Greater London · London and the South East
Dulwich Village Chimney Survey
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching in Dulwich Village. We’ve completed more than 5,000 surveys across London and South East England.
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Worn or missing pointing
- Damaged chimney pots and cowls
Useful tips for Dulwich Village property owners
A few practical points come up again and again on our surveys. They’re worth knowing whatever the roof:
- Make sure unused flues are capped with ventilation
- Have the flue swept and checked if you use the fire
- Leave close inspection to people with safe access
- Check fixings on the stack are secure
Many people use the report to get quotes for the work. Because everyone is pricing the same findings, the quotes are easier to compare.
Have aerial and dish brackets on the stack checked, and moved if they’re working it loose. Less load on the stack means less strain in wind.
Chimney survey in Dulwich Village: what you get
Chimney stacks take more weather than almost any other part of a house. In time, flaunching cracks, mortar washes out and flashings come loose. That lets water into the brickwork, which can show up as damp on a chimney breast or in the roof space. We record what we find with photos and recommendations. We survey chimney breasts, chimney pots and cowls and lead flashings, and people most often book us about signs that a stack is leaning and gaps where the stack meets the roof.
London has a great many flats in converted houses and purpose-built blocks, where the roof is typically a shared part of the building. Landlords, managing agents and residents’ companies need to know what condition it is in and what work is coming up, in Dulwich Village as anywhere. Leaks from a shared roof rarely affect just one home. With a written report and photographs, everyone can plan from the same facts.
The report records the chimney stack as we found it on the day. It’s useful right away, and a good reference for later, for instance when you want to check whether anything has changed.
- Where
- Dulwich Village (SE22, SE21, SE24)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What a chimney survey does not cover
Every survey has limits, and it is better to know them up front. Bear these in mind:
- Flue inspections or sweeping
- Conditions inside walls
- Parts of the stack that can’t be seen safely or belong to a neighbour we can’t access
If you are not sure which survey you need, call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will give you a straight answer. What a survey covers and does not.
Roofs we survey in Dulwich Village
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Brick chimney stacks
- Flaunching
- Chimney breasts
- Lead flashings
What we look for on each type of roof
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
Lead flashings seal the joint between the stack and the roof. We check for lifting, splits and gaps in the joints.
Chimney surveys around Dulwich Village
About 1.3 miles south lies Kingswood House, a reminder of how long the area around Dulwich Village has been built on. On older houses around here, roofs frequently carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead. Welsh slate on Victorian and Edwardian terraces is a familiar sight across inner London. Behind many of their parapets sit butterfly roofs and valley gutters that can’t be seen from the pavement. Shared chimney stacks, party-wall upstands and lead work come with this kind of house. Knowing the covering helps explain which parts of a roof are likely to need work first.
Take an older house close to St Barnabas' Church: the nails, lead and mortar on the roof may be wearing out even where the slates or tiles look fine. If you run a business near Lewisham Shopping Centre, knowing the roof’s condition lets you budget for work rather than pay for emergencies.
Dulwich Village is about 1 mile south-east of Herne Hill, in Greater London. We survey roofs in Dulwich Village and the surrounding area across London and South East England. Across Greater London, we cover Dulwich Village and the places around it.
Chimney surveys in SE22, SE21 and SE24 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover properties on Court Lane, Druce Road and Turney Road and the roads around them. Dulwich Village sits on or near the A2216. We also cover the places around Dulwich Village: Dulwich (1 mile south-east), Herne Hill (1 mile north-west), East Dulwich (1 mile north), West Dulwich (1 mile south) and Denmark Hill (1 mile north). We also work in nearby towns like London (3 miles north), City of Westminster (5 miles north-west), Marylebone (5 miles north-west), Kensington (6 miles north-west), St Pancras (5 miles north) and Shoreditch (5 miles north).
What’s near Dulwich Village
We work in homes and buildings around Alleyn's School, The Crown and Greyhound pub and The Charter School and the streets around them. There is a railway station in Dulwich Village itself: North Dulwich station. A little further out are Lewisham Shopping Centre (3.2 miles east) and Greenwich Castle (4 miles north-east). Open spaces near Dulwich Village include Knight's Hill and Centre for Wildlife Gardening.
Dulwich Village: your questions answered
Will parking be an issue for a roof survey in Dulwich Village?
Parking in Dulwich Village, as in most of London, takes a little planning: a visitor permit or a nearby bay makes the day run more smoothly, so mention what’s available as you book.
How do I find out if my home in Dulwich Village is listed?
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. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
Will you go up on the roof?
Only where it is safe to do so. We check everything that can safely be seen: from the ground, from windows, from inside the loft space, from the roof where it’s safe and by drone where it applies. The report says if anything couldn’t be seen.
Can you survey at the weekend?
We survey seven days a week: weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Just tell us the days that suit you.
Why is my chimney breast damp?
It can come from several places: water getting in at the top, through the brickwork or at the flashings, or moisture trapped in a stack with no ventilation. Our survey checks each of these and records the likely cause.
Is a leaning chimney dangerous?
A leaning stack should be looked at. Our survey notes how it looks and the condition of the bricks and joints, and recommend a structural engineer where it may be a structural concern.
How do you inspect a chimney without scaffolding?
We look from the ground, from windows and from the loft where it is safe. A drone inspection is part of the Premium Survey where it applies. The report is clear about anything that couldn’t be seen.
When to book a survey in Dulwich Village
The flaunching on top of a stack holds the pots in place and sheds water. Once it cracks, water gets in and frost makes the cracks bigger. Loose pots can follow.
Signs worth acting on include:
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
- Worn or missing pointing
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Bricks with flaking faces
If you look after a building like Dulwich Hamlet Junior School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other.
Before you book anyone
- Will they check the loft as well as the outside?
- What’s outside the scope of the survey
- Whether VAT is in the quoted price
- Their insurance cover
Landlords, agents and block managers in Dulwich Village
Surveys can also be booked by buyers’ agents acting for a client. The report is emailed, so it can go straight to your client.
If the property is let, the agent or a tenant can let us in. We survey on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, which helps when tenants work during the week.
What happens on the day
Expect us to ask a few questions before we start, about the roof’s history, any leaks and past repairs. Then the inspection itself takes roughly 1–2 hours at a typical home, and more on a big or complicated roof. In a London area like Dulwich Village, the main things to sort out are parking and access: let us know about parking, the floor the property is on, any shared entrance and loft access. We then look at everything that’s safely in view from the ground, windows, the loft and, where it’s safe, the roof itself.
- We go through the chimneys, any damp and any work done on them.
- We look at every stack from wherever it can be seen safely.
- Pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings are checked and photographed.
- We look for damp on chimney breasts and in the loft space.
- The report, with photographs and recommendations, is emailed to you.
How to prepare
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
- If you are buying, check with the agent that we can get in
- Leave a clear route to the loft
Getting a price
Photos help, if you have them. Pictures from ground level or a window are fine; never climb up to get a better view. To send them or to book, phone 07833 053749 or email us.