Greater London · London and the South East
Addiscombe Chimney Survey
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching for Addiscombe, from an experienced roof surveyor. You get a clear written report with photos.
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
- Bricks with flaking faces
- Worn or missing pointing
Chimney surveys for homes and businesses in Addiscombe
If you are buying a home with chimneys, it is worth knowing their condition before you exchange. On older stacks, we often find cracked flaunching, loose flashings and worn pointing. Our report gives you specific points to raise with the seller or agent. It complements a RICS home survey rather than replacing it. We’re often asked to look into lifted or split lead flashings and flaunching that has broken away, on chimney breasts, chimney pots and cowls and flaunching.
London has a great many flats in converted houses and purpose-built blocks, so roofs are often shared between several households. Landlords, managing agents and residents’ companies need to know what condition it is in and what work is coming up. A defect on a shared roof can reach more than one flat. With a written report and photos, everyone can plan from the same facts.
If any part of the chimney stack couldn’t be seen safely, we say so in the report. You’ll know exactly what was inspected and what wasn’t.
- Place
- Addiscombe (CR0, SE25, CR9)
- Region
- Greater London
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Why it’s worth a survey now in Addiscombe
If you’re thinking of removing or reducing a stack, it is useful to know its condition first. In a conservation area or on a listed building, changes may need permission from the council and the council can advise. London’s older roofs often have bitumen felt underlay or none at all, so once the slates or flashings let water past, little stops it reaching ceilings. Left unchecked, water soaks into timber and plaster and the damage spreads.
One thing that affects the price is the package: from £150 for Basic, £250 for Standard and £400 for Premium, with VAT included. Size, height and access can affect the price too.
Why book with us
- 20+ years’ experience
- A written report with photographs
- Over 5,000 surveys carried out
- Customer satisfaction of 98%
Signs you need a chimney survey in Addiscombe
Aerials and dishes are frequently fixed to stacks. The extra load in wind can work bricks and joints loose. Any fixings on the stack are checked and recorded.
It is worth booking a survey if you’ve seen:
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
For landlords with property near Norwood Junction station, the gap between tenancies is a good time to have the roof looked at.
What to check before booking
- How they plan to inspect the roof safely
- Are they insured for the work?
- What the survey won’t cover
- Whether the price includes VAT
How it works
Safety comes first on every visit. We inspect what can be seen safely, and anything we cannot see is noted in the report. The survey typically takes an hour or two at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. Surveys in Addiscombe can be booked for any day of the week. London parking is often by permit or pay-and-display, so it helps to know what’s near you, and to clear a path to the loft hatch. Upstairs rooms at the back are useful too, as they often give the best view of a rear addition.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- Each stack is inspected from safe positions outside.
- We photograph and record the pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Inside, the chimney breasts and the loft are checked for damp where there’s access.
- You get a written report with photos and recommendations by email.
Before the survey
- Leave a clear route to the loft
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- Have any paperwork from past roof work to hand
Booking a survey
Our phone lines are open seven days a week, including Saturdays and Sundays. For a price or to book, ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Related advice
What this survey cannot tell you
A survey is a careful look at the chimney stack, but it can’t do everything. The main limits are:
- Areas we cannot view from safe positions
- Flue inspections or sweeping
- What’s inside the brickwork or behind render, without opening up
If in doubt, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email and we will point you to the right survey before booking. What our survey covers.
What we look at
- Lead flashings
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Chimney breasts
- Flaunching
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Brick chimney stacks
Tips from our surveys
Most of what helps is simple and safe from the ground. Our suggestions:
- Use a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances
- Use the report as a baseline for future checks
- Check your stacks from ground level after strong winds
- Remove aerials or dishes from the stack if they’re no longer needed
You get the report by email and can pass it to whoever does the work. We use plain English and a photo for each defect so anyone reading it can see what we saw.
Check fixings on the stack are sound and taken off if they’re no longer needed. Less load on the stack means less strain in wind.
Addiscombe questions
How do I find out if my home in Addiscombe is listed?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it’s in a conservation area. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
I let a flat near Norwood Junction station. Can you check the roof?
Yes. We survey roofs for landlords, letting agents and managing agents as well as owners. Just call 07833 053749 or send us an email with the details.
Does the weather affect the survey?
A survey can normally go ahead in light rain. Strong wind or heavy rain can stop drone flights and make roof access unsafe, so if conditions aren’t right we will arrange another day with you.
Which days do you carry out surveys?
Surveys run on any day of the week. To find a day that suits you, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Will you photograph what you find?
Yes. Photos are part of every report, so you can see each point for yourself.
How long is the visit?
It usually takes about 1–2 hours at a typical home; commercial roofs usually need 3–4 hours. We’ll confirm the timing as you book.
I live in a flat. Can you survey the roof?
Yes. Shared roofs just need a little more planning. Mention it when you get in touch and we will explain what’s needed.
Roofs, chimneys and gutters in Addiscombe
Outer London has plenty of Victorian and Edwardian terraces with slate roofs, but also a great many interwar semis, frequently with hipped roofs in clay or concrete tiles. Bay roofs, hip ridges and dormers from later loft conversions are the details that set these houses apart. Whichever you have, the details that tend to fail before the covering itself get the closest look. About 2 miles south-east lies Addington Palace, a reminder of how long the area around Addiscombe has been built on. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area.
If you look after a building such as Oasis Academy Shirley Park, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other. Trees in and around Ashburton Park shed leaves that can end up in nearby gutters, and an overflowing gutter soon means a wet wall.
Addiscombe is about 2 miles north-east of Croydon, in Greater London. Houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings in Addiscombe can all book chimney surveys, with a written report and photographs every time. Addiscombe is one of the places in Greater London where we work for chimney surveys. You can also see our page for London.
Chimney surveys in CR0, SE25 and CR9 are booked the same way as anywhere else. If you need a chimney survey at a property on Grant Road, Capri Road and Coe Avenue or a nearby road, we can survey it. Addiscombe is on the A232, which makes it straightforward to reach. Close by, we survey roofs in Shirley Oaks (1 mile east), Ashburton (1 mile north), Woodside (1 mile north), Shirley (1 mile east) and Monks Orchard (1 mile east). Within a short drive, we also cover London (8 miles north), City of Westminster (10 miles north), Marylebone (10 miles north), Kensington (10 miles north-west), St Pancras (10 miles north) and Shoreditch (10 miles north).
Around Addiscombe
We work in homes and buildings around The Woodside Academy, The Cricketers pub and Ashburton Park. The nearest railway station is Norwood Junction station, about 1.2 miles north. A little further out are St George's Walk (1.5 miles west) and Crystal Palace Museum (2.7 miles north). Not far away are Duppas Hill and Bramley Bank.
What you can safely check yourself
The one thing to avoid is getting up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way, and falls from height are serious. That’s where a survey comes in.
Your own check is a good start, but it isn’t a survey. You won’t see flashings, valleys or the backs of chimneys properly from ground level, and those are details a survey looks at closely.