Wokingham · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Barkham, Wokingham
Chimney surveys around Barkham, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Weekday and weekend visits available.
- A stack that appears to lean
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Lifted or split lead flashings
Chimney survey in Barkham: what you get
If you’re buying a home with chimneys, it’s worth knowing their condition before you exchange. Cracked flaunching, failed flashings and worn pointing are common findings on older stacks. You get photos and findings you can take back to the seller or agent. It complements a RICS home survey rather than replacing it. We survey shared and party-wall stacks, chimney pots and cowls and flaunching, and people most often book us about a chimney out of line and unused flues sealed without airflow.
Older buildings in small places like Barkham may be listed or in a conservation area. If yours is, re-roofing in different materials may need consent, so the council is the place to check. A roof report helps you plan work with that in mind. Where a building is listed, matching the existing roof materials is often expected.
Pictures do a lot of the work in our reports, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. If something couldn’t be seen safely, the report is clear about it.
- Location
- Barkham (RG40, RG41)
- Region
- Wokingham
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Survey days
- Weekdays and weekends
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Roof by roof
Flaunching
Flaunching takes the worst of the weather. The survey checks for cracking and gaps around each pot.
Chimney breasts and the loft
Inside, chimney breasts can show damp when water gets into the stack. We check them and at the stack in the loft where there’s safe access.
Rented homes, blocks and businesses
Surveys can also be booked by buyers’ agents acting for a client. Reports are emailed, so they’re easy to pass on, photos included.
If you own several properties, surveys can be booked for more than one address. To discuss a number of properties, call 07833 053749 or send us an email with the addresses.
Local roofs in Barkham
What can be done to an older roof may depend on listing or a conservation area. Your council and Historic England’s list will tell you where you stand, ideally before any re-roofing is planned. In this part of the South East, older roofs are mostly slate or clay tile and many newer ones concrete tile, with flat-roofed extensions, dormers and garages common everywhere. Each of these coverings has its own weak points, from fixings and valleys to flashings, chimneys and gutters.
For site and facilities teams at buildings like The Coombes Church of England Primary School, long gutter runs and wide roofs on a building that size are worth checking on a regular cycle. Landlords with a home close to Wokingham station may find that knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints. The streets around a church such as Church of St James are often among the oldest in a place, and if you own one of the older houses nearby, old fixings, lead flashings and tall chimneys are typical of older roofs.
Barkham is about 2 miles south-west of Wokingham, in Wokingham. From houses to flats and shops in Barkham, the roof can be surveyed on a weekday or at the weekend. Our area takes in places right across Wokingham. Reading is in our area too.
Surveys in RG40 and RG41 are booked the same way as anywhere else. That includes homes and businesses on Barkham Road and Barkham Street. We also cover the places around Barkham: Langley Common (1 mile west), Arborfield Garrison (1 mile south-west), California (1 mile south), Finchampstead (3 miles south) and Eversley (3 miles south). Larger places within reach include Reading (6 miles north-west), Woodley (4 miles north), Earley (3 miles north-west), Crowthorne (4 miles south-east), Lower Earley (3 miles north-west) and Newtown (5 miles north-west).
Near you in Barkham
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to The Bull Public House And Smithy, Bohunt School Wokingham and Shepperlands Farm Nature Reserve, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Wokingham station, about 1.9 miles north-east. Well-known places in the area include Berkshire Library & Museum of Freemasonry (1.9 miles north) and Wokingham Hospital (1.7 miles north-east). For a walk, there is Heath Lake and Holt Copse & Joel Park.
Nearby places to Barkham
Other services in Barkham
Tips that help
A little preparation and a few simple habits help. Some pointers:
- Use a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances
- Ask about consent before removing a chimney on an older property
- Do not use a ladder to reach the stack yourself
- Make sure unused flues are capped with ventilation
After the visit, we write up the report with photographs of each stack. It covers the pots, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings, and any damp we found inside. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium.
Make sure redundant flues are capped with ventilation. That helps stop damp building up inside.
What this survey cannot tell you
Without opening up the roof, some things stay hidden, and that sets some limits:
- Structural calculations for a leaning stack
- Hidden sides of a shared stack
- What’s inside the brickwork or behind render, without opening up
If in doubt, call 07833 053749 or email us and we will recommend the right survey. What a survey covers and does not.
Roof types and parts we check
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Brick chimney stacks
- Lead flashings
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Flaunching
- Chimney breasts
What you can safely check yourself
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 the ground, and those are details a survey looks at closely.
Look up at the roof after a storm, from ground level: pieces of tile or slate on the ground, a gap in the ridge or a lifted flashing are all worth noting. Leave anything above ground level to a survey.
Barkham questions
Will you come out to Barkham?
Yes, we do. We cover the whole of London and South East England, from towns to the smallest villages. Longer journeys are simply planned beforehand.
Can a landlord with a rental near Wokingham station book a roof survey?
Yes, that’s a common request. Let us know whether a tenant or an agent will let us in, and we can send the report to you or your agent.
Which parts of the chimney do you look at?
We check the pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings. Inside, we look for damp on chimney breasts and in the loft where there’s safe access. Everything is written up with photographs.
Will you walk on the roof?
Only if it is safe. We look at everything that can safely be seen: from the ground, from windows, from inside the roof space, from the roof where it is safe and by drone where it applies. Anything we cannot see is noted in the report.
Can you give me structural calculations?
No. We note visible signs like sagging or deflection, but we are not structural engineers and do not carry out calculations. Where an engineer is needed, we say so in the report.
Are you insured?
Every survey is covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance.
What does the report include?
You get our findings in writing, part by part, with photos. The most urgent items are made clear.
What happens on the day
Every roof is different; as a rough guide, the survey takes about one to two hours on an ordinary house, or half a day or so for a commercial building. You’re welcome to ask questions while we are there. Older roofs in small places like Barkham can have low, tight loft spaces, so it’s useful to know whether there’s a loft hatch and how easy it is to reach. We only go where it is safe.
- You let us know whether any stacks are shared, unused or leaning.
- We check the roof around each stack, including the flashings.
- The top of each stack is checked for cracked flaunching and loose pots.
- We note the brickwork, pointing and any sign of leaning.
- You receive a written report setting out what needs attention first.
How to prepare
- Let us know about any leaks, stains or damp patches you know of
- Move anything stored under the loft hatch
- Gather any invoices or paperwork from past roof work
Booking a survey
If you have photos of the roof, send them over. Take them safely from the ground or a window; never climb up to get a better view. To send them or to book, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.