Oxfordshire · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Godstow, Oxfordshire
Know where you stand with the chimney stack before you spend money on it. Chimney surveys in Godstow.
- Flaunching that has broken away
- Damaged chimney pots and cowls
- Spalled or crumbling bricks
Checking the roof from the ground
What you can’t do safely is get up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way, and falls from height are serious. That’s where a survey comes in, using safe viewpoints and a drone where applicable.
After strong wind, take a look from the pavement or garden: pieces of tile or slate on the ground, a gap in the ridge or a lifted flashing are all worth noting. Don’t go up yourself.
Chimney survey in Godstow: what you get
A chimney survey is about the outside of the stack and the roof around it. It is not a flue inspection, a sweep or a gas safety check. For the flue itself, you’ll need a sweep or, for gas appliances, a Gas Safe registered engineer. We will tell you if we see anything that suggests they should take a look. Typical surveys look at flashings pulling away from the stack and worn or missing pointing, across chimney breasts, brick chimney stacks and chimney pots and cowls.
Somewhere as small as Godstow, homes are often older cottages and farmhouses, with outbuildings and some newer houses. Roofs there can be clay tile, slate, stone or thatch, and chimney stacks are often old. We report on what can safely be seen, and thatch is a specialist material. Chimneys and lead flashings on old roofs frequently need the most attention.
The report records the chimney stack as we found it on the day. That makes it useful now and a handy reference later, such as when you want to compare after future work.
- Place
- Godstow (OX2)
- Wider area
- Oxfordshire
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- When we survey
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Towns and villages near Godstow
What else we do in Godstow
Your questions about chimney surveys in Godstow
Do you cover smaller places like Godstow?
Yes, smaller places are covered as well as towns. We cover the whole of London and South East England. Let us know about access, parking and anything unusual about getting there as you book.
Can a landlord with a rental near Oxford Parkway station book a roof survey?
Yes, landlords and agents book with us as well as owners. You can ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email with the address and a few details, including who will give access on the day.
How do I arrange a chimney survey in Godstow?
To book, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email and tell us the address and what you want to find out. We will confirm the price and agree a day with you.
How long have you been surveying roofs?
More than 5,000 surveys over 20+ years.
My chimney looks like it’s leaning. What should I do?
It is worth having a leaning stack checked. We record the lean, the brickwork and the pointing, and if it may be a structural issue, we recommend a structural engineer.
Is this a RICS survey?
No. It’s a specialist roof survey, not a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 building survey. It focuses on the roof and can sit alongside a RICS survey.
Should a redundant chimney be removed?
There is no single answer. We record how the stack is doing and whether it is capped with ventilation. In a conservation area or on a listed building, changes may need consent.
Tips from our surveys
Small things make a difference, both for the survey and for the roof itself. Our tips:
- Ask about consent before removing a chimney on an older property
- Make sure fixings on the stack are secure
- Ask for ventilated caps on redundant stacks
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
After the visit, we write up the report with photos of each stack. It explains the condition of each part of the stack and any damp inside. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium.
Make sure fixings on the stack are sound, and moved if they’re working it loose. Less load on the stack means less strain in wind.
Landlord and commercial surveys in Godstow
Buyers’ agents can book surveys on behalf of their clients. The report is emailed, so it can go straight to your client, photographs included.
Any of our surveys can be booked by landlords, agents and building managers in Godstow. To discuss a property or a block, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Leave it or get it looked at?
Chimneys are easy to forget because you rarely see the top of them. Problems often go unnoticed until damp appears inside. Surveying the stack now can catch problems first. Where a roof is exposed, as many are in small places like Godstow, driving rain gets into any weakness, and older walls, once damp, take a long time to dry.
Prices start from £150, inc. VAT, for a Basic Survey. The Standard Survey starts from £250 and the Premium Survey from £400. We confirm the exact price before you book.
Why us?
- Covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- Surveys on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Satisfaction rate of 98%
- Two decades and more of roof surveys
Take a look at how roof surveys are priced or our case studies.
What happens on the day
Where it’s relevant and can be reached safely, the roof space is checked as well as the outside. In the loft, the signs we look for are staining, damp, daylight and sagging. All in, the survey typically takes roughly 1–2 hours at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. For a village or hamlet like Godstow, the journey is planned ahead of time: let us know about narrow lanes, gates, long drives and where we can park. The roof is looked at from the ground, from windows, from the loft where there’s safe access and from the roof where it’s safe.
- We start by noting which stacks are in use, shared or causing concern.
- We check the roof around each stack, including the flashings.
- We look at the flaunching and pots on every stack.
- We note the brickwork, pointing and any sign of leaning.
- You receive a written report setting out what needs attention first.
Before the survey
- Keep pets in another room
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
Getting a price
Photos help, if you have them. Take them safely from the ground or a window, and please do not climb up for a closer look. To get started, ring 07833 053749 or email us.
Related advice
Do you need a chimney survey in Godstow?
Years of fires can affect the mortar inside a stack. Mortar can deteriorate unevenly from flue gases and moisture, which is one reason stacks start to lean.
These are some of the problems a survey can pick up:
- Mortar washing out of the joints
- Flaunching that has broken away
- Loose, cracked or missing pots
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
For businesses in and around places such as Clarendon Shopping Centre, a written record of the roof’s condition helps you plan maintenance rather than react to leaks.
Questions to ask before booking
- Their track record with similar roofs
- Are they insured for the work?
- What happens after the report arrives
- What’s outside the scope of the survey
Local roofs in Godstow
Holywell Manor, about 2.7 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Godstow. Older homes in the wider area often have features worth a closer look, like lead valleys, tall stacks and roofs that have been patched over the years, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. West Oxfordshire’s older buildings often carry Cotswold stone slates, and a few villages in the county keep their thatch. Slate and clay tile are the usual coverings on older South East houses, with concrete tiles on many later estates. On roofs like these, good slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens, lead and mortar around them.
If you live in an older home near Church of All Saints, corroded nails, tired lead and weathered chimney pointing are the things to watch on older roofs. If you own a rental within reach of Oxford Parkway station, a dated record of the roof is useful when planning maintenance across a let.
Godstow is about 3 miles south of Kidlington, in Oxfordshire. Wherever you are in Godstow, we can carry out chimney surveys at your property, on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday. Godstow is one of the places in Oxfordshire where we work for chimney surveys.
Here we cover the OX2 postcode area for chimney surveys. We also cover the places around Godstow: Wolvercote (1 mile north-east), Binsey (1 mile south), Sunnymead (1 mile east), Summertown (1 mile east) and North Oxford (1 mile east). We also work in nearby towns like Oxford (4 miles south-east), Didcot (12 miles south), Bicester (10 miles north-east), Abingdon-on-Thames (7 miles south), Witney (8 miles west) and Carterton (13 miles west).
Near you in Godstow
In Godstow, that means homes and buildings near St Edward's School, Oxford Academy and St Hugh's College Main Building Including Library, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Oxford Parkway station, about 1.9 miles north-east. Other landmarks nearby include Radcliffe Infirmary (2.1 miles south-east) and Clarendon Shopping Centre (2.6 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Hook Meadow and The Trap Grounds and Harcourt Hill.