Greater London · London and the South East
Chimney survey in Upper Ruxley, Greater London
An experienced roof surveyor for chimney surveys in Upper Ruxley. More than 20 years and over 5,000 surveys.
- Spalled or crumbling bricks
- Worn or missing pointing
- A stack that appears to lean
Checking the roof from the ground
After heavy rain, check ceilings and the tops of walls for new stains. Take a photo and write down when you saw it, as it helps a surveyor trace the cause.
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Take a torch and only step on boards or joists, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.
How a chimney survey works in Upper Ruxley
A chimney survey looks at the stack and everything around it: pots, cowls, flaunching, pointing, bricks and the flashings at the roof line. Inside, we check chimney breasts and the stack in the loft where it’s safe to reach. You get a written report with photos and our recommendations. It suits a single stack on a house as well as several on a larger building. Common reasons to book are damp patches on chimney breasts and redundant stacks capped without ventilation, across chimney pots and cowls, brick chimney stacks and lead flashings.
London has Victorian and Edwardian terraces in almost every borough, many with Welsh slate roofs, shared chimney stacks and parapet or valley gutters. Slates can last a century or more, but the nails holding them corrode, and slates slip. In Upper Ruxley, as across London, that is why a roof needs a proper look rather than a glance from the street. Lead flashings and shared chimney stacks on these houses need a careful look too.
Report times depend on the survey you book: Basic within 48 hours, Standard in 24–48 hours and Premium the same day.
- Where
- Upper Ruxley (DA14)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
The survey, step by step
Time on site depends on the size and shape of the roof; as a rough guide, the survey takes about 1–2 hours at a typical home; commercial roofs usually need 3–4 hours. You’re welcome to ask questions while we are there. In converted houses and mansion blocks, the loft hatch is frequently on a shared landing. Where that’s the case, access needs agreeing with whoever controls that landing. Everything else is planned around the building, not the postcode.
- First we talk through the stacks, their history and any problems.
- Each stack is inspected from safe positions outside.
- We photograph and record the pots, flaunching, pointing and flashings.
- We look for damp on chimney breasts and in the roof space.
- You get a written report with photos and recommendations by email.
How to prepare
- If you are buying, check with the agent that we can get in
- Leave side gates unlocked
- Keep pets inside or away from the areas we are looking at
Getting a price
Booking is simple: just ring 07833 053749 or email us, tell us about the property and we will recommend the right survey. The price is agreed up front.
Related advice
What this survey cannot tell you
Some things can’t be seen without opening up the roof, and that sets some limits:
- Whether a gas appliance or its flue is safe
- Flue inspections or sweeping
- Structural calculations for a leaning stack
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can call 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we will tell you before booking. What a survey covers and does not.
Roof types and parts we check
- Chimney breasts
- Brick chimney stacks
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Flaunching
- Lead flashings
- Shared and party-wall stacks
Tips that help
These tips come from what we see on roofs every week, before and after a survey:
- Keep track of stains on chimney breasts
- Look at the chimneys with binoculars after a storm
- Have brackets on the chimney checked
- Never climb onto the roof to look at a chimney
After the visit, we write up the report with photos of each stack. It explains the condition of each part of the stack and any damp inside. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium.
Unused stacks should be capped in a way that still lets air through. Ventilation helps keep the stack dry.
Towns and villages near Upper Ruxley
Also in Upper Ruxley
Upper Ruxley homes and their roofs
With Hall Place and Gardens about 2.7 miles north, Upper Ruxley sits in an area with a long building history. If you own one of the older houses, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material. Alongside Victorian and Edwardian terraces, outer London has a great many interwar semis, frequently with hipped roofs of clay or concrete tiles. Bay roofs, hip ridges and dormers from later loft conversions are the details that set these houses apart. Whatever the covering, it’s frequently the fixings, flashings, valleys and gutters that give out first.
For site and facilities teams at buildings like Hope Community School, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other. The streets around a church such as St Botolph's Church are often among the oldest in a place, and if your home is one of the older ones nearby, the nails, lead and mortar on the roof may be wearing out even where the slates or tiles look fine.
Upper Ruxley is about 2 miles south-east of Sidcup, in Greater London. We provide chimney surveys for homes and businesses in Upper Ruxley and the surrounding area. Our Greater London coverage includes Upper Ruxley and the places around it. We also survey roofs in London.
Surveys in DA14 are booked the same way as anywhere else. Local streets include Maidstone Road and Old Maidstone Road, and we cover them all. We also cover Ruxley (1 mile north-west), Hockenden (1 mile south-east), Stonehill Green (1 mile east), Foots Cray (1 mile west) and North Cray (1 mile north). Within a short drive, we also cover London (12 miles north-west), City of Westminster (15 miles north-west), Marylebone (14 miles north-west), St Pancras (14 miles north-west), Shoreditch (12 miles north-west) and Walthamstow (14 miles north-west).
Local landmarks in Upper Ruxley
Typical jobs here are in homes near Kemnal Technology College and Foots Cray Meadows. Upper Ruxley’s nearest station is Swanley station, about 1.7 miles south-east. Other landmarks nearby include Queen Mary's Hospital (1.8 miles west) and Eynsford Castle (4.2 miles south-east). The countryside around Upper Ruxley includes The Warren and Summer Hill.
Signs you need a chimney survey in Upper Ruxley
Lots of homes have redundant stacks. A stack sealed without ventilation can trap damp. Damp patches can appear on chimney breasts even when nothing is leaking.
These are some of the problems a survey can pick up:
- Frost-damaged brickwork on the stack
- Signs that a stack is leaning
- Eroded joints in the brickwork
- Flashings pulling away from the stack
Homes near green spaces such as Foots Cray Meadows can get more leaves in their gutters in autumn, so outlets and downpipes are worth watching.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Whether you get a written report with photos
- How they’ll see the roof: from ground level, the loft, the roof or by drone
- What they won’t be able to tell you
- Whether the inside of the roof is included
Upper Ruxley questions
Is my home in Upper Ruxley listed or in a conservation area?
Start with Historic England’s list for listing and your council for conservation areas. It is worth checking before planning roof work, as both can affect what’s allowed.
I let a flat near Swanley station. Can you check the roof?
Yes, rented property is part of what we cover. Just call 07833 053749 or drop us an email and tell us about the building, including who will give access on the day.
I live in a flat. Can you survey the roof?
Yes, once access has been agreed. The roof of a block or converted house is often shared, so we need permission from whoever owns or manages the building. We inspect only the parts we are allowed to reach.
How much is a survey?
Prices start from £150, including VAT. Our three packages are Basic from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, including VAT.
Which days do you carry out surveys?
We survey on any day from Monday to Sunday, during the day, which suits people who work during the week. Let us know your preferred days when you book.
Do you work in Upper Ruxley?
Yes. We survey roofs across London and South East England, and that includes Upper Ruxley.
What does the report include?
You get our findings in writing, part by part, with photos, and ends with what we recommend. Points are put by urgency where it matters.
Different roofs, different checks
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.
Chimney pots and cowls
Each pot is bedded into the flaunching, frequently with a cowl or cap on top. The survey looks for cracked, loose or missing pots and cowls.