Hertfordshire · London and the South East
Borehamwood Chimney Survey
Need a chimney survey in Borehamwood? We can help, with a written report you can act on. Weekday and weekend visits available.
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Staining on walls around the chimney
Should I look at the roof myself first?
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Water spilling over the edge can be a sign of a blockage or a gutter that has dropped.
Chimney survey in Borehamwood
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. If you’ve noticed staining on walls around the chimney and cracked or missing flaunching, we can find out what’s behind it.
Most homes in a town like Borehamwood are houses, so the roof is normally the owner’s to look after. Small faults, such as a cracked ridge, a slipped tile or a blocked gutter, are cheaper to deal with early. The report sets out what needs attention, prioritised by urgency where relevant. Photographs show you exactly what was seen, even on parts you cannot reach yourself.
Where we can’t see part of the chimney stack, the report says so. You’ll know exactly what was inspected and what wasn’t, and what we’d suggest next.
- Where
- Borehamwood (WD6)
- Wider area
- Hertfordshire
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What we look for on each type of roof
Chimney breasts and the loft
Stains on timbers or brickwork around the stack can point to a leak. We record what we see with photographs.
Chimney pots and cowls
Each pot is bedded into the flaunching, often with a cowl or cap on top. The survey looks for cracked, loose or missing pots and cowls.
What affects the price in Borehamwood
Several things affect the price of a survey:
- The number of roofs, including extensions and garages
- Whether thermal imaging or a drone is needed
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
- Whether it’s a home or a commercial building
Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on the size and height of the roof, access and which survey you book.
Booking your survey
We will usually ask about:
- The kind of building and roof involved
- Any photos you have, taken from ground level or a window
- What made you get in touch
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
Not sure which survey you need? The easiest way is to ring 07833 053749 or email us and describe the roof and why you want it surveyed. We’ll explain the options and the price.
What we do, step by step
The aim of the visit is simple: to look at the chimney stack as closely as is safe and record what we find. Notes and photographs go into the written report. It normally takes about one to two hours for a house, and longer for a large or complex roof. Semi-detached and terraced homes in a town like Borehamwood frequently share a roof line with the neighbours, so shared parts are looked at as far as they can be seen from your property. It is useful to know about previous repairs, leaks or recent work, so time on site goes where it is needed.
- First you let us know about the chimneys, any damp on the chimney breasts and any worries.
- We inspect each stack from safe viewpoints outside.
- Every part we can see is checked: pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, bricks and flashings.
- Inside, we look for damp on chimney breasts and in the loft where there is safe access.
- You get a photo-illustrated written report and our recommendations.
Before the survey
- Check we can get to the back of the property
- Jot down any questions you want answered
- If you’re buying, let the agent know when we’re coming
Booking a survey
To book a survey, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the address and what you’d like to know about the roof. You will know the price before anything is booked.
Read more
Also near Borehamwood
What else we do in Borehamwood
What happens if roof problems are left?
A leaning stack should be looked at sooner rather than later. Our survey records it and says when a structural engineer should look at it, so you know where you stand. Once water reaches the loft insulation in a home in Borehamwood, it loses much of its value and is slow to dry. That is an extra cost on top of the roof work itself.
The cost of a survey depends on the roof: how big it is, how high it is, the number of separate roofs and how it can be reached and seen safely. Our price is from £150, including VAT.
Why book with us
- Professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- Over 20 years’ experience
- Packages from £150, with VAT included
- An independent view of the roof
Take a look at what a roof survey costs or what we found on two real jobs.
Tips from our surveys
From years of surveys, a few habits stand out:
- Check that disused chimneys can still breathe
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
- File photos of the stacks with your home records
- Have the flue swept and checked if you use the fire
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 it is easy to follow.
Check redundant flues are capped with ventilation. Ventilation helps keep the stack dry.
FAQs for Borehamwood
Is Borehamwood in the area you cover?
We do. The survey and report are the same in Borehamwood as anywhere else, and visits run on weekdays and weekends.
How do I find out if my home in Borehamwood is listed?
For listing, use Historic England’s list; for conservation areas, ask the council. It matters most if you’re planning to re-roof in a different material.
What do you check on a chimney?
Every part of the stack we can see from safe positions: pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, bricks and flashings. Leaning, unused stacks and damp on chimney breasts are recorded too.
Will I get photos?
Yes. The report includes photos of what we found, so you can see each point for yourself.
What happens after the survey?
You will get the report by email. The Standard Survey includes a follow-up consultation, and the Premium Survey an in-person consultation.
Can you inspect my roof with a drone?
Where it helps and it’s safe, yes. Flights depend on the weather on the day and airspace rules, including flight restriction zones near airports. We hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID.
Do you need to get into the loft?
If it is needed and safe to reach, yes. We look for staining, damp, daylight and signs of movement.
Borehamwood homes and their roofs
With Wyllyotts Manor about 4.3 miles north-east, Borehamwood sits in an area with a long building history. If your home is one of the older ones, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first. Older houses in the South East frequently have slate or clay tile roofs, while many later estates have concrete tiles, and flat-roofed additions turn up almost everywhere. Whichever you have, the details that tend to fail before the covering itself get the closest look.
Landlords with a home close to Elstree & Borehamwood station may find that the gap between tenancies is a good time to have the roof looked at. Take a building like St Teresa Catholic Primary School: long gutter runs and wide roofs on a building that size are worth checking on a regular cycle. Take an older house close to All Saints church: its chimney, valleys and lead work are likely to be the parts that need attention first.
Borehamwood is about 5 miles east of Watford, in Hertfordshire. In Borehamwood, as across Hertfordshire, every roof gets the same careful survey. Borehamwood is one of the places in Hertfordshire where we work for chimney surveys. Our London page covers surveys nearby.
Postcode districts we cover here for chimney surveys: WD6. Local streets include Station Road, Canterbury Road and Eldon Avenue. Borehamwood sits on or near the A1 and A5135. Neighbouring places we cover for chimney surveys include Well End (1 mile north-east), Green Street (1 mile north), Deacon's Hill (1 mile south), Rowley Green (1 mile east) and Elstree (2 miles south-west). We also work in nearby towns such as Watford (5 miles west), Hemel Hempstead (10 miles north-west), St Albans (7 miles north), Welwyn Garden City (10 miles north), Harpenden (11 miles north) and Hoddesdon (13 miles north-east).
Landmarks near Borehamwood
Around Borehamwood, our work takes us to homes and buildings near Aldenham Country Park, The Pick & Shovel pub and Yavneh College and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Elstree & Borehamwood station, roughly 0.6 miles south-west. Well-known places in the area include Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (2.4 miles south-west) and Spires Shopping Centre (3.1 miles east). Open spaces near Borehamwood include Darland's Lake and Rowley Lodge Field.