Our Top 5 Most Memorable Loft Inspection Experiences!

Over a cup of tea in the office recently, the conversation turned to discussing the weird and wonderful moments our surveyors have had inspecting lofts! We are a nation of hoarders and the loft is frequently the final resting place of long forgotten, mismatched or just plain odd belongings. It is often home to a few unwanted visitors too. So, surveyors never really know what they are going to experience when they stick their heads up through that dark hatch and peer down the beam of their torch.  Here’s the countdown of our Top 5 most memorable experiences!

vauxhall-1838884_1280At Number 5 – A Car Bonnet.

Senior surveyor, Gareth Richards was amazed and perplexed to discover the full bonnet of a Vauxhall Corsa in the small attic space of a terraced house.  For starters, how on earth did it get up there? It can’t possibly have fitted through the tiny loft hatch, so did they take the roof off or the ceiling down? Why bother, and more importantly, how are they going to get it back out??

statue-185435_1280At Number 4 – A Dead Pigeon Full in the Face

Tim Kennedy, our newest recruit, recently had the unlucky experience of opening a loft hatch and disturbing a dead pigeon. Before he had time to move, it tumbled out of the hole and pecked him right between the eyes. Eew, yuck!

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At Number 3 – Dolls

Crikey, we really hate these!  There is nothing creepier than emerging up through the hatch and finding yourself surrounded by life-size Victorian style dolls! Or worse still, getting a terrible fright when your torch picks out the blonde severed head of a ‘Girls World’!

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At Number 2 – A Superhero

Taking the dolls to a whole new level, we recently came across a magnificent, full size Superhero, dressed to impress!  Unfortunately, Gareth the Boss nearly fell off his ladder when he first caught sight of the ‘man’ standing alone in the dark.

mouse-1148152_640And at Number 1 – ‘Giant’ Rats

Oh yes, our favourite! Luckily, we very rarely see one ‘in the flesh’ but often encounter what they leave behind or hear distant scuttling in the corners.  However, on one very memorable occasion, senior surveyor Gareth stuck his head through a loft hatch, turned on his torch and stared straight into the eyes of an enormous rodent. He recalls, “I am not sure who was the most surprised, but neither of us moved. It was like a ‘Mexican standoff’ and it was me who backed down first!”

I leave you with a quote from American, Doug Larson: “A clean basement, garage and attic are signs of an empty life.” We couldn’t agree more, but perhaps a health warning about your dolls would be appreciated!