Thermographic Survey in Chichester

Chichester's built form changes street by street. Around the cathedral and the conservation area, flint and Sussex brick are common, and many walls are solid rather than cavity construction, so they cool down quickly and hold on to heat for the wrong reasons. Medieval timber-framed buildings bring their own quirks, especially where later repairs have reduced natural airflow. Thermal imaging helps us separate a normal cold bridge from a genuine fault, which matters when a wall is part of the city’s older fabric.

Newer homes need a close look as well. Indigo Park, The New Fields, Lavant View, Saddlers Reach, Monarch Walk and the Minerva Heights scheme on Old Broyle Road show how much recent building activity has reached the PO19 area, yet even fresh construction can hide gaps around roofs, floors and service runs. Minerva Heights has a sold-out current phase and a new phase launching Autumn 2026, while Shopwyke Lakes has homes listed from £340,000 to £799,950 according to home.co.uk. Thermal surveys are useful on new builds because they reveal missing insulation, airtightness issues and unsealed junctions that a standard viewing will miss.

Ground and exposure also shape what we see. The Harwich Formation Siltstone outcrops on the foreshore in Chichester and Langstone Harbours, and the city’s coastal edge near Chichester Harbour and West Wittering Beach can bring salt exposure and wind-driven rain into the picture. We do not treat every property as if it faces the same risk. Instead, we read the thermal pattern against the building type, the orientation and the repair history, which is where the survey starts to earn its keep.

Thermal images are read by colour, not by guesswork. Cooler surfaces usually appear blue or purple, while warmer areas move towards red, orange and white, so a leaking roof strip or cold lintel can jump out straight away. The picture is not a photograph in the usual sense, which is why our surveyors explain each frame in plain English. One look tells you where to focus, but the annotation tells you why the pattern matters.

Infrared cameras detect surface temperature variation to 0.1C accuracy, so the image can pick up small temperature shifts that point to missing insulation or airflow behind a wall. A straight cold line around a loft hatch, for example, often suggests weak insulation or an imperfect seal. A patchy band at floor level can point to heat loss around skirting, pipe routes or a cold bridge at the wall junction. Those clues become useful only when they are tied back to the construction type and the room layout.

False readings do happen, and that is where experience counts. Sunlight on brick, reflections in glass, shiny radiator foil and recent use of showers or cookers can create odd colours on a screen. We read those images against the weather, the heating pattern and the building itself, then mark each one with a clear note. Damp is treated in the same careful way, because a cool stain may be moisture, but it may also be a thermal bridge or a section of wall that was recently reheated.

Pricing for a thermal imaging survey in Chichester starts from £300. That usually covers external and internal infrared scans, image analysis and an annotated report with practical recommendations. A well-run survey is especially useful on flint and Sussex brick homes, where cold bridges can be hidden inside a wall thickness that looks ordinary from the street. It also works well on modern homes, where a neat finish can hide a missing seal or a weak insulation detail.

For the best results, we like to work in the colder months with the heating on for at least 2 hours and a clear temperature gap between inside and outside. October to March gives the clearest contrast, and a 10C difference helps the camera read the building fabric properly. Once the images are checked and annotated, the report can guide loft insulation, draught sealing, cavity repairs, ventilation changes and any follow-up survey that may be needed. If the property needs a deeper structural look, we will say so rather than dress it up.