Taunton comfortable to work in. The town centre has the usual tight spots around the castle and the older streets.

As a county town it is also a natural base for jobs spreading into the surrounding hills, which is worth mentioning because travel is inside the fixed price and a rural Somerset address prices from here rather than from the coast.

Around Vivary Park, the castle and the county ground the town keeps its older character, with mature trees, Victorian villas and public buildings that have complicated roofs and long standing maintenance arrangements.

Mature planting is the practical factor here. Trees fill valleys and gutters every autumn, they shade slopes so that growth establishes, and they restrict where an aircraft can usefully work. A TA1 address with heavy planting needs the flight planned around the canopy rather than the building.

The compensation is that a tree lined street usually has a garden behind it, so a take off position out of the way of the road is generally available.