RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Altrincham

This is our most detailed visual inspection of the property and all accessible parts. We look at the roof space, external walls, chimneys, internal finishes, floors, windows, doors, visible services and any areas we can reach without disturbing the fabric. A house on Old Market Place may need a very different read to a modern flat near New Street, so we adjust the survey to the way the building was put together. The report comments on construction, materials, defects, repairs needed, maintenance priorities and the likely consequences of leaving problems alone.

In Altrincham, that detail matters because the building stock is varied. You see red brick laid in traditional bonds, sandstone dressings, Bowdon white brick, roughcast render at first floor, and older houses with timber-framed origins that were later re-fronted in a Georgian style. Our surveyors will explain where a cracked bay, failed lintel, decayed timber or worn roof covering is a simple maintenance issue, and where it could point to a wider problem around George Street, Goose Green or The Old Market Place.

A Level 3 survey does not open up the building. We do not lift carpets, cut into walls, remove floorboards, carry out drainage CCTV or test electrics, gas or plumbing systems. Those are specialist follow-up jobs. If the inspection shows damp staining in a cellar, movement at a bay, or a tired roof on an extended house in WA14, the report sets out what should happen next so you can decide whether to get another expert in.

• Accessible loft and roof areas
• External brick, stone and render
• Floors, joinery and visible damp signs
• Extensions, alterations and signs of movement

Altrincham's buildings are mostly red brick, but the local mix is not plain or uniform. You also see sandstone, Bowdon white brick, terracotta detailing and some roughcast render, while older medieval plots in the town centre were later rebuilt or re-fronted to present a Georgian look. That matters because old brick, lime-based pointing, sandstone dressings and later cement repairs do not age in the same way, especially around the Old Market Place and Stamford New Road.

Many of the houses buyers want to check carefully are Victorian or Edwardian, especially in Bowdon and Hale. Those homes often have bay windows, timber floors, chimney stacks, shallow rear additions and cellars, which is where damp, decay and movement can show up first. We commonly see issues such as damp around cellar walls, cracking to lath-and-plaster ceilings, slipped slates, worn flashing, rotten window sills and signs that a rear extension was built with less care than the original house.

Conservation areas bring another layer. Much of Altrincham, Bowdon and Hale falls within protected areas, including The Old Market Place, Stamford New Road, George Street, Goose Green and The Downs, and the New Street redevelopment borders two of them. The replacement of older 1960s flats here is a good reminder that flat roofs, tired blockwork, insulation gaps and condensation can become expensive if they are left too long. Where movement appears, we look at the pattern, the age of the building and the repair history rather than guessing from the postcode.

• Victorian cellar damp
• Edwardian bay movement
• Slipped slate and failed flashing
• Lath-and-plaster cracking and timber decay