Essex · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Stock, Essex
A careful look at the chimney stack at your property in Stock, with photos and a written report.
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Damaged chimney pots and cowls
- A chimney out of line
DIY checks: what’s safe
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Photograph them and note the date, as it helps a surveyor trace the cause.
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 don’t climb up for a closer look.
Chimney survey in Stock: what you get
A leaning chimney stack is worth having looked at. Stacks can lean when mortar on one side breaks down, frequently after years of flue gases and damp. We record the lean and the condition of the brickwork and pointing. Where it may be a structural concern, we’ll recommend a structural engineer. If you’ve noticed lifted or split lead flashings and damp on a chimney breast inside, a survey will tell you what’s going on, on shared and party-wall stacks, chimney pots and cowls and chimney breasts alike.
In a village or hamlet like Stock, older cottages and farmhouses often sit alongside barns, outbuildings and a few newer houses. Roofs there can be clay tile, slate, stone or thatch, and chimney stacks are often old. We report on whatever is safely visible, and thatch is a specialist material. On older roofs, it is normally the chimneys and lead flashings that need work first.
We write the report in plain English, so it makes sense without any roofing background. Photos show what each point refers to, with the urgent items made clear.
- Where
- Stock (CM4)
- Wider area
- Essex
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- A written report with photos, by email
- Appointments
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Stock: your questions answered
Can a landlord with a rental near Billericay station book a roof survey?
Yes, landlords and agents are among the people we work for. You can phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form with the address and what you need.
Is Stock within the area you cover?
We do. A small place gets exactly the same survey as a big one, with the route planned beforehand.
What do I do with the report?
We email you the written report with photographs and recommendations. It’s yours to share with a seller, insurer, roofer or managing agent, whichever applies.
Are you insured?
Our cover is professional indemnity plus public liability.
Will you check the chimney is safe to use with a fire?
No. A flue inspection, sweep or gas safety check is a separate job. We check the structure and weathering of the stack and any damp and flag anything that suggests the flue needs a look.
Do I need to be at home?
If the survey includes the loft or the inside of the building, someone needs to let us in. Access is agreed with you when booking.
What does the report include?
It works through the roof part by part, in writing and with photos, and ends with what we recommend. Points are put with the most urgent first where relevant.
Why get it checked now?
A loose pot or brick can fall from height. Finding them early means they can be dealt with before they come down by a suitable contractor. Around Stock, older homes frequently have old roof timbers, and water through a failed covering can rot timber if it is left.
For a price for your roof in Stock, phone 07833 053749 or email us with the address and some details. We will confirm the figure before booking.
What you get with us
- Surveys seven days a week
- Packages from £150, with VAT included
- 98% of customers satisfied
- An independent look at the roof
See how roof surveys are priced and what we found on two real jobs.
Tips from our surveys
Small things make a difference. Some pointers:
- Check your stacks from the ground after strong winds
- Keep track of stains on chimney breasts
- Check with the council before altering a stack in a conservation area or on a listed building
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
Once we’ve been, the findings are written up with photos. It covers the pots, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings, and any damp we found inside. Basic reports arrive within 48 hours, Standard reports in 24 to 48 hours and Premium reports the same day.
Make sure fixings on the stack are sound, and moved if they’re working it loose. Removing unused fixings takes strain off the brickwork.
Roof by roof
Chimney breasts and the loft
Stains on timbers or brickwork around the stack can point to a leak. What we find is photographed and described.
Brick stacks
Spalled bricks, where the face has flaked off, are a sign of water and frost. Any spalling is noted with photos.
Towns and villages near Stock
Also in Stock
What we do, step by step
We do not take risks to get a closer look. We inspect what can safely be seen, and anything we cannot see is noted in the report. Most visits take about 1–2 hours at a house, as part of a look at the roof around the stack. Cottages and farmhouses around Stock often have roofs at several levels, with lean-tos and outbuildings attached. We work round each section in turn, from the safest viewpoints, and anything we can’t see is noted.
- We start with the details: how many stacks, whether any are shared and any signs of damp.
- The stacks are looked at from ground level, from windows and from other safe vantage points.
- The pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, brickwork and flashings are checked and photographed.
- Where there is safe access, we check the stack in the loft and the chimney breasts for damp.
- We send a written report with photos, the defects found and what we recommend.
Before the survey
- For a flat or shared roof, check access with the freeholder or managing agent
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- Buyers: confirm access with the estate agent or seller
How to book
To get a price for chimney surveys in Stock, call 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.
Related advice
What a chimney survey looks like in Stock
The wider area around Stock has a long history of building, with Ingatestone Hall about 2.5 miles west. Period homes nearby can have lead valleys, tall chimneys and a patchwork of past repairs, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area. Older buildings in Essex often have clay tiles and weatherboarding, and a good many post-war and modern estates besides. On roofs like these, good slates or tiles can outlast the nails, battens, lead and mortar around them.
Landlords with a home close to Billericay station may find that knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints. For site and facilities teams at buildings such as Stock Church of England Primary School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other.
Stock is about 3 miles north-east of Billericay, in Essex. Bookings from Stock are handled just like any other: get in touch, agree the price and pick a day. Our area takes in places right across Essex, large and small.
We cover every part of the CM4 postcode area for chimney surveys and the streets around it. If you need a chimney survey at a property on The Square, High Street and Webster Place or a nearby road, we can survey it. Nearby, we also carry out chimney surveys in Margaretting Tye (2 miles north), Ramsden Heath (2 miles south-east), Margaretting (2 miles north-west), Downham (3 miles south-east) and Billericay (3 miles south-west). Within a short drive, we also cover Chelmsford (5 miles north), Basildon (6 miles south), Brentwood (7 miles south-west), Maldon (11 miles north-east), Canvey Island (11 miles south-east) and Rayleigh (8 miles south-east).
Landmarks near Stock
In Stock, that means homes and buildings near The Hoop Public House and Mayflower High School and the streets around them. The closest station to Stock is Billericay station, roughly 2.7 miles south-west of the centre. Nearby you’ll also find Mayflower Community Hospital (3.4 miles south-west). For a walk, there’s Norsey Wood.
When to book a survey in Stock
Chimney stacks stand above the roof, exposed to wind, rain and frost on every side. Frost works into cracks in the flaunching and pointing, and rain soaks into worn brickwork. Most people book after spotting damp or a loose pot, or before buying.
Typical things we’re asked to look at include:
- Worn or missing pointing
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Flaunching that has broken away
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
The streets around a church such as Church of All Saints are often among the oldest in a place, and if your house is among the older ones nearby, its roof may have old fixings, lead flashings and chimneys that need a closer look.
What to check before booking
- Is there a chance to talk the report through?
- How soon the report will arrive
- How long they’ve been surveying roofs
- Whether the inside of the roof is included