Snagging Surveys in Farnham

New-build snagging is not a cosmetic check. On Orchard Green, Potters Gate and Farnham Chase, the finish ranges from brick and render to timber cladding, so our inspectors look hard at paint lines, plaster finish, sealant and roof detailing from the first walk-through. A home can look ready, then still hide a long list of faults once you start checking room by room.

Doors that will not latch, windows that do not seal, sockets that are not square and kitchens with uneven reveals are common finds in newly built homes around Farnham. The local ground conditions matter too, because parts of the town sit on Gault Clay and that can show up as small movement, poor falls to patios or drainage that does not clear properly after rain. Those are the sort of things a buyer notices after moving in, not the sort of issues a conveyancer can flag from paperwork alone.

Regulatory faults are the ones buyers rarely spot without a trained snagging inspection. Missing fire-stopping, undersized ventilation, poor insulation continuity and gaps around service penetrations can sit behind a neat coat of paint, and a solicitor's completion checks will not catch them. In Farnham, where older streets like Castle Street and West Street sit close to brand-new plots, that separation between legal checks and building quality becomes very obvious.

• Cosmetic defects
• Paint blemishes, plaster ripples, scuffs, sealant gaps and patchy joinery
• Functional defects
• Doors that will not latch, windows that do not seal, sockets out of square and poor plumbing finishes
• Construction defects
• Uneven floors, bad kitchen fitting, gaps in skirting and external work left unfinished
• Regulatory defects
• Fire stopping, ventilation, drainage falls and insulation issues that sit behind the surface finish

Three active schemes shape the Farnham new-build picture right now, Orchard Green off Monkton Lane, Potters Gate in Lower Bourne and Farnham Chase on Old Park Lane. They are different sites with different price points, but the same core snagging checks apply: paint, sealant, doors, windows, kitchens and the outside works. home.co.uk listings show prices from £499,950 at Orchard Green, £629,995 at Potters Gate and £695,000 at Farnham Chase, so buyers are not paying modest sums for an unfinished finish.

Ground conditions are not something to ignore here. Farnham sits on Folkestone Formation sandstone in places, but the Gault Formation clay brings a moderate to high shrink-swell risk, and that can show up as minor movement, cracking or poor drainage falls, especially around patios and drives. The River Wey also brings river flooding and surface water concerns in some parts of town, so external drainage, air bricks and garden levels matter just as much as the kitchen installation.

Farnham's centre has a large conservation area, with Castle Street, West Street and Downing Street carrying a dense run of listed buildings, including Farnham Castle. That historic setting spills over into newer schemes too, because planners often care about materials, boundary treatment, landscaping and roof appearance, and we see the finish checked against those conditions on sites across Waverley Borough Council's patch. New plots around GU9 and GU10 also tend to use brick, render and timber cladding, which means sealant lines, roof tile alignment and junctions need a proper eye.