If your chimney in Finchingfield is leaking or deteriorating and you are waiting for a roofer to attend, knowing what to do and - just as importantly - what not to attempt yourself will prevent a manageable problem from becoming a bigger one.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A leaking chimney rarely looks serious from the outside. The damage you can see - a damp patch on a ceiling, a wet chimney breast, a few crumbling bricks at the top - is usually only part of what is happening. Water that gets in at the flashing or through the pointing works its way into the roof space and the wall structure before it shows up inside the house. By the time you notice it, it may have been wet for weeks or months.
That does not mean you should panic, but it does mean acting steadily and knowing what is safe to deal with temporarily while you arrange proper repair or removal.
A chimney take-down removes a redundant stack from the roofline down, brick by brick, and closes the opening with new underfelt, battens and tiles matched to the rest of the roof. The result is a weathertight roof surface with no maintenance obligation on that part of the structure. We serve Finchingfield and the surrounding area from our base in Haverhill.
Not every chimney needs to come down. If the stack is still in use or structurally sound with isolated pointing or flashing failure, repair may be the right answer. If it is redundant and has been causing repeated problems, removal is usually more cost-effective over time. A typical chimney take-down on a standard two-storey house costs in the range of £800 to £2,000, depending on the size and height of the stack and what tile-matching is required. Scaffolding, where needed, is typically £300 to £600 on top of that.
While you wait for a professional to attend, there are a small number of things you can do safely from inside the property to limit further damage.
If you have loft access, go up and look at the area around the chimney stack. If you find standing water or active dripping, place a container or absorbent material under the drip point to protect the ceiling below. Do not disturb any insulation more than necessary - displaced insulation causes its own problems with condensation and heat loss.
If you can see daylight around the base of the stack where it passes through the roof, that is a sign the flashing or the tile course around the stack has failed. Make a note of it and take a photograph to show the roofer. Do not attempt to push tiles back into position from inside the loft - they sit on battens that need to be accessed from the outside and forcing them can cause additional breakage.
If there is a damp patch on the ceiling below the chimney breast, resist the urge to drill or pierce the plaster to let water drain. This tends to cause more structural damage to the plaster than the water itself would. Instead, protect flooring and furniture below, and monitor the patch. If it grows rapidly, call a roofer as a matter of urgency rather than waiting for a scheduled appointment.
Check whether the gutter directly below the affected chimney is clear. A blocked gutter can allow water to back up under tiles at the eaves and be misread as a chimney leak. Clearing the gutter yourself is safe and may reduce the volume of water getting in while you wait. Use a ladder correctly - footed on firm ground, secured at the top, and with someone steadying it at the base.
This is the more important list. Well-meaning DIY attempts on chimney problems are one of the most common ways that manageable repairs become expensive ones.
This applies whether the roof pitch is shallow or steep. A chimney repair or take-down requires scaffolding for good reason - not just safety, but because working without a stable platform means you cannot control where you step, and a slip onto tiles breaks them and leaves you with a second repair. Falls from roofs cause serious injury. Temporary patching from outside the roofline is not safe without proper access equipment.
Expanding foam injected into gaps around a chimney stack from inside the loft blocks ventilation and traps moisture. It also makes proper repair harder when the roofer arrives, because the foam has to be removed before the area can be worked on. It does not stop the source of the water - it only blocks one path, and the water finds another.
External sealant products sprayed or painted onto flashing joints have the same problem. They mask the joint without addressing why it has failed, and they bond over the area the roofer needs to access and re-dress properly.
If a chimney pot has cracked or a cowl is visibly loose, it is tempting to lift it off before it falls. Pots sit in haunching mortar and their weight is unpredictable once the mortar has failed. Attempting to lift a loose pot from a ladder is dangerous, and dropping it onto the roof below will cause tile damage that adds to the repair bill.
Standard ready-mix mortar sold for general use is often too hard for chimney pointing. Chimneys move with temperature changes, and a mortar that is too rigid cracks and falls out, sometimes taking brick faces with it. Chimney pointing should use a lime-based or appropriately gauged mortar matched to the age and type of the brickwork. This is not a DIY job to guess at.
Being prepared helps the roofer assess the job quickly and give you an accurate quote. It helps to have the following ready:
This is the key question, and it can only be answered properly after a site visit. A roofer who quotes without seeing the stack cannot give you an accurate scope of work. In general, a chimney that is in active use with isolated pointing or flashing failure is a repair candidate. A redundant stack with repeated problems, structural movement or advanced brick deterioration is more likely to be worth removing entirely.
Removing a stack eliminates future maintenance on that part of the roof entirely. Repointing or re-flashing a redundant stack is a holding measure - it may solve the immediate problem, but it does not remove the structure or its ongoing maintenance obligation.
The most frequent causes are failed or poorly fitted lead flashing at the base of the stack, mortar joints that have eroded between the bricks, a cracked cap or haunching on top of the pots, and cracked render. An unused flue also allows cold, damp air to sit in the void rather than being dried by fire gases, which accelerates deterioration from the inside.
Yes. A full take-down removes the stack to below the roof surface and tiles over the opening. It is a permanent solution for a chimney that is no longer in use and the right choice when the cost of proper repair approaches or exceeds the cost of removal, or when you want to eliminate the maintenance obligation entirely.
We cover Finchingfield and the surrounding villages from our base in Haverhill. If you have a chimney that is leaking, deteriorating or simply no longer needed, call us to arrange a roof survey. We will visit, assess the stack properly and tell you honestly what it needs and what it will cost.
No obligation · We'll call you to arrange a free visit
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
