Does my Chimney need work?

[DavidHastie]

Hi all.

New to the forum and new to owning an older home.

We don't have an issues with leaks etc, despite our room being good old slate and nothing under it. However, we've noticed that our chimney stack is looking a bit worse for wear.

I'm keen to get some feedback on how serious this is, and who we can get to sort it. We're keen to only hire people who know how to treat the house well. Using original materials etc.

We know we will need to redo the roof at some point, and the guttering / fascias etc. But is this more serious a job then a bit of pointing up?

Thanks in advance, and please any recommendations for people who can do the work and based in East London or Essex.

Thank you

 

[alexander]

think you are lucky not to be having leaks, the brickwork is pretty eroded & cracked in places this would need re-built for a long term solution but as its a shared chimney it would require yours neighbours consent, the top looks like its been rebuilt at some point & the brickwork on your side looks in a worse condition than your neighbours , the flashings around the base are all cracked [ should be lead not cement ] there is a good chance any water ingress is soaking into your roof trusses which will cause rot if it hasn't already. if its not leaking personally I would wait till you do the roof & get it all done at the same time, to rebuild it you would need to put wrap round scaffolding this would rest on the roof as the roof is old most likely with nail fatigue any weight on the slates have a high chance of causing slippage & leaks.
good luck

 

[malcolm]

Looks reasonable to me. It's been re-pointed in cement which is a bad idea, but it looks like they've done the normal poor prep and not scraped the joints out so the cement repointing is popping off allowing the chimney to breathe. Worth repointing in lime if you are up there.

The cement flashing to the slate is a bad idea and looks like it has failed (big cracks). If you are doing the roof it would be a good idea to remove that and use lead instead.

Only other thing to go wrong with a chimney is the flaunching around the pots. That should be in cement and from the photos looks OK but worth inspecting if you are up there.

 

[DavidHastie]

think you are lucky not to be having leaks, the brickwork is pretty eroded & cracked in places this would need re-built for a long term solution but as its a shared chimney it would require yours neighbours consent, the top looks like its been rebuilt at some point & the brickwork on your side looks in a worse condition than your neighbours , the flashings around the base are all cracked [ should be lead not cement ] there is a good chance any water ingress is soaking into your roof trusses which will cause rot if it hasn't already. if its not leaking personally I would wait till you do the roof & get it all done at the same time, to rebuild it you would need to put wrap round scaffolding this would rest on the roof as the roof is old most likely with nail fatigue any weight on the slates have a high chance of causing slippage & leaks.
good luck

Thank you.

There is little chance of the neighbour agreeing to a rebuild, as they've just redone their roof. I can't access the roof space here, so will have to be mindful of the leaks, but none showing internally yet.

If if can wait then that's ideal and I'll get it done with the roof.

Could you give any indication how much we should expect to re-roof? We've got a 3 sided roof with this part also.

Thank-you.

 

[DavidHastie]

think you are lucky not to be having leaks, the brickwork is pretty eroded & cracked in places this would need re-built for a long term solution but as its a shared chimney it would require yours neighbours consent, the top looks like its been rebuilt at some point & the brickwork on your side looks in a worse condition than your neighbours , the flashings around the base are all cracked [ should be lead not cement ] there is a good chance any water ingress is soaking into your roof trusses which will cause rot if it hasn't already. if its not leaking personally I would wait till you do the roof & get it all done at the same time, to rebuild it you would need to put wrap round scaffolding this would rest on the roof as the roof is old most likely with nail fatigue any weight on the slates have a high chance of causing slippage & leaks.
good luck

Thank you.

There is little chance of the neighbour agreeing to a rebuild, as they've just redone their roof. I can't access the roof space here, so will have to be mindful of the leaks, but none showing internally yet.

If if can wait then that's ideal and I'll get it done with the roof.

Could you give any indication how much we should expect to re-roof? We've got a 3 sided roof with this part also.

Looks reasonable to me. It's been re-pointed in cement which is a bad idea, but it looks like they've done the normal poor prep and not scraped the joints out so the cement repointing is popping off allowing the chimney to breathe. Worth repointing in lime if you are up there.

The cement flashing to the slate is a bad idea and looks like it has failed (big cracks). If you are doing the roof it would be a good idea to remove that and use lead instead.

Only other thing to go wrong with a chimney is the flaunching around the pots. That should be in cement and from the photos looks OK but worth inspecting if you are up there.

Thank you.

It's reassuring but, as you day, the cement flashing is a worry.

We expect to do the roof at some point, so it's a question of how soon. Will certainly do this at the same time. Thank you.

Any idea how much this work adds to a re-roofing?

David

 

[alexander]

Thank you.

There is little chance of the neighbour agreeing to a rebuild, as they've just redone their roof. I can't access the roof space here, so will have to be mindful of the leaks, but none showing internally yet.

If if can wait then that's ideal and I'll get it done with the roof.

Could you give any indication how much we should expect to re-roof? We've got a 3 sided roof with this part also.

Thank-you.

the cost would really depend on a lot of different things , size of the roof, scaffolding required, insulation required to bring it up to current regs, whether your using the existing slate & just renewing the damage slates, or a complete new slate roof, lead work required, i,e, soakers flashings, valleys, the chimney if just repointing while the scaffolding is up its only be an extra few hundred,
your most important things to consider is the roof job must be signed off by building control regardless of if its the same slate or new slate & may require strengthening if changing to concrete like your neighbour your best bet is to get a local roofer to look and quote.
things to keep an eye out for is any damp trusses at the side of the chimney & any dampness or salt marks on the chimney breast in the loft or anywhere else in the house as the large cracks in the cement flashing will be allowing drips of water in there