Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Coldharbour, Greater London
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching across Coldharbour, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Get in touch for a price.
- Flashings pulling away from the stack
- Flaunching that has broken away
- A stack that appears to lean
Practical tips
From years of surveys, a few habits stand out as worth the effort:
- Leave close inspection to people with safe access
- Check your stacks from the ground after strong winds
- Ask about consent before removing a chimney on an older property
- Make sure fixings on the stack are secure
If the report recommends a structural engineer, a sweep or a Gas Safe registered engineer, it will say why. It gives them a clear starting point.
Have aerial and dish brackets on the stack checked and taken off if they’re no longer needed. Less load on the stack means less strain in wind.
About our chimney survey in Coldharbour
For buyers, a chimney survey before exchange can flag work you may want to raise. 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 works alongside a RICS home survey, not instead of one. We survey lead flashings, shared and party-wall stacks and brick chimney stacks, and the problems we’re asked to look at most are flashings pulling away from the stack and worn or missing pointing.
Much of London’s housing is flats, in converted houses or purpose-built blocks, so roofs are often shared between several households. Whoever looks after the building needs a clear picture of the roof, chimneys and gutters. A defect on a shared roof can reach more than one flat. A report gives everyone the same picture to plan from, with photos.
We keep jargon out of it: where something needs attention, it says so plainly, along with how urgent it is.
- Place
- Coldharbour (E14, SE10, E22)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Coldharbour
I let a flat near Canary Wharf station. Can you check the roof?
Yes, landlords and agents are among the people we work for. Just ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email with the details, and we’ll talk through which survey suits.
Is my home in Coldharbour listed or in a conservation area?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you are planning to re-roof in a different material.
Can you inspect my roof with a drone?
Where it helps and it’s safe, yes. Whether we can fly on the day depends on the weather and the airspace rules. We hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID.
My chimney looks like it is leaning. What should I do?
Don’t ignore it. Stacks can lean when mortar on one side breaks down. We record its condition with photographs, and a structural engineer can confirm whether it’s stable.
Do you work in Coldharbour?
Yes. We cover Coldharbour and the rest of Greater London. To book, phone 07833 053749 or send us an email.
Can you give me structural calculations?
No. We’re roof surveyors, not structural engineers. We’ll recommend an engineer if we see signs that call for one.
Do you inspect the flue?
No. Our survey covers the outside of the stack and the roof around it. The flue should be checked by a sweep, or by a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances.
The survey, 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. Everything we note and photograph goes into the written report. The visit usually takes an hour or two for a house, and longer for a large or complex roof. In Coldharbour, visits are available on weekdays and at weekends. 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. A back bedroom window can be the best vantage point for a rear addition, so we may ask to use one.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- Each stack is inspected from safe positions outside.
- Pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings are checked and photographed.
- Inside, the chimney breasts and the loft are checked for damp where there is access.
- The report, with photos and recommendations, is emailed to you.
Before the survey
- Make sure we can get to the back of the property
- Agree roof access with the managing agent if it’s shared
- If it isn’t your property yet, arrange access through the agent
Booking a survey
To get a price for chimney surveys in Coldharbour, call 07833 053749 or send us an email. The address, the type of property and what you need to know help us price the survey accurately.
Read more
What affects the price in Coldharbour
Our packages start from £150, inc. VAT. The price for your roof depends on:
- The height of the building and how the roof can be seen safely
- The roof’s overall size
- Features like valleys, chimneys, dormers and parapets
- Any need for thermal images or a drone flight
Every price we give includes VAT, and the report isn’t charged as an extra. Prices start from £150, including VAT. Where your roof sits in the range depends on its size, height and access.
Helping us price your survey
There is no need for technical words. Just let us know:
- Pictures from the garden or a window, if you have them
- Whether there’s a loft hatch, a shared roof or tricky access
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
- The kind of building and roof involved
When you are ready to go ahead, call 07833 053749 or email us. From there it’s a case of choosing a package, agreeing the price and fixing a day, weekday or weekend.
Why get it checked now?
For a buyer, the best time to learn about a chimney is before exchange. After that, any work is yours to arrange and pay for. A report gives you something specific to put to the seller. Any roof job in Coldharbour means planning around parking, neighbours and access. That’s a good reason to find problems early, while there’s time to plan.
A Basic Survey starts from £150, with VAT included. Standard is from £250 and Premium from £400. We confirm the price for the job before you book.
What you get with us
- Over 5,000 surveys carried out
- An independent look at the roof
- Visits on any day of the week
- Professional indemnity and public liability insurance
Chimney surveys around Coldharbour
Inner London’s Victorian and Edwardian terraces often have Welsh slate roofs. From the street you may see only a parapet, with a butterfly roof and a valley gutter behind it draining to the back. Lead flashings, party-wall upstands and shared chimney stacks are typical of these houses, if yours is one of them. Whatever the covering, it’s often the fixings, flashings, valleys and gutters that give out first. Queen's House, about 1.5 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Coldharbour. Period homes nearby can have lead valleys, tall chimneys and a patchwork of past repairs, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material.
For landlords with property near Canary Wharf station, knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints. If you look after a building such as Woolmore Primary School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other.
Coldharbour is about 2 miles north of Greenwich, in Greater London. Houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings in Coldharbour can all book chimney surveys, with a written report and photographs every time. Our area takes in places right across Greater London.
We work across the E14, SE10 and E22 postcode area for chimney surveys. Local streets include Canada Square, Simpson's Road and Amsterdam Road, all of which we cover. Main roads around Coldharbour include the A1206 and A1261. If you are just outside Coldharbour, we cover Blackwall (1 mile north-east), London Docklands (1 mile west), Poplar (1 mile north-west), Canary Wharf (1 mile west) and Heron Quays (1 mile west). Within a short drive, we also cover London (4 miles west), City of Westminster (6 miles west), Marylebone (6 miles west), Kensington (8 miles west), St Pancras (5 miles west) and Shoreditch (3 miles north-west).
Around Coldharbour
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Canary Wharf College 3, Mudchute Park and Farm and Tower Hamlets College and the streets around them. The nearest railway station is Canary Wharf station, about 0.5 miles north-west. Well-known places in the area include Old Royal Naval College (1.3 miles south) and Poplar Hospital (0.6 miles north). Not far away are Tower Hill and Lavender Pond.
What we look for on each type of roof
Chimney pots and cowls
Damaged pots are a safety concern as well as a leak risk. We record their condition with photographs.
Chimney breasts and the loft
If a chimney breast has been removed below, we note what we can see of the support above. A structural engineer should confirm whether it’s adequate.
Nearby places to Coldharbour
Other services in Coldharbour
Do you need a chimney survey in Coldharbour?
Some owners book because a chimney breast has been removed below and they want to know about the stack above. We note what’s visible in the roof space and outside, and recommend a structural engineer where support is in question.
Most people get in touch after spotting one of these:
- Flashings pulling away from the stack
- A stack that appears to lean
- Spalled or crumbling bricks
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
Living close to Mudchute Park and Farm is pleasant, but mature trees mean leaves in gutters and valleys each autumn, and blocked gutters overflow and soak walls.
Before you book anyone
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
- What happens after the report arrives
- What the report includes, and whether it has photos
- Whether VAT is in the quoted price