Greater London · London and the South East
Keston Chimney Survey
Know where you stand with the chimney stack before you spend money on it. Chimney surveys in Keston, with photos and a clear written report.
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Gaps where the stack meets the roof
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
For landlords and managing agents
Freeholders and residents’ companies use a roof report to plan and budget, putting the urgent items at the top.
Surveys can also be booked by buyers’ agents acting for a client. The report is emailed, so it can go straight to your client, photographs included.
Chimney survey in Keston
For buyers, a chimney survey before exchange can flag work you may want to raise. On older stacks, we often 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. Common reasons to book are damp on a chimney breast inside and gaps where the stack meets the roof, across shared and party-wall stacks, chimney pots and cowls and flaunching.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces are found right across London, 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. Homes in Keston are no exception. Shared chimney stacks and the lead around them are just as important to check.
Pictures do a lot of the work in our reports, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. If something couldn’t be seen safely, the report is clear about it.
- Where
- Keston (BR2)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
How the survey changes by roof type
Brick stacks
Most chimney stacks are built of brick, with mortar joints that wear over time. The survey looks for crumbling bricks and worn or missing mortar.
Flaunching
The sloping mortar around the pots is called flaunching. Once it cracks, water can get straight into the brickwork.
Other services in Keston
Keston questions
I let a flat near Hayes (Kent) station. Can you check the roof?
Yes. We survey roofs for landlords, letting agents and managing agents as well as owners. Just phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the details.
Can parking be tricky for a visit in Keston?
Parking in Keston, 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 when booking.
Can you find out why my chimney breast is damp?
Typically it is water getting in from outside, or condensation in a sealed stack. We check the stack, the flashings and how unused flues are capped and records the likely cause.
Do you survey roofs on blocks of flats?
Yes, once whoever controls the roof agrees access. We look at the parts we’re given access to.
Do you look in the roof space?
Typically, if there’s one and it can be reached safely. The roof space can show things the outside cannot, such as damp timbers, staining or daylight.
What’s the best way to book?
Just ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form. We will ask a few questions, confirm the price and agree a date.
Will you photograph what you find?
Yes. The report includes photos of what we found, so you can see exactly what each finding refers to.
Checking the roof from ground level
You can learn a lot from ground level. Binoculars help you spot slipped slates or tiles, gaps along the ridge and a leaning stack. Please don’t climb up for a closer look.
After strong wind, take a look from the pavement or garden: broken slates or tiles in the garden, gaps along the ridge or loose lead are signs to note. Don’t go up yourself.
Keston homes and their roofs
Historic houses such as Down House, about 2.2 miles south-east, show how far back building in the area around Keston goes. If your home is one of the older ones, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof. Alongside Victorian and Edwardian terraces, outer London has a great many interwar semis, often with hipped roofs of clay or concrete tiles. If your home in Keston is one of them, bay roofs, hips and later dormers each have their own details. On roofs like these, good slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens, lead and mortar around them.
Homes near green spaces such as South Park can get more leaves in their gutters in autumn, and blocked gutters overflow and soak walls. Landlords with a home close to Hayes (Kent) station may find that knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints.
Keston is about 3 miles south of Bromley, in Greater London. Keston is one of many places we visit across Greater London, for homes and businesses alike. Keston is one of the towns and villages in Greater London where we work for chimney surveys. For surveys nearby, see our London page.
All of BR2 is within our area for chimney surveys. Whether your property is on Church Road, Greys Park Close and Heathfield Road or a nearby road, we can survey it. Other places close to Keston include Nash (1 mile west), Farthing Street (1 mile south-east), Locksbottom (1 mile north-east), Leaves Green (2 miles south) and Hayes (2 miles north-west). Larger places within reach include London (11 miles north-west), City of Westminster (13 miles north-west), Marylebone (13 miles north-west), Kensington (14 miles north-west), St Pancras (13 miles north-west) and Shoreditch (12 miles north).
Local landmarks in Keston
Around Keston, our work takes us to homes and buildings near South Park, Ravens Wood School and The Greyhound pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Hayes (Kent) station, about 1.5 miles north-west of the centre. Other landmarks nearby include Princess Royal University Hospital (1.1 miles east) and Bethlem Museum of the Mind (1.5 miles north). Open spaces near Keston include West Kent Golf Course nature reserve and Summer Hill.
Why act early in Keston
Cracked flaunching and worn pointing are frequently modest repairs when they’re caught early. Left for a few winters, frost and water can loosen pots and bricks and the job gets bigger. Many older London roofs have only old felt under the slates, or no underlay at all, so a slipped slate can soon mean water inside. Left unchecked, water soaks into timber and plaster and the damage spreads.
One thing that affects the price is the package: Basic from £150, Standard from £250 or Premium from £400, all with VAT included. Size, height and access can affect the price too.
Why book with us
- 5,000+ roofs surveyed
- PI and public liability insurance
- Weekday and weekend surveys
- An independent view of the roof
Read our cost guide and two real surveys.
Do you need a chimney survey in Keston?
Removing a chimney breast inside can leave questions about how the stack is supported. We record what we can see in the loft and outside, and the report recommends a structural engineer if support is a concern.
Here are some of the things we see often:
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Damp patches on chimney breasts
- Worn or missing pointing
The streets around a church such as Keston Parish Church are often among the oldest in a place, and if your home is one of the older ones nearby, its roof may have old fixings, lead flashings and chimneys that need a closer look.
Before you book anyone
- What follow-up you get after the report
- Their report turnaround times
- Whether VAT is added on top
- Whether you get a written report with photos
How the survey works
We photograph the roof as we go, so the report shows exactly what we saw. Close-ups come from the safest viewpoint available. Most surveys take an hour or two at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. In a London conversion, the way into the loft space is often from a communal landing or the top flat. If that applies to your building, it helps to agree access with the neighbours or the managing agent first. Otherwise, the visit in Keston runs like any other.
- 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.
- We photograph and record the pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Inside, the chimney breasts and the loft are checked for damp where there’s access.
- You get a written report with photos and recommendations by email.
How to prepare
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- Make sure pets are kept safely away
- Make sure we can get to the back of the property
Arrange a survey
Photos help, if you have them. Take them safely from the ground or a window; never climb up to get a better view. To get started, ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form.