Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney survey in The Wrythe, Greater London
Find out what’s going on with the chimney stack before you decide what to do next. We carry out chimney surveys in The Wrythe, with photographs and a clear written report.
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
- Flaunching that has broken away
How a chimney survey works in The Wrythe
If you’re buying a home with chimneys, it is worth knowing their condition before you exchange. On older stacks, we frequently find cracked flaunching, loose flashings and worn pointing. Our report gives you specific points to raise with the seller or agent. It works alongside a RICS home survey, not instead of one. We survey brick chimney stacks, shared and party-wall stacks and chimney breasts, and people most frequently book us about redundant stacks capped without ventilation and worn or missing pointing.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces are found right across London, frequently with slate roofs, chimney stacks shared with neighbours and gutters hidden behind parapets. Slates can last a century or more, but the nails holding them corrode, and slates slip. Homes in The Wrythe are no exception. Lead flashings and shared chimney stacks on these houses need a close look too.
It isn’t only a list of defects. For each finding, it explains what it is, why it matters and what we’d recommend.
- Location
- The Wrythe (SM5, SM6, SM1)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Survey days
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insured
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Useful tips for The Wrythe property owners
Getting the most from a chimney survey starts before we arrive and carries on afterwards. Tips:
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
- Check that disused chimneys can still breathe
- Look at the chimneys with binoculars after a storm
- Have the flue swept and checked if you use the fire
Once we have been, the findings are written up with photos. It explains the condition of each part of the stack and any damp inside. Basic reports arrive within 48 hours, Standard reports in 24 to 48 hours and Premium reports the same day.
Have worn pointing and cracked flaunching dealt with early. Small repairs now can save bigger work later.
What a survey costs
The price reflects the time and kit the roof needs. That comes down to:
- How big the roof is
- How complicated the roof is, with its valleys, chimneys and parapets
- Extra roofs, like extensions, dormers or garages
- Whether thermal imaging or a drone is needed
All our prices include VAT. Prices start from £150, including VAT. You’ll know the price for your roof before booking.
What to let us know when you contact us
A little information up front helps. Please include:
- Photos of the roof, taken safely from ground level or a window
- Dates you are working to, like exchange
- The property’s address and postcode
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
You can call us seven days a week. For a price or to book, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Roof by roof
Lead flashings
Where the chimney meets the roof slopes, lead flashings keep water out. We check for lifting, splits and gaps in the joints.
Brick stacks
Frost can damage bricks that have soaked up water, making the faces flake away. Any spalling is noted with photos.
The Wrythe questions
Is parking a problem for a survey in The Wrythe?
It rarely stops a survey, but it’s worth planning. Let us know the parking rules on your street and we will work around them.
Is my home in The Wrythe listed or in a conservation area?
You can check whether a building is listed on Historic England’s list, and your council can tell you if it’s in a conservation area. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
My chimney looks like it is leaning. What should I do?
It’s worth having a leaning stack checked. We record the lean, the brickwork and the pointing, and recommend a structural engineer where it may be a structural concern.
Do you survey on Saturdays and Sundays?
Visits run seven days a week in the daytime, which suits people who work during the week. Let us know your preferred days as you book.
Do you test for asbestos?
No. We do not sample or test for asbestos. The report may flag materials that could contain asbestos on buildings built or refurbished before 2000.
How do you inspect a chimney without scaffolding?
We inspect from wherever is safe: from ground level, windows and vantage points, and from the loft where there’s access. Our Premium Survey includes a drone inspection where applicable. If part of a stack cannot be seen, the report says so.
Do you inspect shared chimneys?
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.
Also near The Wrythe
Also in The Wrythe
Why it is worth a survey now in The Wrythe
Chimneys are easy to forget because you rarely see the top of them. Defects tend to go unseen until there’s a stain. A survey gives you a clear picture before that happens. Many older London roofs have only old felt under the slates, or no underlay at all, so a slipped slate can soon mean water inside. Left alone, that means wet timbers and plaster, which is a far bigger job than the roof fault itself.
A Basic Survey starts from £150, including VAT. Standard is from £250 and Premium from £400. You’ll know the price for the job before booking.
Why us?
- Prices that include VAT
- We hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Every finding written up with photos
- Visits on any day of the week
Take a look at how roof surveys are priced and two real surveys.
The survey, step by step
We work from the outside in: first the slopes, edges and gutters from every safe viewpoint, then the roof space where it can be reached. All told, expect about one to two hours at a typical home, or half a day or so for a commercial building. From the street, a London terrace usually shows only its front slope or parapet, so in The Wrythe we work round the house, using the street, the windows, the loft and any safe vantage point behind it. Shared stairs or a basement flat? Let us know who holds the keys.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- We look at every stack from wherever it can be seen safely.
- Pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing and flashings are checked and photographed.
- We look for damp on chimney breasts and in the roof space.
- The report, with photographs and recommendations, is emailed to you.
Preparing for the visit
- Agree roof access with the managing agent if it’s shared
- Leave a clear route to the loft
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
How to book
Booking is simple: just ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form, let us know about the property and we will recommend the right survey. We confirm the price before anything is booked.
Read more
Honest limits
Some things cannot be seen without opening up the roof, so a survey has limits:
- A structural engineer’s assessment
- Hidden damage within the stack
- Whether the flue is safe to use
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can ring 07833 053749 or email us and we will tell you before you book. The full list of what we check.
Roof types and parts we check
- Flaunching
- Brick chimney stacks
- Chimney breasts
- Lead flashings
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Shared and party-wall stacks
What a chimney survey looks like in The Wrythe
The wider area around The Wrythe has a long history of building, with Nonsuch Mansion about 2.9 miles west. If you own one of the older houses, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof, and the council can say whether a home is in a conservation area. Outer London has plenty of Victorian and Edwardian terraces with slate roofs, but also a great many interwar semis, often with hipped roofs in clay or concrete tiles. Bay roofs, hip ridges and dormers from later loft conversions are the details that set these houses apart. Each of these coverings has its own weak points, from fixings and valleys to flashings, chimneys and gutters.
For site and facilities teams at buildings such as Victor Seymour Infants' School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other. Landlords with a home close to Carshalton station may find that a roof report helps you deal with small faults before they turn into a call from a tenant. Homes near green spaces such as Carshalton Park can get more leaves in their gutters in autumn, and an overflowing gutter soon means a wet wall.
The Wrythe is about 7 miles south of Stockwell, in Greater London. We survey roofs in The Wrythe and the rest of Greater London. Across Greater London, we cover The Wrythe. Our London page covers surveys nearby.
Surveys in SM5, SM6 and SM1 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. We cover properties on Elm Road, Byne Road and Mill Lane and the roads around them. Neighbouring places we cover for chimney surveys include Carshalton (1 mile south), Wallington (1 mile south-east), Rosehill (1 mile north-west), St Helier (1 mile north-west) and Benhilton (1 mile west). Larger places within reach include London (9 miles north), City of Westminster (10 miles north), Marylebone (10 miles north), Kensington (9 miles north), St Pancras (11 miles north) and Shoreditch (11 miles north).
Near you in The Wrythe
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Carshalton Park, The Railway Tavern and Carshalton High School for Girls, among other places. The Wrythe has its own railway station: Carshalton station. Nearby you’ll also find Centrale Croydon (2.7 miles east) and Honeywood Museum (0.6 miles south). For a walk, there is The Spinney Local Nature Reserve and Duppas Hill.