Oxfordshire · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Kidlington, Oxfordshire
Find out what’s going on with the chimney stack before you decide what to do next. We carry out chimney surveys in Kidlington.
- Loose, cracked or missing pots
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
How a chimney survey works in Kidlington
If you’re buying a home with chimneys, it is worth knowing their condition before you exchange. On older stacks, we often find cracked flaunching, loose flashings and worn pointing. Our report gives you specific points to raise with the seller or agent. It works alongside a RICS home survey, not instead of one. We survey brick chimney stacks, chimney breasts and lead flashings, and common reasons people get in touch are damp patches on chimney breasts and eroded joints in the brickwork.
Around Kidlington, gardens, hedges and nearby trees can mean leaves and moss end up on roofs and in gutters. Once gutters and outlets block, water spills over and soaks the walls. A report spots that kind of slow problem before it becomes damp inside. Plants growing from a gutter or moss on the tiles are signs worth noting from ground level.
The report is yours to share with whoever needs it: a seller or estate agent, an insurer, a roofer, a builder or a managing agent, whichever applies.
- Location
- Kidlington (OX5)
- Wider area
- Oxfordshire
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- When we survey
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Before and after the survey
Most of what helps is simple and safe from the ground. Our suggestions:
- Make sure fixings on the stack are secure
- Use the report as a baseline for future checks
- Check your stacks from the ground after strong winds
- Check with the council before altering a stack in a conservation area or on a listed building
With a shared stack, the report can help when talking to next door. It shows what we found and where, as far as we could see.
Check your stacks from the street or garden after a storm. With binoculars, you can often see cracked flaunching or lifted lead.
Signs you need a chimney survey in Kidlington
Flaunching is the mortar bed that holds the pots and throws water off the top. Once it cracks, water gets in and frost makes the cracks bigger. In time, the pots can become loose.
We’re often asked to look at:
- Cracked or missing flaunching
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Gaps where the stack meets the roof
Landlords with a home close to Oxford Parkway station may find that a roof report between tenancies helps plan work before a small defect becomes a tenant’s leak.
Before you book any roof surveyor
- Whether you can ask questions once you have the report
- Their track record with similar roofs
- Which parts of the roof they’ll actually see
- What insurance they carry
Kidlington questions
Is my home in Kidlington listed or in a conservation area?
The council and Historic England’s list are the places to check. It is worth checking before planning roof work, as both can affect what’s allowed.
Do you cover smaller places like Kidlington?
Yes, Kidlington is covered. We survey roofs across London and the South East, from towns to the smallest villages. The journey is planned ahead, so it is useful to know about access.
Will you fly a drone over my roof?
Yes, where it’s applicable. We hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID and fly a drone under 250g, and the airspace and weather are checked before every flight.
What’s in the report?
It works through the roof part by part, in writing and with photos, and ends with what we recommend. The most urgent items are made clear.
Should a redundant chimney be removed?
An unused stack still needs to stay weathertight and ventilated. If it is capped without ventilation, damp can build up inside. We check how it’s capped and its condition, so you can plan what to do with it.
Will you walk on the roof?
Only if it’s safe. We inspect everything that’s safely in view: from ground level, from windows, from inside the loft space, from the roof where it is safe and by drone where applicable. The report says if anything couldn’t be seen.
Does this replace a RICS home survey?
No. Our survey is a roof survey, not a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey of the whole building. It focuses on the roof and can sit alongside a RICS survey.
What happens on the day
Expect us to ask a few questions before we start, such as when any problem began and what work has been done before. Then the inspection itself takes about 1–2 hours at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. With a bit of garden around a house, as there often is around Kidlington, the roof can be viewed from several angles. Mention any side of the property we can’t get to. Inside, the loft is looked at where it can be reached safely.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- We look at every stack from wherever it can safely be seen.
- We photograph and record the pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Inside, the chimney breasts and the loft are checked for damp where there is access.
- The report, with photos and recommendations, is emailed to you.
Getting ready for the survey
- Leave side gates unlocked
- Make sure the loft hatch can be reached
- Let us know where we can park nearby
Book a survey
Once you know what you need, phone 07833 053749 or send us an email. From there it’s a case of choosing a package, agreeing the price and fixing a day, weekday or weekend.
Read more
Roof by roof
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.
Lead flashings
Flashings can lift in wind or pull out of their mortar joints. Any loose or split flashings are recorded.
Also near Kidlington
Also in Kidlington
What affects the cost of chimney surveys
Several things affect the price of a survey:
- Chimneys, valleys, parapets and other details
- How many separate roofs there are, such as extensions, dormers and garages
- How big the roof is
- Basic, Standard or Premium
Every price we give includes VAT, and the written report is part of the package. Our price is from £150, including VAT. Size, height and access decide where your roof falls.
Getting in touch
You do not need to know any roofing terms. It’s enough to tell us:
- How the loft is reached, if there is one
- Pictures from the garden or a window, if you have them
- Dates you are working to, such as exchange
- Your postcode, so we can check access and travel
Every survey is priced before it’s booked, so you know where you stand. Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. To book, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Kidlington homes and their roofs
Cotswold stone slates are found on older buildings in west Oxfordshire, and thatch survives in some of the county’s villages. Older houses in the South East often have slate or clay tile roofs, while many later estates have concrete tiles. Whichever you have, the details that tend to fail before the covering itself get the closest look. Blenheim Palace, about 3.5 miles north-west, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Kidlington. Older homes in the wider area often have features worth a closer look, such as lead valleys, tall stacks and roofs that have been patched over the years, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area.
The streets around a church like Church of St Mary are often among the oldest in a place, and if your home is one of the older ones nearby, corroded nails, tired lead and weathered chimney pointing are the things to watch on older roofs. For site and facilities teams at buildings such as St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, its roofs, gutters and any chimneys need the same checks as a house’s, just on a bigger scale.
Kidlington is about 5 miles north-west of Oxford, in Oxfordshire. We visit Kidlington as part of our work across Oxfordshire. Across Oxfordshire, we cover Kidlington and the places around it.
Surveys in OX5 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Whether your property is on High Street, Sterling Road and Exeter Road or a nearby road, we can survey it. You will find Kidlington on the A4260, so it’s easy for us to get to. Nearby, we also carry out chimney surveys in Gosford (1 mile south-east), Hampton Poyle (1 mile north-east), Islip (2 miles east), Bletchingdon (2 miles north) and Enslow (3 miles north). Larger places within reach include Oxford (5 miles south-east), Didcot (15 miles south), Bicester (8 miles north-east), Abingdon-on-Thames (10 miles south), Witney (9 miles west) and Carterton (14 miles west).
What’s near Kidlington
In Kidlington, that means homes and buildings near Gosford Hill School and Red Lion pub. The nearest railway station is Oxford Parkway station, roughly 1.3 miles south. Well-known places in the area include Oxford Castle (4.9 miles south) and Acland Hospital (4.3 miles south). Open spaces near Kidlington include Hook Meadow and The Trap Grounds.
What you can safely check yourself
Watch the gutters in a downpour, from a window or the ground. Water spilling over the edge can point to a blockage or a sagging run.
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. Do not go up yourself.