Home inspection across Pretoria

What inspectors actually find in Pretoria

Expansive clay heave

Clay soils swell through the rainfall season and shrink through the dry months. Foundations move with them and brickwork cracks where it cannot accommodate the movement. Large trees and slow under-slab leaks turn seasonal movement into differential movement, which is what actually causes damage.Checked: Crack pattern and width, door and window squareness, floor level, tree proximity

Hail and summer storm damage

Highveld storms drive rain horizontally into elevations that shed ordinary rainfall without trouble, and hail bruises roof sheeting and tiles in ways that only leak months later once the coating has failed.Checked: Roof covering, flashings, parapet junctions, gutter and downpipe capacity

Ageing electrical installations

Pre-1990 installations often carry old wiring, no earth leakage protection, and boards extended piecemeal over decades. A certificate of compliance is a legal requirement on transfer and is frequently the largest unbudgeted cost in an older-suburb purchase.Checked: Distribution board, earth leakage, visible wiring, bonding

Termite and borer activity

Sustained warmth and humidity keep timber under constant pressure. Roof timbers, skirtings, built-in joinery and suspended floors are all at risk, and damage is typically well advanced before it becomes visible.Checked: Roof timbers, skirtings, subfloor and any Oregon pine element

Areas we cover

• CenturionHighly expansive clay across much of the area, and rapid estate development where foundation design varies by phase.
• WaterkloofDecades of accumulated seasonal clay movement, so the question is rarely whether there is cracking but whether it is still moving.
• BrooklynOlder stock on clay with mature trees, and service installations extended rather than renewed.
• Menlo ParkConsistent mid-century stock where crack patterns can be read against a well-understood local soil profile.
• LynnwoodLarge stands with mature trees close to foundations, the classic driver of differential movement on clay.
• GarsfonteinLater stock on strongly expansive soils, where original foundation design does not always match the soil class.
• Faerie GlenSloped sites on clay where retaining structures and foundation movement interact.
• Moreleta ParkFast-growth development on expansive soils, with variable stormwater detailing between phases.
• HatfieldHeavy conversion to student accommodation, where alteration history matters more than original construction.
• Silver LakesEstate stock on clay, where a single repeated foundation or waterproofing detail affects many homes at once.
• MontanaNorthern Pretoria clay with severe summer hail — roof covering and foundation both warrant attention.

What it costs

Indicative market ranges for guidance, not quotes. Full cost breakdown →