Isle of Wight · London and the South East
Dunsbury Chimney Survey
A careful look at the chimney stack at your property in Dunsbury, with photos and a written report.
- Flashings pulling away from the stack
- Worn or missing pointing
- Cracked or missing flaunching
Chimney surveys for homes and businesses in Dunsbury
If you are buying a home with chimneys, it’s worth knowing their condition before you exchange. On older stacks, we frequently find cracked flaunching, loose flashings and worn pointing. You get photos and findings you can take back to the seller or agent. It complements a RICS home survey rather than replacing it. We survey lead flashings, brick chimney stacks and flaunching, and people most often book us about gaps in the mortar around the pots and disused chimneys trapping moisture.
Some older homes in villages like Dunsbury are listed or in a conservation area. That can affect what materials can be used when work is done, so check with the council before planning anything. A roof report helps you plan work with that in mind. Where a building is listed, matching the existing roof materials is often expected.
After the visit, you get a report with photos, emailed to you. It sets out the condition of the chimney stack, any defects and our written recommendations.
- Location
- Dunsbury (PO30)
- Region
- Isle of Wight
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after the survey
Over many surveys, some simple habits stand out:
- Keep track of stains on chimney breasts
- Ask about consent before removing a chimney on an older property
- File photos of the stacks with your home records
- Use a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances
The report is emailed to you, ready to share with a roofer or builder. Each defect is described in plain words and shown in a photo so anyone reading it can see what we saw.
Have worn pointing and cracked flaunching dealt with early. It is far simpler than rebuilding a stack later.
Chimney surveys in Dunsbury: local notes
The coast is about 1 mile or less from Dunsbury, so there’s more wind and more salt in the air than further inland. Salt is hard on nails, clips and metal flashings, and strong wind lifts anything already loose on a roof, while driving rain finds any gap. With Mottistone Manor about 1.2 miles east, Dunsbury sits in an area with a long building history. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area.
Dunsbury is about 7 miles south-west of Newport, in the Isle of Wight. If you are in Dunsbury, booking works exactly as it does anywhere else: a call or an email, a price, then a date. Our area takes in places right across the Isle of Wight, large and small. There is also a page for Southampton.
Here we cover the PO30 postcode area for chimney surveys. Neighbouring places we cover for chimney surveys include Brook (1 mile south), Hulverstone (1 mile south-east), Brookgreen (1 mile south-east), Shalcombe (1 mile north-east) and Chilton Green (2 miles south-east). We also work in nearby towns such as Newport (7 miles north-east), Ryde (14 miles east), Cowes (9 miles north-east), Sandown (13 miles east), Shanklin (12 miles east) and Ventnor (12 miles east). Harder-to-reach addresses take a little more planning, so tell us where you are as you book.
Landmarks near Dunsbury
Well-known places in the area include Yarmouth Castle (3.9 miles north-west) and Calbourne Water Mill And Rural Museum (2.3 miles north-east). The countryside around Dunsbury includes Westover Down.
Honest limits
In fairness, there are limits to any roof survey:
- The inside of the flue, which needs a sweep or flue specialist
- What’s inside the brickwork or behind render, without opening up
- Whether a stack needs rebuilding on structural grounds
If you’re not sure which survey you need, ring 07833 053749 or email us and we will give you a straight answer. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
What this survey covers
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Brick chimney stacks
- Lead flashings
- Flaunching
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Chimney breasts
How the survey works
You don’t need to do much on the day. Point out anything you’ve noticed, such as stains, drips or loose pieces, and we will take it from there. The survey itself takes about 1–2 hours at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. Cottages and farmhouses around Dunsbury often have roofs at several levels, with lean-tos and outbuildings attached. We work round each section in turn, from the safest viewpoints, and anything we cannot see is noted.
- You tell us whether any stacks are shared, unused or leaning.
- We check the roof around each stack, including the flashings.
- We look at the flaunching and pots on every stack.
- Any lean, spalling or worn pointing is recorded.
- The report explains the condition and which work is most urgent.
Before we arrive
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
- For a flat or shared roof, check access with whoever owns or manages the building
- Unlock side gates and any roof access doors
Booking a survey
Surveys can be booked for weekdays, Saturdays or Sundays. To find a date that works for you, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the address and the days you’d prefer.
Related advice
Signs you need a chimney survey in Dunsbury
Flaunching is the mortar bed that holds the pots and throws water off the top. Cracked flaunching lets water in, and each winter makes it worse. Loose pots can follow.
Signs worth acting on include:
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Bricks with flaking faces
- Cracked or missing flaunching
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
The streets around a church like St. Mary's Church are frequently among the oldest in a place, and if your house is among the older ones nearby, its roof may have old fixings, lead flashings and chimneys that need a closer look.
Before booking anyone
- What follow-up you get after the report
- What the survey will not cover
- Whether you get a written report with photos
- How they’ll see the roof: from ground level, the loft, the roof or by drone
Dunsbury: your questions answered
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Dunsbury?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you’re planning to re-roof in a different material.
Is the coastal weather around Dunsbury hard on roofs?
Generally, yes: wind and salt air take more of a toll near the sea. Ridges, verges, flashings and fixings are where it typically shows.
Can you find out why my chimney breast is damp?
Damp on a chimney breast usually means water is getting into the stack, or moisture is trapped inside it. The survey looks at the stack, the flashings and the capping, and record what we find.
Does the report include photos?
Yes. Photographs are part of every report, so you can see exactly what each finding refers to.
What happens after the survey?
The report comes by email, and you decide the next step: raise it with a seller, send it to an insurer, brief a roofer or share it with a managing agent.
How long will you be at the property?
That depends on the size and shape of the roof, but most surveys take an hour or two at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. The written report follows by email.
Will you check the loft?
If the survey needs it and the loft space can be reached safely, yes. Please clear anything stored under the hatch.
Places near Dunsbury
Also in Dunsbury
Why get it checked now?
A small amount of repointing or new flaunching is usually a modest job. Left for a few winters, frost and water can loosen pots and bricks, and the work grows. In a place like Dunsbury, 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.
Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on the size and height of the roof, access and the package you choose.
Why choose Independent Roof Survey in Dunsbury
- 20+ years’ experience
- Packages from £150, with VAT included
- Photographs and a written report every time
- Drone and thermal imaging surveys available
Take a look at our cost guide and our case studies.
Different roofs, different checks
Lead flashings
Where the chimney meets the roof slopes, lead flashings keep water out. We check for lifting, splits and gaps in the joints.
Flaunching
Flaunching is the mortar on top of a stack that holds the pots and sheds water. Cracks in it let water into the stack.