Basements and cellars
Is a vault grating, together with the lightwell, any evidence on leaves sitting on the glass, or only a note of what was visible?
Leaves on the glass were a sighting, not a test, and the vault grating and lightwell do not turn that sighting into evidence of what the leaves are doing. The grating and the well explain where the surveyor looked. If leaves were sitting on the glass, that is what was visible. The visit did not lift the grating, did not clear the glass, and did not decide that the leaves are causing damp in the vault. The sentence records the cover that was in view. It is not a drainage verdict.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A lightwell lets light through glass in the pavement or the area, and a grating keeps people off that glass. Leaves on the glass cut the light and can hold water against the frame. That is a maintenance picture from above. It does not show whether the well drains, whether the glass is cracked under the leaves, or whether a mark on the vault soffit comes from this well or from somewhere else. The surveyor saw the covering. The path of water beneath it was not followed.
Ask the solicitor to treat the leaves as something visible on the glass, not as proof of a failed drain under the vault. Checking the well properly means lifting the grating, which this visit did not do. Do not instruct a damp firm to line the vault only because leaves were sitting there. The survey has not connected those leaves to a defect inside. Keep the grating, the lightwell and the leaves as a note of the surface, and keep any internal damp as its own question.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Were the leaves on the glass, in the frame, or both?
- Was any stain recorded on the vault under that lightwell?
- Did you lift the grating, or was the note made from above?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the leaves as a surface note, not as a proved leak.
- Ask whether the grating was lifted on the day.
- Keep any damp inside the vault as a separate question.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Would clearing the leaves have shown the glass?
Clearing them would show the pane, but the survey did not do that, and the report cannot be read as if it had. The grating and the lightwell were a note of what was visible, including leaves on the glass. Whether the pane is cracked underneath stays unknown until the leaves are moved on a later visit.
Does the lightwell show that the vault is ventilated?
No. A lightwell is there for light, and a grating is the cover over it. Neither is a test of airflow in the vault. Leaves on the glass tell you the cover looked blocked or dirty. They do not measure ventilation, and the survey did not say they did. The note stays visual.