The snagging checklist: room-by-room

Before you start

New to the term, or explaining it to a client? What is snagging? covers the ground rules; this page is the walk itself.

• Pick your light. Daylight, ideally low and raking across surfaces; side light shows plaster and paint faults that overhead light hides.
• Bring: a torch, a spirit level, a two-pence coin or gap gauge for consistent joint checks, a socket tester if you have one, and something to record with: one photo per issue, taken where you stand.
• Work one room at a time, the same way every time. Start at the door, work clockwise, floor → walls → ceiling, then windows, then fittings, then services. A fixed routine finds more than a keen eye wandering.
• Record as you go, not afterwards. Location, what is wrong, one photo. The evening spent matching a camera roll to memory is where good inspections go to die.

Every room

• Doors open and close freely, latch without lifting, no more than a consistent gap to the frame; hinges paint-free; stops fitted.
• Skirting and architrave: gaps caulked, mitres tight, no splits or filler proud of the surface.
• Walls: rake your torch across the surface: trowel marks, misses, nail pops, sanding scratches.
• Ceilings: cracks at board joints, uneven jointing at coving or shadow gaps.
• Floors: boards squeak-free; tiles ring solid (a hollow tap means a void); carpet gripped and seams tight; consistent gaps at thresholds.
• Windows: open, close and lock; glass unscratched (check in raking light); seals unbroken; trickle vents fitted and free; reveals square.
• Sockets and switches: level, flush to the wall, faceplates unmarked; test each one.
• Radiators: level, secure, warm across the full face when the heating is on, no weeps at valves.

Kitchen

• Unit doors and drawers aligned, gaps even, soft-close works, ends and plinths clipped tight.
• Worktops: joints tight and sealed, no scratches or swelling at cut-outs, upstands and splashbacks sealed.
• Appliances: run each one: hob rings, oven to temperature, extractor venting, dishwasher and washing machine through a cycle if you can.
• Sink: taps run hot and cold, drains fast, no drips at the trap, mastic unbroken.
• Check inside units for pipe leaks and unfinished carcass cut-outs.

Bathrooms

• Run everything: basin, bath, shower, WC flush, twice.
• Watch traps and connections with your torch while water is running.
• Tiling: lipping, cracked tiles, patchy or pinholed grout, mastic beads clean and continuous at bath and shower edges.
• Shower screen aligned and sealed; door does not drip when opened.
• Extractor fan runs and actually pulls (a strip of tissue held to it will tell you); ventilation to the outside, not the loft.
• Sealant around the WC base; cistern secure; toilet-roll holder and rails fixed into something solid.

Stairs, landings and storage

• Treads even and squeak-free; balustrade and handrail rigid; spindle gaps consistent and within the 100 mm rule.
• Loft hatch opens, insulation continuous, no debris; light if specified.
• Cupboards: shelves fixed, doors aligned, interiors decorated to spec.

Externals

• Brickwork: consistent joints, no mortar snots or heavy staining, weep holes clear, no chipped or spalled faces.
• Roofline: straight courses, whole tiles, flashings dressed, fascia and soffit joints tight.
• Rainwater: gutters fall the right way, downpipes connected and clipped, gullies clear; run a hose if it has not rained.
• Paving and drives: even falls away from the building, no rocking slabs, mortar cleaned off.
• Garden: turf or seeding as specified, subsoil and rubble removed, fences plumb, gates latch.
• External taps work; meter boxes close; mastic complete around frames.

Services and paperwork

• Boiler fires, hot water arrives at every outlet, programmer set and explained.
• Consumer unit labelled; every circuit identified.
• Smoke and heat detectors fitted and tested.
• Certificates present where applicable: electrical installation, gas safety, ventilation commissioning, window energy ratings, warranty documents.

The method matters more than the list

A checklist tells you where to look. What makes the walk pay is how you record: one issue per record, one photo per issue, a location and a trade on every line, numbered in walk order. A list like that can be filtered so the plasterer gets plastering and the plumber gets plumbing, and nobody rings you to ask which bedroom you meant. The full recording method is in how to write a snag list contractors act on.

Where Snagwalk fits

Snagwalk turns this walk into the finished record: photograph the issue, mark it up, tag the room and trade, and the numbered list builds itself in walk order, with no signal needed. At the end, send a PDF or CSV, whole or filtered by trade.