Brighton and Hove · London and the South East
Chimney Survey in East Saltdean
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching across East Saltdean, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Get in touch for a price.
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
- Staining on walls around the chimney
What we do, step by step
Safety comes first on every visit. Everything that can be seen safely is inspected, and if part of the roof cannot be seen, the report says so. The survey usually takes about 1–2 hours at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. In a smaller place like East Saltdean, as anywhere, the forecast plays a part: drone flights and thermal imaging need the right conditions, while a look from the ground and the loft can go ahead in most weather.
- 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’s access.
- The report, with photographs and recommendations, is emailed to you.
Before the survey
- If it isn’t your property yet, arrange access through the agent
- Find any records of previous roof work
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
How to book
For a price for chimney surveys in East Saltdean, call 07833 053749 or send us an email. The address, the type of property and what you’d like to know help us price the survey accurately.
Advice
About our chimney survey in East Saltdean
Damp on a chimney breast can have several causes. Water may be getting in at the top through cracked flaunching or an uncapped pot, through the brickwork, or at the flashings. Moisture trapped inside a stack with no ventilation can also cause damp. We check each possibility and record what we find. That points the work in the right direction. We survey flaunching, shared and party-wall stacks and chimney pots and cowls, and people most often book us about flaunching that has broken away and lifted or split lead flashings.
Trees around homes in smaller places like East Saltdean drop leaves, twigs and moss onto roofs and into gutters. Blocked gutters overflow and soak the walls below. A report spots that kind of slow problem before it becomes damp inside. Moss on the roof and weeds in the gutter are both easy to spot from ground level.
What you get is a clear record of the chimney stack on the day we saw it. That makes it useful now and a handy reference later, for instance when you want to check whether anything has changed.
- Place
- East Saltdean (BN2)
- Region
- Brighton and Hove
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- When we survey
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
East Saltdean: your questions answered
Will you come out to East Saltdean?
Yes, we do. We cover the whole of London and South East England, and smaller places are part of that. Longer journeys are simply planned ahead of time.
Do you survey roofs for landlords with property near Southease station?
Yes, landlords and agents are among the people we work for. Just call 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the details.
Our stack is shared. Can you still survey it?
Yes. Many houses share stacks with a neighbour. We survey what we can see safely, and note anything that seems to involve next door.
How many surveys have you done?
We have more than 20 years’ experience and have carried out more than 5,000 surveys.
Do I need to be at home?
That depends on the survey. For inside areas and the loft space, someone has to give us access.
Can you give me structural calculations?
No. We point out what can be seen, such as sagging or deflection, but we are not structural engineers and don’t carry out calculations. If we think you need an engineer, the report says so.
Will you check the chimney is safe to use with a fire?
No. We survey the stack and its weathering, not the flue. For the flue, you’ll need a sweep or, for gas, a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Rented homes, blocks and businesses
Letting agents can arrange access with tenants. Surveys run on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, which can make access easier.
With a portfolio of properties, you can book surveys for several addresses. To discuss a number of properties, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Also near East Saltdean
More services for East Saltdean
What a chimney survey does not cover
In fairness, a roof survey has limits:
- Hidden sides of a shared stack
- Checks on boilers, fires or their flues
- Whether a stack needs rebuilding on structural grounds
If you are not sure which survey you need, call 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll give you a straight answer before you book. The full list of what we check.
What we look at
- Flaunching
- Chimney breasts
- Lead flashings
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Brick chimney stacks
- Chimney pots and cowls
Chimney surveys around East Saltdean
East Saltdean lies within about 1 mile of the sea, where sea air brings more salt and stronger wind than inland. Metal fixings and flashings corrode faster in salt air, while gales work at loose ridges, slates and tiles, while driving rain finds any gap. About 3.2 miles north-east lies Monk's House, a reminder of how long the area around East Saltdean has been built on. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first.
For an older house near a landmark such as St Nicholas, its chimney, valleys and lead work are likely to be the parts that need attention first. Living close to Beacon Hill is pleasant, but mature trees mean leaves in gutters and valleys each autumn, so outlets and downpipes are worth watching.
East Saltdean is about 4 miles west of Newhaven, in Brighton and Hove. We survey roofs in East Saltdean and the rest of Brighton and Hove, as part of our work across London and the South East. East Saltdean is one of the towns and villages in Brighton and Hove where we work.
Postcode districts we cover here for chimney surveys: BN2. Local streets include Wicklands Avenue, Oaklands Avenue and Brambletyne Avenue, all of which we cover. If you are just outside East Saltdean, we cover Saltdean (1 mile west), Telscombe (1 mile east), Rottingdean (2 miles north-west), Ovingdean (2 miles north-west) and Rodmell (3 miles north-east). Further out, we also cover Brighton (5 miles north-west), Brighton and Hove (7 miles west), Hove (7 miles west), Carlton Hill (5 miles west), Hanover (5 miles north-west) and West Hill (5 miles west).
Local landmarks in East Saltdean
Around East Saltdean, our work takes us to homes and buildings near Beacon Hill, Smugglers Rest pub and Peacehaven Community School. For rail, the closest station is Southease station, roughly 3.3 miles north-east of the centre. A little further out are French Convalescent Home (3.5 miles west) and Planet Earth Museum (3.7 miles east). Green spaces nearby include Newmarket Hill and Beacon Hill Local Nature Reserve.
What happens if roof problems are left?
Most people never get a proper look at their chimney stacks. Defects tend to go unseen until there is a stain. A survey gives you a clear picture before that happens. Tradespeople may need to travel further to a smaller place like East Saltdean, so it helps to plan roof work rather than call someone out in a hurry. A survey gives you that notice.
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
- Packages from £150, including VAT
- Surveys seven days a week
- 5,000+ surveys completed
- Two decades and more of roof surveys
Common roof problems in East Saltdean
Some owners book because a chimney breast has been removed below and they want to know about the stack above. We record what we can see in the loft and outside, and the report recommends a structural engineer if support is a concern.
These are some of the problems a survey can pick up:
- Damaged chimney pots and cowls
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Disused chimneys trapping moisture
- Damp patches on chimney breasts
If you look after a building such as Saltdean Primary School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other.
Questions to ask before booking
- Whether the price includes VAT
- What the survey won’t cover
- Do they have a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID for drone work?
- Whether the inside of the roof is included
Different roofs, different checks
Rendered stacks
What’s behind the render cannot be seen without removing some, so the report explains what we could and couldn’t assess.
Chimney pots and cowls
Each pot is bedded into the flaunching, often with a cowl or cap on top. The survey looks for cracked, loose or missing pots and cowls.