Oxfordshire · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Christmas Common, Oxfordshire
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching for Christmas Common and the rest of Oxfordshire. Surveys run seven days a week.
- Disused chimneys trapping moisture
- Bricks with flaking faces
- Worn or missing pointing
Chimney survey in Christmas Common
If a chimney looks out of line, it’s worth getting it checked. Stacks can lean when mortar on one side breaks down, often after years of flue gases and damp. The survey notes how the stack looks, how far it seems to lean and the state of the bricks and joints. If the stack looks like a structural issue, the report recommends a structural engineer. If you’ve noticed gaps in the mortar around the pots and staining on walls around the chimney, we can find out what’s behind it, whatever the roof.
Somewhere as small as Christmas Common, homes are frequently older cottages and farmhouses, with outbuildings and some newer houses. Older roofs may be clay tile, slate, stone or thatch, often with chimneys that have stood a long time. Each needs checking in its own way, and thatch is a specialist material we report on as far as it can be seen. On older roofs, it is typically the chimneys and lead flashings that need work first.
Where we cannot see part of the chimney stack, the report says so. That way, it’s clear what was covered and what wasn’t.
- Where
- Christmas Common (OX49)
- Region
- Oxfordshire
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What affects the price in Christmas Common
Survey packages start from £150, with VAT included. The price for your roof depends on:
- The size of the roof
- Chimneys, valleys, parapets and other details
- Commercial roofs and larger buildings
- The height of the building and how the roof can safely be seen
All our prices include VAT. Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. You will know the price for the job before you book.
Booking your survey
When you call or email, these details help:
- The style of property, from a terrace to a block
- Where any leaks, stains or damp patches show inside
- Photos of the roof, taken safely from ground level or a window
- Why you want a survey: buying, a leak, a storm or new work
Our price is from £150, including VAT. The exact figure depends on the roof and the package, and you can phone 07833 053749 or email us to find out.
How the survey works
Where it is relevant and can be reached safely, the loft space is checked as well as the outside. In the loft, the signs we look for are staining, damp, daylight and sagging, as far as the space allows. All in, the survey typically takes roughly 1–2 hours for most houses, while a commercial roof takes nearer three to four hours. In a hamlet or village like Christmas Common, a postcode doesn’t always lead to the right gate, so a few directions are welcome. After that, the survey runs as it would anywhere.
- You tell us how many stacks there are and any damp or problems you’ve noticed.
- The stacks are looked at from the ground, from windows and from other safe vantage points.
- We check and photograph the pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Inside, we look for damp on chimney breasts and in the loft where there’s safe access.
- The findings are written up with photographs and recommendations and emailed to you.
Before we arrive
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
- Tell us about any leaks, stains or damp patches you know of
- Leave a clear route to the loft
Arrange a survey
Not sure which survey you need? It’s easiest to phone 07833 053749 or send us an email and describe the roof and what’s worrying you. We’ll talk you through the options and what they cost.
Advice
What a chimney survey doesn’t cover
No survey can tell you everything, and it’s better to know them up front. Keep these in mind:
- Hidden damage within the stack
- Whether a gas appliance or its flue is safe
- Whether the flue is safe to use
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will tell you. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
Roofs we survey in Christmas Common
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Brick chimney stacks
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Lead flashings
- Flaunching
- Chimney breasts
Checking the roof from the ground
Inside, the loft is a good place to look, with care. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, and look for staining, damp timber or daylight coming through.
What you can’t do safely is get up close. Roofs are fragile and slippery, and falls from height are serious. That is where a survey comes in, using safe viewpoints and a drone where it applies.
FAQs for Christmas Common
Is Christmas Common in the area you cover?
We do. Every survey there gets the same written report with photographs.
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Christmas Common?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it is in a conservation area. Listed building consent is needed for changes that affect a listed building’s special interest, and conservation areas can limit changes of roofing material.
What happens after the survey?
We email you the written report with photos and recommendations. You can use it to talk to a seller, an insurer, a roofer or a managing agent, whichever applies.
Do you inspect the flue?
No. We survey the stack and its weathering, not the flue. The flue should be checked by a sweep, or by a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances.
Are you structural engineers?
No. We note visible signs such as sagging or deflection, but we do not carry out calculations or give an engineer’s opinion. Where an engineer is needed, we say so in the report.
What does a roof survey cost?
Prices start from £150, including VAT. What you pay for your roof depends on its size, height, access and the package.
What will the report tell me?
A photo-illustrated written report, covering the condition of the chimney stack, the defects we found and what we recommend, with the most urgent first where relevant. The Standard Survey adds moisture detection and a structural check, and the Premium Survey adds thermal imaging, drone inspection where it applies and structural analysis.
What happens if roof problems are left?
Before deciding what to do with a redundant stack, a survey shows how it’s doing. Changes to stacks in conservation areas or on listed buildings may need consent, so check with them first. In a place like Christmas Common, a barn or garage roof left to fail puts whatever is inside at risk. It’s worth including them in a survey before a winter does the damage.
Larger roofs, taller buildings and commercial roofs take longer, so the price reflects that. The price is confirmed before you book.
What you get with us
- Surveys seven days a week
- 5,000+ roofs surveyed
- Over 20 years’ experience
- 98% customer satisfaction
Take a look at how roof surveys are priced or what we found on two real jobs.
Towns and villages near Christmas Common
Other services in Christmas Common
Chimney surveys around Christmas Common
With Stonor Park about 2.9 miles south-east, Christmas Common sits in an area with a long building history. Older roofs in the wider area can hide decades of patch repairs, so the detail matters, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. West Oxfordshire’s older buildings frequently carry Cotswold stone slates, and a few villages in the county keep their thatch. Across the South East, older homes tend to have slate or clay tiles, and many later ones concrete tiles. Whatever the covering, it’s often the fixings, flashings, valleys and gutters that give out first.
For an older house near a landmark such as Church of the Nativity, old fixings, lead flashings and tall chimneys are typical of older roofs.
Christmas Common is about 8 miles south of Thame, in Oxfordshire. Wherever you are in Christmas Common, we can come and survey your property, on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday. Our area takes in places right across Oxfordshire, large and small. For surveys nearby, see our Reading page.
Postcode districts we cover here for chimney surveys: OX49. If you are just outside Christmas Common, we cover Northend (1 mile east), Howe Hill (1 mile south-west), Shirburn (2 miles north-west), Cookley Green (2 miles south-west) and Ibstone (2 miles east). We also work in nearby towns like Oxford (14 miles north-west), Didcot (12 miles west), Abingdon-on-Thames (14 miles west), Thame (8 miles north), Henley-on-Thames (7 miles south) and Benson (6 miles west).
What’s near Christmas Common
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Fox And Hounds Inn Public House, among other places. Green spaces nearby include Bald Hill and Aston Rowant NNR.
Signs you need a chimney survey in Christmas Common
Many chimneys are no longer used. If a stack is capped or blocked without ventilation, moisture can build up inside. That can lead to damp patches on chimney breasts, even with the roof in good order.
Common reasons to book include:
- Flaunching that has broken away
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Gaps where the stack meets the roof
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
Take a building like Icknield Community College: a written record of a large roof helps plan work for the holidays rather than in term time.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Which viewpoints they use to see the roof
- Whether the roof space is looked at, where there is one
- When you will get the report
- Their insurance cover