Snagging Surveys Kendal

A proper snagging inspection goes far beyond a few paint touch-ups in a hallway on Burneside Road or a split bead of sealant beside a kitchen hob. Cosmetic defects are the obvious ones, so we record scuffed walls, uneven paint lines, plaster cracks, chips to doors, marks on skirtings and poor finishing around sockets and switches. Those items are annoying, but they are only the start.

Functional faults are where a new-build buyer often gets surprised. Doors may not latch cleanly, windows can fail to seal, trickle vents may be left stiff or incomplete, and sockets can sit out of square by enough to make a room look wrong even before furniture goes in. We also check kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms for poor fitting tolerances, missing sealant, plumbing leaks, loose taps and drainage that does not fall away as it should, especially on sites near Stock Beck or the River Kent where water management matters.

The more serious issues need a trained eye. Our inspectors look for building regulation problems that a buyer’s solicitor would not spot, such as missing fire stopping, undersized ventilation, poorly formed drainage falls, roof tile alignment issues, cavity tray defects, gaps behind skirting and cracks that go beyond normal shrinkage. In Kendal, where new schemes are rising beside older flood-prone streets like Busher Walk and Garden Road, we also pay close attention to threshold levels, external paths, garden grading and any sign that the home has been built without enough thought for wet weather.

• Paint and plaster defects
• Doors and windows that do not work properly
• Kitchen, bathroom and joinery faults
• Fire stopping, ventilation and drainage issues

Kendal is not a generic new-home market. It sits in the River Kent catchment, has a long flooding history and saw major events in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2015, when around 2,150 properties were directly affected during Storm Desmond. That history matters for snagging because a new plot at Mintsfeet, Sandylands or near Burneside Road should be checked for levels, drainage, threshold height and the finish of external paths before you accept the build as complete.

The current pipeline is mixed. Land east of Hayclose Road, by Oxenholme station, is being progressed for over 150 homes, with a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom houses. West of High Sparrowmire, Persimmon Homes Charles Church has lodged plans for 143 homes, including three-storey apartment blocks, two to five-bedroom houses and 375 car parking spaces. North of Kendal Parks Road, Genesis Homes has taken the total to 165 homes after an approved extension, with affordable housing rising from 20% to 27%. That sort of growth usually means a lot of plots hand over at once, and it is where repetitive faults start to show.

The build types also shape the snag list. Apartment blocks near Windermere Road call for close checks on fire stopping, communal finishes and door closers, while two-storey houses closer to Burneside Road often show the usual trade defects, such as plaster ripples, sloppy silicone, warped doors and poor fit around kitchens and bathrooms. Kendal is the main service centre for 137,000 residents in South Lakeland, carries 17,000 jobs and includes five strategically important business and employment sites, so the town is not short of demand for housing, but that does not mean workmanship on a plot is automatically right.

• Land east of Hayclose Road, by Oxenholme station
• West of High Sparrowmire, access from Windermere Road
• North of Kendal Parks Road between Burneside Road and the railway line
• Kendal Parks Farm, 2 km to the south east of the town centre