Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney Survey in South Ruislip
Chimney surveys around South Ruislip, with findings in writing and pictures to back them up. Book a weekday or weekend visit.
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Bricks with flaking faces
- Loose, cracked or missing pots
Chimney surveys for homes and businesses in South Ruislip
A chimney survey looks at the stack and everything around it: the pots and cowls, the flaunching on top, the pointing, the brickwork and the flashings where it meets the roof. Inside, we check chimney breasts and the stack in the loft where it is safe to reach. The findings come in a written report with photos and recommendations. We survey single stacks on houses and groups of stacks on bigger buildings. We’re often asked to look into loose, cracked or missing pots and staining on walls around the chimney, across flaunching, chimney breasts and chimney pots and cowls.
London has a great many flats in converted houses and purpose-built blocks, where the roof is typically a shared part of the building. Landlords, managing agents and residents’ companies need to know what condition it’s in and what work is coming up. A defect on a shared roof can reach more than one flat. A report gives everyone the same picture to plan from, with photographs.
Every survey ends with a written report, with photographs, emailed to you. It sets out the condition of the chimney stack, any defects and our written recommendations.
- Place
- South Ruislip (HA4, UB5, HA2)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- When we survey
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Chimney surveys around South Ruislip
The wider area around South Ruislip has a long history of building, with Northolt Manor about 1.4 miles south-east. 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 a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. In outer London, interwar semis with hipped, tiled roofs sit alongside older slate-roofed terraces. If your home in South Ruislip 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.
For site and facilities teams at buildings such as Deanesfield Primary School, its roofs, gutters and any chimneys need the same checks as a house’s, just on a bigger scale. For landlords with property near South Ruislip station, the gap between tenancies is a good time to have the roof looked at.
South Ruislip is about 1 mile south-east of Ruislip, in Greater London. Roofs in South Ruislip get the same thorough look as anywhere else in Greater London. South Ruislip is one of the places in Greater London where we work for chimney surveys. For surveys nearby, see our London page.
We survey roofs across HA4, UB5 and HA2 for chimney surveys and the streets around it. Local streets include Crown Road, Nairn Road and Palace Road, all of which we cover. Other places close to South Ruislip include Northolt (1 mile south-east), Roxbourne (1 mile north), Rayners Lane (1 mile north-east), South Harrow (2 miles east) and Eastcote (2 miles north). We also work in nearby towns such as London (13 miles east), City of Westminster (11 miles east), Marylebone (11 miles east), Kensington (9 miles south-east), St Pancras (12 miles east) and Shoreditch (14 miles east).
Local landmarks in South Ruislip
Typical jobs here are in homes near Northala Fields, The Black Bull pub and Queensmead School, among other places. South Ruislip has its own railway station: South Ruislip station. A little further out are Clementine Churchill Hospital (2.7 miles east) and Heath Robinson Museum (2.4 miles north). Green spaces nearby include Middle Lake and Islip Manor Meadows.
Questions from South Ruislip
Can parking be tricky for a visit in South Ruislip?
Sometimes, yes. Where there are permit zones, a visitor permit or nearby pay-and-display bay works well.
Is my home in South Ruislip listed or in a conservation area?
Start with Historic England’s list for listing and your council for conservation areas. Either can affect what roof work is allowed, so it is worth checking before planning any.
What do you check on a chimney?
The survey covers the pots and cowls, the flaunching, the pointing, the bricks and the flashings. We also check chimney breasts and the stack in the roof space where we can reach. You get a written report with photos.
Is a chimney survey the same as a flue inspection?
No. We survey the stack and its weathering, not the flue. 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?
Surveys run on weekdays and at weekends. To arrange a date, call 07833 053749 or email us.
Do you test for asbestos?
No. We don’t sample or test for asbestos. The report may flag materials that could contain asbestos on buildings built or refurbished before 2000.
Do you use drones?
Where it is applicable and safe, yes. We’re a CAA-registered drone operator (Flyer ID and Operator ID), flying a sub-250g drone. It’s included in the Drone Roof Survey and, where it applies, the Premium Survey.
Different roofs, different checks
Brick stacks
Frost can damage bricks that have soaked up water, making the faces flake away. Any spalling is noted with photos.
Lead flashings
Mortar fillets are sometimes used where lead would typically be. They crack with age, and we check them too.
The survey, step by step
There isn’t much for you to do on the day. Point out anything you’ve noticed, like stains, drips or loose pieces, and we’ll take it from there. The survey itself takes roughly 1–2 hours for most homes, a little longer where there are several stacks. From the street, a London terrace typically shows only its front slope or parapet, so in South Ruislip we work round the house, using the street, the windows, the loft and any safe vantage point behind it. If other people live in the building, tell us who can let us into the shared parts.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- We check every stack from wherever it can safely be seen.
- Pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings are checked and photographed.
- Inside, the chimney breasts and the loft are checked for damp where there’s access.
- The report, with photographs and recommendations, is emailed to you.
Getting ready for the survey
- Tell us about any leaks, stains or damp patches you know of
- Buyers: confirm access with the estate agent or seller
- Leave side gates unlocked
How to book
When you’re ready to go ahead, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email. We’ll suggest a package, agree the price and find a date, weekday or weekend.
Related advice
Tips that help
From years of surveys, a few habits stand out as worth the effort:
- Have the flue swept and checked if you use the fire
- Check with the council before altering a stack in a conservation area or on a listed building
- Have brackets on the chimney checked
- File photos of the stacks with your home records
You get the report by email and can pass it to whoever does the work. We use plain English and a photo for each defect so anyone reading it can see what we saw.
Have aerial and dish brackets on the stack checked and taken off if they’re no longer needed. Less load on the stack means less strain in wind.
What this survey cannot tell you
To be straight with you, there are limits to any roof survey:
- Areas we cannot view from safe positions
- The inside of the flue, which needs a sweep or flue specialist
- Whether a stack needs rebuilding on structural grounds
If in doubt, call 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll suggest the right survey. The full list of what we check.
What we look at
- Flaunching
- Brick chimney stacks
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Chimney breasts
- Lead flashings
How we price chimney surveys
What a survey costs depends on the time and equipment it needs. The main factors are:
- The use of thermal imaging or a drone
- Which survey package you book
- The size of the roof
- The type of building, from a house to a block or an office
Prices start from £150, including VAT. What you pay depends on the size and height of the roof, access and which survey you book.
Booking your survey
These details help when you contact us:
- Your postcode, so we can check access and travel
- Photos of the roof, taken safely from ground level or a window
- When you need the report by
- The type of building and roof, such as pitched or flat
Not sure which survey you need? The easiest way is to call 07833 053749 or drop us an email and describe the roof and why you want it surveyed. We’ll explain the options and the price.
When to book a survey in South Ruislip
Aerials and dishes are often fixed to stacks. The extra load in wind can work bricks and joints loose. Any fixings on the stack are checked and recorded.
Look out for signs like these:
- Gaps where the stack meets the roof
- Worn or missing pointing
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
For businesses in and around places such as St. George's Shopping Centre, a roof report helps plan work around trading rather than after a leak.
Before booking anyone
- How they’ll see the roof: from the ground, the loft, the roof or by drone
- What happens after the report arrives
- Their drone registration, if they fly one
- What exactly goes into their report