Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Notting Hill, Greater London
A survey of chimney stacks, pots, flashings and flaunching in Notting Hill, carried out by an experienced roof surveyor. Every survey comes with a written report and photographs.
- Lifted or split lead flashings
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
Chimney survey in Notting Hill: what you get
Many homes have chimneys that are no longer used. Even when it is not used, a stack has to stay weathertight. Capping a stack without ventilation can trap moisture and lead to damp inside. We check how redundant stacks have been capped and look for damp in the chimney breasts. You get photos of each stack and our recommendations. If you are worried about signs that a stack is leaning and gaps where the stack meets the roof, we can find out what’s behind it, on chimney breasts, flaunching and lead flashings alike.
Many London terraces have a butterfly roof, with two slopes meeting in a central valley gutter that drains to the rear. From the street you see only a parapet wall, so blocked outlets and split linings go unnoticed until water comes through a ceiling. For a house in Notting Hill with this kind of roof, the hidden gutter is one of the first things to check.
Report times depend on the survey you book: the Basic Survey within 48 hours, the Standard Survey in 24 to 48 hours and the Premium Survey on the same day.
- Where
- Notting Hill (W11, W8, W2)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
How the survey changes by roof type
Flaunching
Flaunching takes the worst of the weather. The survey checks for cracking and gaps around each pot.
Rendered stacks
Cracked render can let water in and trap it behind. We record any cracking and where it is.
Chimney surveys around Notting Hill
Sambourne House, about 0.7 miles south-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Notting Hill. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and any change of roofing material on a listed home needs checking with the council first. Many homes in inner London are Victorian and Edwardian terraces, frequently with Welsh slate roofs. A butterfly roof with a central valley gutter, tucked behind a parapet wall, is common on these houses. Lead flashings, party-wall upstands and shared chimney stacks are typical of these houses, if yours is one of them. On roofs like these, good slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens, lead and mortar around them.
Landlords with a home close to Shepherds Bush station may find that knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints. If you run a business near Westfield London, a roof report helps plan work around trading rather than after a leak. Trees in and around Holland Park shed leaves that can end up in nearby gutters, and blocked gutters overflow and soak walls.
Notting Hill is about 1 mile north of Kensington, in Greater London. In Notting Hill, as across Greater London, every roof gets the same careful survey. Our area takes in places right across Greater London, from the larger towns to small villages.
Chimney surveys in W11, W8 and W2 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover properties on Walmer Road, Aubrey Road and Sirdar Road and the roads around them. With the A402 and A4204 close by, Notting Hill is simple for us to get to for chimney surveys. Other places close to Notting Hill include Holland Park (1 mile south), Notting Dale (1 mile north-west), Kensington (1 mile south), Shepherd's Bush (1 mile south-west) and White City (1 mile west). Larger places within reach include London (5 miles east), Marylebone (3 miles east), St Pancras (4 miles east), Shoreditch (6 miles east), Walthamstow (9 miles north-east) and Hoxton (5 miles east).
What’s near Notting Hill
We work in homes and buildings around The Sun In Splendour pub, Kensington School and Abdus Salam Library and the streets around them. Nearby too are Holland Park (under half a mile south) and Holland Park School (less than half a mile south). The nearest railway station is Shepherds Bush station, roughly 0.6 miles south-west. Nearby you will also find Montfichet's Tower (4.4 miles east) and Westfield London (0.7 miles west). For a walk, there is Campden Hill and The Long Water.
DIY checks: what’s safe
Look up at the roof after a storm, from the ground: broken slates or tiles in the garden, gaps along the ridge or loose lead are signs to note. Don’t go up yourself.
You can learn a lot from the ground. Binoculars help you spot slipped slates or tiles, gaps along the ridge and a leaning stack. Please do not climb up for a closer look.
Tips that help
Most of what helps is simple and safe from the ground. A few suggestions:
- Use a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances
- Check that disused chimneys can still breathe
- Have brackets on the chimney checked
- Find out whether changes to a stack need permission
After the visit, we write up the report with photographs of each stack. It covers the pots, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings, and any damp we found 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. Removing unused fixings takes strain off the brickwork.
Questions from Notting Hill
I let a flat near Shepherds Bush station. Can you check the roof?
Yes, landlords and agents are among the people we work for. Just call 07833 053749 or send us an email with the details, and we’ll talk through which survey suits.
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Notting Hill?
We can’t confirm that for you, but Historic England’s list and your council can. A change of roofing material may need consent in either case.
Will you go up on the roof?
Only when it’s safe. Some roofs are too steep or fragile to walk on safely. We use safe viewpoints, the loft space and a drone where it applies, and the report records anything we couldn’t see.
Is a chimney survey the same as a flue inspection?
No. Our survey covers the outside of the stack and the roof around it. The flue should be checked by a sweep, or by a Gas Safe registered engineer for gas appliances.
Do you carry out surveys on Saturdays and Sundays?
Visits run seven days a week in the daytime. Just say which days work for you.
Are you insured?
We hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance, for every survey we carry out.
Our stack is shared. Can you still survey it?
Yes. Shared stacks are common on terraced and semi-detached houses. We record the stack as far as we can see it and flag anything on the neighbour’s side.
Leave it or get it looked at?
Before deciding what to do with a redundant stack, a survey shows how it is doing. In a conservation area or on a listed building, changes may need permission from the council and the council can advise. Many older London roofs have only old felt under the slates, or no underlay at all, so once the slates or flashings let water past, little stops it reaching ceilings. Left alone, that means wet timbers and plaster, which is a far bigger job than the roof fault itself.
There are three survey packages: the Basic Survey from £150, the Standard Survey from £250 and the Premium Survey from £400, all inc. VAT. What your roof costs depends on its size, access and what you want to find out.
Why us?
- An independent view of the roof
- Visits on any day of the week
- More than 5,000 surveys completed
- Over 20 years’ experience
See what a roof survey costs and what we found on two real jobs.
What affects the price in Notting Hill
Prices vary from roof to roof, and it comes down to:
- The roof’s overall size
- Commercial roofs and larger buildings
- How many separate roofs there are, such as extensions, dormers and garages
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. Packages run from Basic at £150 through Standard at £250 to Premium at £400, with VAT included, and we can help you choose.
Booking your survey
Here’s what helps us most when you get in touch:
- Any deadline, like an exchange date
- What’s prompted the survey
- Where the property is, with the postcode
- What kind of property and roof it is
Our phone lines are open seven days a week, including Saturdays and Sundays. For a price or to book, ring 07833 053749 or email us.
Nearby places to Notting Hill
What else we do in Notting Hill
How the survey works
There is not much for you to do on the day. Show us any stains, drips or problem areas you know about, and we will take it from there. A typical survey takes an hour or two for most homes, a little longer where there are several stacks. 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. Everything else is planned around the building, not the postcode.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- We look at every stack from wherever it can be seen safely.
- We photograph and record the pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- We look for damp on chimney breasts and in the loft space.
- You get a written report with photos and recommendations by email.
Before the survey
- If you are buying, check with the agent that we can get in
- Have keys ready for side gates, garages or roof access doors
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
Booking a survey
Getting a price is simple: just ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email, let us know about the property and we will recommend the right survey. We confirm the price before anything is booked.