Oxfordshire · London and the South East
Long Hanborough Chimney Survey
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching in Long Hanborough, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Call or email for a price.
- Flaunching that has broken away
- Loose, cracked or missing pots
- Mortar washing out of the joints
Chimney surveys around Long Hanborough
West Oxfordshire’s older buildings frequently carry Cotswold stone slates, and a few villages in the county keep their thatch. Older houses in the South East often have slate or clay tile roofs, while many later estates have concrete tiles. On roofs like these, good slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens, lead and mortar around them. The wider area around Long Hanborough has a long history of building, with Blenheim Palace about 1.9 miles north-east. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead.
Landlords with a home close to Combe station may find that the gap between tenancies is a good time to have the roof looked at. If yours is one of the older homes in the streets near Christ Church, its roof may have old fixings, lead flashings and chimneys that need a closer look. Take a building like Hanborough Manor CofE School: long gutter runs and wide roofs on a building that size are worth checking on a regular cycle.
Long Hanborough is about 5 miles north-east of Witney, in Oxfordshire. We survey roofs in Long Hanborough and the rest of Oxfordshire. Long Hanborough is one of the places in Oxfordshire where we work for chimney surveys. Our Oxford page covers surveys nearby.
All of OX29 is within our area for chimney surveys. That includes homes and businesses on Church Road, New Road and Churchill Way. Neighbouring places we cover for chimney surveys include Church Hanborough (1 mile south-east), Bladon (2 miles east), Woodstock (3 miles north-east), Worton (3 miles south-east) and Begbroke (3 miles east). Further out, we also cover Oxford (9 miles south-east), Bicester (12 miles north-east), Abingdon-on-Thames (11 miles south-east), Witney (5 miles south-west), Carterton (9 miles south-west) and Grove (15 miles south).
Local landmarks in Long Hanborough
We work in homes and buildings around Three Horseshoes pub, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Combe station, roughly 0.6 miles north. Other landmarks nearby include Morris Motors Museum (1 mile east). Open spaces near Long Hanborough include Blenheim Farm.
Chimney survey in Long Hanborough
Chimney stacks take more weather than almost any other part of a house. In time, flaunching cracks, mortar washes out and flashings come loose. Water then gets into the stack and can show as damp on a chimney breast or a stain in the loft. We record what we find with photos and recommendations. We survey lead flashings, brick chimney stacks and flaunching, and common reasons people get in touch are eroded joints in the brickwork and bricks with flaking faces.
Houses in smaller places like Long Hanborough can face open ground, where wind and driving rain hit the roof harder. That weather tells first on ridges, verges, chimneys and flashings. A close look shows whether anything has started to loosen before it lets water in. Once one ridge tile or slate moves, wind gets under the next one too.
Where we cannot see part of the chimney stack, the report says so. That way, it’s clear what was covered and what wasn’t.
- Location
- Long Hanborough (OX29)
- Region
- Oxfordshire
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Practical tips
There’s plenty you can do without going near the roof. What helps most:
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
- Ask about consent before removing a chimney on an older property
- Ask for ventilated caps on redundant stacks
- Photograph damp patches with the date
Questions about the findings are always welcome. Standard Surveys come with a follow-up consultation, and Premium Surveys with an in-person one.
Keep an eye on chimney breasts for new damp patches. Early signs are easier to trace.
What else we do in Long Hanborough
Checking the roof from the ground
Inside, the loft is a good place to look, with care. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.
A lot can be seen from ground level. With binoculars, look for slipped or missing slates and tiles, gaps along the ridge and leaning chimneys. Never climb onto the roof to look.
What a chimney survey doesn’t cover
This isn’t a RICS building survey, a structural engineer’s report or an asbestos survey. It also has these limits:
- Gas safety checks, which need a Gas Safe registered engineer
- Parts of the stack that can’t be seen safely or belong to a neighbour we can’t access
- A structural engineer’s assessment
If you’re not sure which survey you need, call 07833 053749 or email us and we’ll give you a straight answer. What a survey covers and does not.
What this survey covers
- Brick chimney stacks
- Lead flashings
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Flaunching
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Chimney breasts
Your questions about chimney surveys in Long Hanborough
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Long Hanborough?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. The answer matters most when a change of material is on the cards.
Will you come out to Long Hanborough?
Yes, Long Hanborough is on our map. Villages and rural addresses get the same survey as a town house, with the route planned beforehand.
Do you survey roofs on blocks of flats?
Yes, once access has been agreed. The roof of a block or converted house is often shared, so we need permission from whoever owns or manages the building. We inspect only the parts we are allowed to reach.
Does someone need to be in?
Not necessarily. An outside-only look can be arranged beforehand, but the loft and any rooms with damp need someone to let us in.
How do you inspect a chimney without scaffolding?
We use safe viewpoints rather than climbing onto the stack. Where applicable, our Premium Survey adds a drone inspection for a closer view. Any area we couldn’t view is noted.
How soon will I get the report?
The Premium Survey report comes the same day, the Standard within 24–48 hours and the Basic within 48 hours. All of them come by email, ready to forward.
How much is a survey?
Our price is from £150, including VAT. Our three packages are Basic from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, with VAT included.
For landlords and managing agents
With a portfolio of properties, you can book surveys for several addresses. To arrange surveys for several addresses, ring 07833 053749 or email us.
We also survey roofs for businesses and commercial landlords. Bigger roofs take more time, so they’re priced to suit.
What affects the price in Long Hanborough
Every roof is different, so prices are confirmed before you book. This is what makes a difference:
- Building height and the viewpoints available
- Basic, Standard or Premium
- Whether thermal imaging or a drone is needed
- Features like valleys, chimneys, dormers and parapets
To find out what your survey will cost, call 07833 053749 or send us an email and let us know about the roof. We will confirm the figure before booking.
Booking your survey
These details help when you get in touch:
- Dates you are working to, like exchange
- Where any leaks, stains or damp patches show inside
- Why you want a survey: buying, a leak, a storm or new work
- Whether there’s a loft hatch, a shared roof or tricky access
Getting a price is simple: just ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email, let us know about the property and we will explain which survey suits. We confirm the price before anything is booked.
What happens on the day
Safety comes first on every visit. Everything that can be seen safely is inspected, and if part of the roof can’t be seen, the report says so. The survey usually takes about one to two hours on an ordinary house; commercial roofs usually need 3–4 hours. Some parts of a survey depend on the weather, so a visit to Long Hanborough is booked with the forecast in mind: the parts that need calm, dry weather are planned around it.
- You tell us whether any stacks are shared, unused or leaning.
- The flashings and the roof around each chimney are inspected.
- The top of each stack is checked for cracked flaunching and loose pots.
- We note the brickwork, pointing and any sign of leaning.
- The report explains the condition and which work is most urgent.
Preparing for the visit
- Leave side gates unlocked
- If you’re buying, let the agent know when we’re coming
- Let us know about parking near the property
Booking a survey
For a price for chimney surveys in Long Hanborough, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form. The address, the type of property and what you want to find out help us price the survey accurately.