RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Wilmslow

A Level 3 survey is our most detailed RICS report. The inspection is still non-invasive, but our surveyor spends longer on site checking the parts a buyer cannot see at a casual viewing: roof coverings, loft structure, walls, floors, ceilings, chimneys, joinery, visible drainage points and the condition of any extensions or alterations. In a Wilmslow house on Alderley Road, or a converted property near Wilmslow Park South, that extra time matters because the original build and later additions often use different materials. The report follows the RICS Home Survey Standard, so you get a structured view of the building rather than a loose list of worries.

The report does more than name defects. It explains construction, describes the likely cause of each issue, grades the seriousness, and sets out what needs attention now, what can wait, and what should be watched over time. A slipped slate or failed flashing may look small, yet water can work into timber, stain plaster and turn a modest repair into a wider joinery or decoration job. That is the value of a Level 3 in a place like Wilmslow, where a house can hide a lot behind a smart front elevation.

What it will not do is open up the fabric, lift carpets, test electrics, run taps or order drainage CCTV as part of the site visit. Those are specialist follow-ups if we see a reason for them, such as movement in a bay window, persistent damp around a cellar or signs of roof spread in a timber roof above a Styal cottage. Our aim is simple. Tell you what is visible, what the defect means, and what happens if you leave it alone.

• Roof coverings and chimney stacks
• loft structure and insulation levels
• floors, walls and ceilings
• windows, doors and joinery
• visible services and external drainage points

Wilmslow's housing stock changes by street. In the parish you find Elizabethan and Georgian survivals, Edwardian family houses, brick cottages with Welsh slate roofs and timber-framed former manor houses on sandstone plinths. Fulshaw Hall, Grade II listed and first built in 1684, had additions in 1735 and a major 1886 refacing in Flemish bond plum brick with painted sandstone dressings, so its walls and roof junctions need careful reading, not a quick glance. That same level of attention helps where an older house has been opened up and extended behind a neat front facade.

Water is the local issue to watch. The River Bollin catchment includes Wilmslow, and the A538 Bollin Link to Oversleyford Bridge area, Rivers Street, Cliff Road, Quarry Bank Mill and Hooksbank Wood all sit within the flood warning map. Between 31 December 2024 and 1 January 2025, Whitehall Brook Roundabout on Alderley Road and Pendleton Way saw internal flooding in 13 residential properties, with river, surface water and sewer flooding all playing a part. Even when no warning is live, we check for damp staining, high external ground levels, bridged air bricks and thresholds that sit too low for comfort.

Peat at Lindow Moss can complicate ground behaviour, and older building forms often show age in predictable ways. Victorian homes can suffer damp and cellar staining, Edwardian bays can open up at lintels and sills, 1930s solid floors can fail at the edge, and 1960s flat roofs can be near the end of their life. In Wilmslow Park South, Styal and the streets around Dean Row Road, those details matter more than the estate agent's wording. A Level 3 survey turns them into an action list.

• Victorian damp and cellar staining
• Edwardian bay cracks and lintel movement
• 1930s solid-floor edge failure
• 1960s flat-roof ageing
• timber decay at sills, joists and lintels