Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney Survey in Gants Hill
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching for Gants Hill and the rest of Greater London. We survey on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
Chimney survey in Gants Hill: what you get
Our survey covers the structure of the stack and its weathering details. It is not a flue inspection, a sweep or a gas safety check. If you use a fire or a gas appliance, the flue should be checked by a sweep or a Gas Safe registered engineer as appropriate. We will tell you if we see anything that suggests they should take a look. We survey brick chimney stacks, chimney breasts and shared and party-wall stacks, and the problems we’re asked to look at most are cracked or missing flaunching and a stack that appears to lean.
London has Victorian and Edwardian terraces in almost every borough, many with Welsh slate roofs, shared chimney stacks and parapet or valley gutters. Slates can last a century or more, but the nails holding them corrode, and slates slip. In Gants Hill, as across London, that’s why a roof needs a proper look rather than a glance from the street. Shared chimney stacks and the lead around them are just as important to check.
With the Standard Survey, you also get moisture detection, a structural check and a follow-up consultation. The Premium Survey goes further, with thermal imaging, drone inspection where applicable, structural analysis and an in-person consultation.
- Where
- Gants Hill (IG2, IG6, IG1)
- Region
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Questions from Gants Hill
Will parking be an issue for a roof survey in Gants Hill?
It depends on the street. If Gants Hill has controlled parking where you are, a visitor permit is the easiest answer.
How do I find out if my home in Gants Hill is listed?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it’s 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.
What’s the best way to book?
Just ring 07833 053749 or send us an email with the address. After a few questions, we confirm the price and fix a day.
What does a chimney survey cover?
We check the pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings. We also check chimney breasts and the stack in the roof space where we can reach. You get a written report with photos.
My chimney looks like it is leaning. What should I do?
Have it checked rather than leaving it. Leaning often comes from mortar breaking down unevenly. The survey records what we can see, and a structural engineer can confirm whether it’s stable.
How much is a survey?
Our price is from £150, including VAT. What you pay for your roof depends on its size, height, access and the package, confirmed before anything is booked.
Will you go up on the roof?
Only if it is safe. We inspect whatever is safely visible: from ground level, from windows, from inside the loft space, from the roof where it’s safe and by drone where applicable. Anything we cannot see is noted in the report.
Also near Gants Hill
Other services in Gants Hill
Why it is worth a survey now in Gants Hill
A damp chimney breast seldom dries out until the cause is found. It can spoil decoration and plaster. Finding the cause means the right work can be planned. Work on a London roof is rarely simple to arrange, with parking, neighbours and access all to think about. That’s a good reason to find problems early, while there’s time to plan, rather than in a rush after a leak.
Every price we give includes VAT, and the report isn’t charged as an extra. Our price is from £150, including VAT. Size, height and access decide where your roof falls.
Why book us in Gants Hill
- 5,000+ surveys completed
- 20+ years’ experience
- 98% customer satisfaction
- Thermal imaging and drone inspection where they help
What we look for on each type of roof
Rendered stacks
A rendered stack can mask problems in the bricks below. The survey checks for cracking, bulging and staining in the render.
Flaunching
Flaunching takes the worst of the weather. We look for cracks, gaps around the pots and missing pieces.
Gants Hill homes and their roofs
Outer London has lots of Victorian and Edwardian terraces with slate roofs, but also a great many interwar semis, frequently with hipped roofs in clay or concrete tiles. If your home in Gants Hill is one of them, bay roofs, hips and later dormers each have their own details. Knowing the covering helps explain which parts of a roof are likely to need work first. Valentines Mansion, about 0.4 miles south-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Gants Hill. 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.
Trees in and around Valentines Park shed leaves that can end up in nearby gutters, and blocked gutters overflow and soak walls. Anyone responsible for a site like Gearies Primary School will know that its roofs, gutters and any chimneys need the same checks as a house’s, just on a bigger scale.
Gants Hill is about 3 miles north-east of Forest Gate, in Greater London. Surveys in Gants Hill work the same way as everywhere we cover: a careful look at what can be seen safely, photographs and a clear written report. Across Greater London, we cover Gants Hill. You can also see our page for London.
We survey roofs across IG2, IG6 and IG1 for chimney surveys and the streets around it. We offer chimney surveys to properties on Bute Road, Perth Road and Shere Road and the roads around them. Being close to the A123, Gants Hill is simple for us to get to for chimney surveys. Close by, we survey roofs in Newbury Park (1 mile east), Barkingside (1 mile north-east), Redbridge (1 mile west), Cranbrook (1 mile south-west) and Ilford (1 mile south). Larger places within reach include London (9 miles south-west), City of Westminster (11 miles south-west), Marylebone (10 miles south-west), Kensington (13 miles south-west), St Pancras (9 miles south-west) and Shoreditch (7 miles south-west).
Around Gants Hill
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Valentines Park and Valentines High School, among other places. Gants Hill’s nearest station is Ilford station, roughly 1.2 miles south of the centre. A little further out are Stratford Centre (3.9 miles south-west) and Goodmayes Hospital (1.7 miles east). Open spaces near Gants Hill include Hollow Pond and Hainault Lodge.
Common roof problems in Gants Hill
Chimney stacks stand above the roof, exposed to wind, rain and frost on every side. Frost opens up cracks in the mortar, and rain gets into worn bricks and joints. Most people book after spotting damp or a loose pot, or before buying.
Signs worth acting on include:
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
- A chimney out of line
- Loose, cracked or missing pots
- Bricks with flaking faces
For an older house near a landmark such as St George's Church, old fixings, lead flashings and tall chimneys are typical of older roofs.
What to check before booking
- Do they have a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID for drone work?
- Whether the roof space is looked at, where there is one
- Whether they hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- How they’ll see the roof: from the ground, the loft, the roof or by drone
What we do, step by step
We photograph the roof as we go, so you can see in the report what we found and where. Close-ups come from the safest viewpoint available, including by drone where it’s applicable and the weather allows. A typical visit takes an hour or two for most homes, a little longer where there are several stacks. London terraces rarely offer a view of the whole roof from one spot, so a visit in Gants Hill moves between viewpoints: the pavement, upstairs windows, the loft and any safe spot at the back. If other people live in the building, let us know who can let us into the shared parts.
- We start by noting which stacks are in use, shared or causing concern.
- The flashings and the roof around each chimney are inspected.
- We look at the flaunching and pots on every stack.
- We note the brickwork, pointing and any sign of leaning.
- The report explains the condition and which work is most urgent.
Getting ready for the survey
- Gather any invoices or paperwork from past roof work
- Leave side gates unlocked
- If you are buying, let the agent know when we are coming
Getting a price
To arrange a survey, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email and tell us the address and what’s prompted the survey. We’ll confirm the price before booking.
Read more
What a chimney survey doesn’t cover
It helps to know what a survey will not do before you book:
- Whether a gas appliance or its flue is safe
- Hidden damage within the stack
- 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, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email and we will give you a straight answer before you book. The full list of what we check.
Roofs we survey in Gants Hill
- Chimney breasts
- Flaunching
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Lead flashings
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Brick chimney stacks
Rented homes, blocks and businesses
Freeholders and residents’ companies use a roof report to plan and budget, putting the urgent items at the top.
Where a roof is shared: we need access agreed with the freeholder or managing agent. Tell us about it when you book and we’ll plan the survey around it.