Essex · London and the South East
Wicken Bonhunt Chimney Survey
Get a clear view of the chimney stack at a property in Wicken Bonhunt from an independent roof surveyor. Visits run on weekdays and weekends, in the daytime.
- Redundant stacks capped without ventilation
- Staining on walls around the chimney
- A stack that appears to lean
Common questions in Wicken Bonhunt
Does a conservation area affect roof work in Wicken Bonhunt?
Check Historic England’s online list first, then ask the council about conservation areas and any Article 4 direction. It matters most if you are planning to re-roof in a different material.
Is Wicken Bonhunt within the area you cover?
Yes. Wicken Bonhunt is within the area we cover, which takes in towns, villages and rural addresses. We work right across London and South East England. Just mention lanes, gates or anything else about the route as you book.
Do you carry out surveys on Saturdays and Sundays?
Surveys can be booked for any day of the week: weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Just let us know the days that suit you.
Are you insured?
Our surveys are covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance. If you need details for a managing agent or a building owner, just ask.
How much does a chimney survey cost in Wicken Bonhunt?
Prices start from £150, including VAT. What you pay for your roof depends on its size, height, access and the package, confirmed before anything is booked.
Can you inspect my roof with a drone?
Yes, where it is applicable. Our sub-250g drone is flown by a CAA-registered operator with a Flyer ID and Operator ID, and every flight depends on the airspace and the weather.
Does the report include photos?
Yes, every report has them. Pictures sit next to the findings they show, which makes the report easy to follow.
How a chimney survey works in Wicken Bonhunt
A chimney stands up above the roof, exposed to wind, rain and frost on every side. Over the years, the flaunching cracks, the pointing wears and flashings lift. Water then gets into the stack and can show as damp on a chimney breast or a stain in the loft. We record what we find with photos and recommendations. Common reasons to book are staining on walls around the chimney and signs that a stack is leaning, on lead flashings, chimney breasts and flaunching.
Older buildings in small places like Wicken Bonhunt may be listed or in a conservation area. If yours is, re-roofing in different materials may need consent, so the council is the place to check. Knowing the roof’s condition helps you plan ahead with that in mind. Older materials such as clay tiles, slate and stone are frequently matched when work is done.
Pictures do a lot of the work in our reports, because a photo of a cracked flashing says more than a paragraph. Anything out of sight on the day is listed as such.
- Where
- Wicken Bonhunt (CB11)
- Region
- Essex
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Appointments
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Nearby places to Wicken Bonhunt
Other services in Wicken Bonhunt
What this survey cannot tell you
A survey is a careful look at the chimney stack, but it cannot do everything. Its limits include:
- Conditions inside walls
- Gas safety checks, which need a Gas Safe registered engineer
- A structural engineer’s assessment
If you are not sure which survey you need, phone 07833 053749 or email us and we’ll give you a straight answer before you book. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
What this survey covers
- Shared and party-wall stacks
- Chimney pots and cowls
- Lead flashings
- Chimney breasts
- Brick chimney stacks
- Flaunching
Can I check my roof myself?
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.
Look up at the roof after a storm, from ground level: broken slates or tiles in the garden, gaps along the ridge or loose lead are signs to note. Don’t go up yourself.
What affects the price in Wicken Bonhunt
Prices always include VAT. The things that change the price are:
- If the survey needs thermal imaging or a drone
- Whether you choose the Basic, Standard or Premium Survey
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
- House, block, shop or office
Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. The final price depends on the size and height of the roof, how it can be seen safely and the package you choose.
What to let us know when you get in touch
There is no need for technical words. It is enough to tell us:
- Photos of the roof, taken safely from ground level or a window
- Your timetable, like an exchange date
- The kind of building and roof involved
- What made you get in touch
Every survey is priced before it is booked, so you know where you stand. Chimney survey starts from £150, including VAT. To book, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Different roofs, different checks
Flaunching
We often find flaunching that has cracked or broken away. Caught early, it is frequently a small job.
Chimney breasts and the loft
Where a breast has been taken out, we check what supports the stack. A structural engineer should confirm whether it is adequate.
Wicken Bonhunt homes and their roofs
Audley End House, about 3.7 miles north-east, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Wicken Bonhunt. 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 Essex, older buildings are frequently clay-tiled, many with weatherboarding, while many towns grew with post-war and newer estates. Whichever you have, the details that tend to fail before the covering itself get the closest look.
Landlords with a home close to Newport (Essex) station may find that knowing the condition of the roof, chimneys and gutters helps you plan work rather than react to complaints. For an older house near a landmark like Church of St Margaret, old fixings, lead flashings and tall chimneys are typical of older roofs.
Wicken Bonhunt is about 4 miles south-west of Saffron Walden, in Essex. Anywhere in Wicken Bonhunt, we can carry out chimney surveys at your property, on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday. Our Essex coverage includes Wicken Bonhunt. We also survey roofs in Chelmsford.
Postcode districts we cover here for chimney surveys: CB11. Close by, we survey roofs in Hill Green (1 mile west), Arkesden (1 mile north-west), Clavering (2 miles south-west), Rickling Green (2 miles south-east) and Starling's Green (2 miles south-west). Further out, we also cover Harlow (14 miles south), Saffron Walden (4 miles north-east), Great Dunmow (11 miles south-east), Stansted Mountfitchet (5 miles south), Newhall (14 miles south) and Elsenham (5 miles south-east).
What’s near Wicken Bonhunt
We work in homes and buildings around Coach And Horses Inn, among other places. For rail, the closest station is Newport (Essex) station, roughly 1.8 miles east. Other landmarks nearby include Brent Pelham (4.3 miles west) and Saffron Walden Community Hospital (4.9 miles north-east). Green spaces nearby include Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve.
How the survey works
The aim of the visit is simple: to see as much of the chimney stack as can be seen safely and record it clearly. Everything we note and photograph goes into the written report. It normally takes about 1–2 hours at a typical home, with bigger or more complicated roofs taking longer. Rural addresses near Wicken Bonhunt can be hard to find from a postcode alone, so a few directions, or a note of a nearby landmark, help us arrive on time. After that, the survey runs as it would anywhere.
- You let us know whether any stacks are shared, unused or leaning.
- We check the roof around each stack, including the flashings.
- We look at the flaunching and pots on every stack.
- Any lean, spalling or worn pointing is recorded.
- You receive a written report setting out what needs attention first.
How to prepare
- Make a note of anything you’d like us to look at
- Dig out any old roof reports or invoices
- Keep pets out of the way during the survey
Book a survey
You can call us seven days a week. To book or ask a question, ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Related advice
When to book a survey in Wicken Bonhunt
Flashings seal the gap where a stack passes through the roof. They can lift in wind, crack with age or pull out of the mortar joints. When flashings fail, water frequently shows up in the loft or on the chimney breast. Lead flashings can also be stolen.
Most people get in touch when they’ve noticed something like this:
- Pots or cowls that look unsafe
- Damp on a chimney breast inside
- Unused flues sealed without airflow
- Bricks with flaking faces
For site and facilities teams at buildings such as Joyce Frankland Academy, large buildings have long gutter runs and big roofs that need checking like any other.
Choosing a roof surveyor
- Whether the price includes VAT
- What happens after the report arrives
- If they fly a drone, whether they hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Which viewpoints they use to see the roof