New build snagging survey in Launceston

Launceston's walled medieval core sits on a hilltop above the Kensey valley, with Bodmin Moor rising to the south-west. Its modern estates and industrial units have instead gone up on the flatter ground down by the A30, away from the steep, narrow streets of the old town centre and its Georgian and Victorian frontages.

Launceston sits high and open, catching weather off both Bodmin Moor to the south-west and Dartmoor to the east, and wind-driven rain from the south-west is the defining local condition, which the dataset notes is exactly why slate hanging on exposed elevations is so common on the town's older buildings. New estates on the flatter ground by the A30 are lower and somewhat more sheltered than the hilltop itself, but they still sit inside a location known specifically for wind-driven rain rather than gentle, vertical weather.

A verge or flashing detail finished to withstand ordinary rain but not rain being driven hard sideways is the kind of defect this local condition is likely to expose, and a close aerial pass is well placed to check whether the detailing properly accounts for the direction the weather actually comes from here.

The A30-side estates and industrial units sit on flat, open ground with straightforward access for a flight, once a calm enough window in Launceston's wind-driven weather comes along. Booking early in the defects period, rather than waiting for a clear run of good days near the end of it, gives more chances to catch that window in time.

Launceston's postcode area is PL15. The castle at the summit and St Mary Magdalene Church mark the walled medieval core, with the steam railway running down through the Kensey valley below, useful landmarks for distinguishing the hilltop from the flatter A30-side ground where the modern estates and industrial units this survey mostly serves are actually built.

Bude, Holsworthy and Liskeard, all covered elsewhere on this site, sit within reach across East Cornwall and North Devon, and while all of them catch weather off Bodmin Moor or Dartmoor to some degree, Launceston's specific hilltop-and-valley combination is distinct enough to be worth checking on its own page rather than assuming a neighbour's notes apply.

Concrete tile on the newer A30-side estates is a different material to the Delabole and natural slate, often slate-hung, seen on the hilltop old town, and given how directly this location catches wind-driven rain off two moors, checking the newer tile's fixing standard on its own terms is worth doing rather than assuming it matches the older buildings nearby.