Kent · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Boughton Malherbe, Kent
Chimney surveys around Boughton Malherbe, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Weekday and weekend visits available.
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Staining on walls around the chimney
Chimney surveys for homes and businesses in Boughton Malherbe
A leaning chimney stack is worth having looked at. Stacks can lean when mortar on one side breaks down, frequently after years of flue gases and damp. We record the lean and the condition of the brickwork and pointing. If the stack looks like a structural issue, the report recommends a structural engineer. If you are worried about spalled or crumbling bricks and gaps where the stack meets the roof, a survey will tell you what’s going on, whatever the roof.
Village roofs often face open fields and take the full force of wind and rain, which is hard on ridges, chimneys, flashings and gutters. Damp in old walls is slow to dry, so a small leak can do a lot of harm. A written report sets out what to deal with and in what order. Lead flashings and old chimney stacks are often where weather gets in first.
We keep jargon out of it: where something needs attention, it says so plainly.
- Where
- Boughton Malherbe (ME17)
- Region
- Kent
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- When we survey
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Boughton Malherbe
How do I find out if my home in Boughton Malherbe is listed?
The council and Historic England’s list are the places to check. Either can affect what roof work is allowed, so it is worth checking before planning any.
Can a landlord with a rental near Lenham station book a roof survey?
Of course. We just need to know who will give access, and the report can go straight to you or your agent.
Will you photograph what you find?
Yes. Photographs are taken throughout the survey, and they go into the written report alongside our recommendations.
What’s the best way to book?
It is easiest to phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form. Tell us the address and a little about the roof. Surveys run seven days a week.
How long is the visit?
It typically takes about one to two hours at most homes, or half a day or so for a commercial building. The written report follows by email, on the timescale of your package.
Can you find out why my chimney breast is damp?
Typically it’s water getting in from outside, or condensation in a sealed stack. The survey looks at the stack, the flashings and the capping and records the likely cause.
How many surveys have you done?
Over 20 years and more than 5,000 surveys, across London and South East England.
Nearby places to Boughton Malherbe
More services for Boughton Malherbe
Why get it checked now?
For a buyer, the best time to learn about a chimney is before exchange. Once you’ve exchanged, the work is down to you. A report gives you something specific to put to the seller. Outbuildings and barns around Boughton Malherbe are easy to forget, but a failed roof there can spoil what’s stored inside. It is worth including them in a survey before a winter does the damage.
What a survey costs comes down to the roof itself: how big it is, how high it is, the number of separate roofs and how safely it can be seen. Our price is from £150, including VAT.
What you get with us
- Over 20 years’ experience
- Drone and thermal imaging surveys available
- CAA-registered drone operator (Flyer ID and Operator ID)
- Covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance
Tips from our surveys
Getting the most from a chimney survey starts before we arrive and carries on afterwards. Some tips:
- Do not use a ladder to reach the stack yourself
- Check with the council before altering a stack in a conservation area or on a listed building
- Check that disused chimneys can still breathe
- 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. Each defect is described in plain words and shown in a photo, so it’s easy to follow.
Make sure redundant flues are capped with ventilation. Ventilation helps keep the stack dry.
What a chimney survey looks like in Boughton Malherbe
Older houses across Kent often have handmade clay or peg tiles, and many have tile-hung walls. Kent’s older buildings take in oast houses and timber-framed Wealden hall houses as well. Whatever the covering, it is often the fixings, flashings, valleys and gutters that give out first. About 3.6 miles north-west lies Leeds Castle, a reminder of how long the area around Boughton Malherbe has been built on. If you own one of the older houses, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material.
Landlords with a home close to Lenham station may find that a roof report between tenancies helps plan work before a small defect becomes a tenant’s leak. For site and facilities teams at buildings like Platts Heath Primary School, long gutter runs and wide roofs on a building that size are worth checking on a regular cycle. Homes near green spaces such as Kiln Wood can get more leaves in their gutters in autumn, and an overflowing gutter soon means a wet wall.
Boughton Malherbe is about 8 miles south-east of Maidstone, in Kent. We survey roofs in Boughton Malherbe and the rest of Kent, as part of our work across London and South East England. Our Kent coverage includes Boughton Malherbe and the places around it. You can also see our page for Maidstone.
Here we cover the ME17 postcode area for chimney surveys. If you are just outside Boughton Malherbe, we cover Liverton Street (1 mile north-west), Grafty Green (1 mile south-west), Platt's Heath (1 mile north-west), Sandway (1 mile north) and Broadstone (1 mile south-west). Larger places within reach include Maidstone (8 miles north-west), Ashford (9 miles south-east), Sittingbourne (9 miles north), Faversham (11 miles north-east), Minster (15 miles north) and Kings Hill (13 miles west).
What’s near Boughton Malherbe
Around Boughton Malherbe, our work takes us to homes and buildings near Kiln Wood, The Lenham School and The Kings Head Public House. The closest station to Boughton Malherbe is Lenham station, about 1.5 miles north-east. Well-known places in the area include Coldbridge Castle (1.1 miles south) and The Dog Collar Museum (3.5 miles north-west).
Different roofs, different checks
Chimney breasts and the loft
If a chimney breast has been removed below, we note what we can see of the support above. Confirming the support is a job for a structural engineer.
Lead flashings
Mortar fillets are sometimes used where lead would normally be. They crack with age, and we check them too.
Rented homes, blocks and businesses
Buyers’ agents can book surveys on behalf of their clients. The report is emailed, so it can go straight to your client, photos included.
Freeholders and residents’ companies use a roof report to plan and budget, putting the urgent items at the top.
What happens on the day
On the day, we begin with a quick chat about the roof and anything that is worrying you. After that, we look at everything we can see safely, from the ground, from windows, in the roof space and by drone where applicable. Most surveys take roughly 1–2 hours at most homes; commercial roofs usually need 3–4 hours. Somewhere like Boughton Malherbe needs a little journey planning: let us know about lanes, gates and parking. The roof is looked at from the ground, from windows, from the loft where there’s safe access and from the roof where it is safe.
- We start with the details: how many stacks, whether any are shared and any signs of damp.
- We inspect each stack from safe viewpoints outside.
- We check and photograph the pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Where there’s safe access, we check the stack in the loft and the chimney breasts for damp.
- We send a written report with photos, the defects found and what we recommend.
Before we arrive
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Dig out any old roof reports or invoices
- Clear the way to the loft hatch
Book a survey
Buyers should book once an offer has been accepted, so you have the findings in time to act on them before you exchange. For any other survey, just call 07833 053749 or drop us an email when you are ready.
Advice
What this survey can’t tell you
Before you book, it is worth knowing what a survey won’t do:
- Parts of the stack that cannot be seen safely or belong to a neighbour we cannot access
- A structural engineer’s assessment
- The inside of the flue, which needs a sweep or flue specialist
If in doubt, call 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll recommend the right survey. What our survey covers.
What this survey covers
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Flaunching
- Lead flashings
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Chimney breasts
- Brick chimney stacks