Greater London · London and the South East
St James's Chimney Survey
A careful look at the chimney stack at your property in St James's, and put it all in a photo-illustrated written report.
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Damp patches on chimney breasts
About our chimney survey in St James's
Many homes have chimneys that are no longer used. Even when it isn’t used, a stack has to stay weathertight. If it has been capped without ventilation, damp can build up inside it. Our survey looks at how each unused stack has been capped and checks the breasts for damp. You get photos of each stack and our recommendations. We’re frequently asked to look into staining on walls around the chimney and a stack that appears to lean, on chimney pots and cowls, flaunching and lead flashings.
Much of London’s housing is flats, in converted houses or purpose-built blocks, where the roof is normally a shared part of the building. Whoever looks after the building needs a clear picture of the roof, chimneys and gutters. A defect on a shared roof can reach more than one flat. A report gives everyone the same picture to plan from, with photos.
Report times depend on the survey you book: Basic within 48 hours, Standard in 24–48 hours and Premium the same day.
- Where
- St James's (W1F, W1D, W1J)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Tips that help
A survey works best with a little help from you, before and after. Tips:
- Check with the council before altering a stack in a conservation area or on a listed building
- Photograph damp patches with the date
- Leave close inspection to people with safe access
- Use the report as a baseline for future checks
You can send the report to roofers or builders for quotes. Because everyone is pricing the same findings, the quotes are easier to compare.
Check your stacks from the street or garden after a storm. With binoculars, you can frequently see cracked flaunching or lifted lead.
Places near St James's
Also in St James's
What happens on the day
Every visit follows the same pattern: we listen to what’s been worrying you, inspect the roof from every safe viewpoint, take photos as we go and record our findings for the written report. Most visits take between one and two hours for most houses, and longer for a large or complex roof. In a London area like St James's, the main things to sort out are parking and access: let us know about parking, the floor the property is on, any shared entrance and loft access. On the day, the roof is looked at from ground level, from windows, from inside the loft space and from the roof where it’s safe.
- First you let us know about the chimneys, any damp on the chimney breasts and any worries.
- Each chimney is viewed from wherever it can be seen safely.
- We check and photograph the pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- Where there’s safe access, we check the stack in the loft and the chimney breasts for damp.
- The findings are written up with photos and recommendations and emailed to you.
Before we arrive
- Find any records of previous roof work
- Clear the way to the loft hatch
- If the roof is shared, arrange access with whoever manages the building
Arrange a survey
If you are buying, it helps to book soon after your offer is accepted, so there’s time to use the report before exchange. Otherwise, simply ring 07833 053749 or drop us an email whenever suits you.
Related advice
Different roofs, different checks
Rendered stacks
A rendered stack can mask problems in the bricks below. We look for cracks, hollow areas and staining.
Brick stacks
Brick stacks rely on sound pointing to keep water out. We check the bricks for spalling and the joints for erosion.
Questions from St James's
How do I find out if my home in St James's is listed?
Start with Historic England’s list for listing and your council for conservation areas. Either can affect what roof work is allowed, so it’s worth checking before planning any.
Will parking be an issue for a roof survey in St James's?
It depends on the street. If St James's has controlled parking where you are, a visitor permit is the easiest answer, and a driveway is even better.
What will the report tell me?
A report with photos, explaining the condition of the chimney stack, any defects and our recommendations. Standard adds moisture detection and a structural check; Premium adds thermal imaging, drone inspection where it applies and structural analysis.
How long will you be at the property?
It usually takes an hour or two on an ordinary house, or half a day or so for a commercial building. The written report follows by email, on the timescale of your package.
What if it rains on the day?
It can, depending on the survey. Drone flights need calm, dry weather, and thermal imaging works best with a dry roof, little wind and a sunny day beforehand. We’ll rearrange with you if the weather is not right.
How do I book a survey in St James's?
It is easiest to ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form. Let us know the address and a little about the roof. We survey on weekdays and at weekends.
Our stack is shared. Can you still survey it?
Yes. We inspect what can safely be seen and what you give us access to. Where a problem appears to be on next door’s side, we note it, so you can discuss it with them.
What you can safely check yourself
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. Leave anything above ground level to a survey.
It is useful to keep a record: dates of leaks, photos from the ground and any work done on the roof. Share it with us as you book and it will help the survey.
Roofs, chimneys and gutters in St James's
With Marlborough House about 0.3 miles south-west, St James's sits in an area with a long building history. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead. Close to the centre of London, a great many houses are Victorian or Edwardian terraces, many of them roofed in Welsh slate. From the street you may see only a parapet, with a butterfly roof and a valley gutter behind it draining to the back. If your home in St James's is one of them, lead flashings, party-wall upstands and shared chimney stacks are part of the picture too. Whatever the covering, it is often the fixings, flashings, valleys and gutters that give out first.
Trees in and around St Anne's Churchyard shed leaves that can end up in nearby gutters, so outlets and downpipes are worth watching. Landlords with a home close to London Charing Cross station may find that the gap between tenancies is a good time to have the roof looked at.
St James's is about 1 mile south-east of City of Westminster, in Greater London. Whether the building in St James's is a house, a flat or a commercial unit, the roof can be surveyed on a weekday or at the weekend. Our Greater London coverage includes St James's and the places around it.
We survey roofs across the W1F, W1D and W1J postcode area for chimney surveys and the streets around it. We offer chimney surveys to properties on Duck Lane, Bruton Lane and Bridle Lane. With the A4 and A400 close by, St James's is simple for us to get to for chimney surveys. We also cover the places around St James's: Chinatown (1 mile north), Charing Cross (1 mile east), Soho (1 mile north), West End (1 mile north-east) and Burlington Estate (1 mile west). Larger places within reach include Kensington (3 miles west), Shoreditch (3 miles north-east), Walthamstow (7 miles north-east), Hoxton (3 miles north-east), Whitechapel (3 miles east) and Hampstead (4 miles north-west).
Landmarks near St James's
Around St James's, our work takes us to homes and buildings near LITE Regal International School, Tom Cribb pub and London Library. You will also find Harris Westminster Sixth Form (0.6 miles south) and St Anne's Churchyard (less than half a mile north). There is a railway station in St James's itself: London Charing Cross station. Other landmarks nearby include The Museum of Practical Geology (within half a mile north-west) and Montfichet's Tower (1.4 miles east). Not far away are St. James's Park Lake and Ludgate Hill.
Common roof problems in St James's
Where a chimney meets the roof, lead flashings keep water out. They can lift in wind, crack with age or pull out of the mortar joints. When flashings fail, water often shows up in the loft or on the chimney breast. Lead flashings can also be stolen.
Things that frequently lead to a survey include:
- Gaps in the mortar around the pots
- Mortar washing out of the joints
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
Shop and office owners around Kingly Court may find that knowing the roof’s condition lets you budget for work rather than pay for emergencies.
What to check before booking
- If they fly a drone, whether they hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- What they will not be able to tell you
- Is there a chance to talk the report through?
- Their insurance cover
When you need someone else
To be straight with you, a roof survey has limits:
- Conditions inside walls
- The inside of the flue, which needs a sweep or flue specialist
- Hidden sides of a shared stack
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will tell you before you book. What our survey covers.
What this survey covers
- Flaunching
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Chimney breasts
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Brick chimney stacks
- Lead flashings