If you are considering having a redundant chimney stack removed on your Fulbourn property, here is exactly what the job involves from the first visit to the final clean-up.
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Before any work is quoted or planned, a roofer needs to get eyes on the chimney properly - not just from the ground with a pair of binoculars, but from scaffold or a ladder tall enough to reach the stack. A ground-level look can identify obvious problems like a leaning stack or missing pots, but it cannot tell you the condition of the pointing joints, whether the flashing is properly lapped, or whether the brickwork has started to spall behind the visible face.
A proper inspection at chimney level will check: the mortar joints on all four faces of the stack; the condition and fixing of the lead flashing at the base of the stack; the chimney pots, their bedding mortar and any weathering cap or bird guard; and the brickwork itself for cracking, spalling or signs of historic water ingress. The inspector should also look inside the loft space to see whether water has already tracked down through the chimney breast and into the roof timbers.
This inspection is what drives the scope of work. A take-down on a stack that is genuinely sound is simpler than one where the internal timbers are wet or the chimney breast in the loft has softened. Knowing the condition before you start means no surprises mid-job.
Safe access to a chimney stack on a two-storey house requires scaffold. Ladder-only access is not appropriate for chimney take-down work - you are removing bricks from height and the weight and unpredictability of the work make a proper platform essential. A standard scaffold tower or putlog scaffold to chimney height takes a couple of hours to erect and the same to strike at the end. On most residential jobs this is a one or two-day hire.
On terraced properties, scaffold erection may need temporary use of a neighbour's land or a highway licence depending on the layout. This is worth knowing in advance and a good roofer will flag it before the job starts. On detached and semi-detached properties it is usually straightforward.
Scaffold cost is a real part of the overall price and is why chimney take-downs are not cheap even when the labour and materials are relatively modest. It is also why combining a chimney take-down with any other roof work - re-ridging, tile replacement, valley repair - makes financial sense if those jobs are due anyway.
The actual demolition starts at the top. The chimney pots are lifted off first - they are bedded in mortar and usually come free with a firm twist or a careful tap from a bolster. Pots in reasonable condition can sometimes be kept and reused elsewhere if you want them, otherwise they go into the skip.
Bricks are removed course by course working downwards. On a traditional stack, each brick is knocked loose with a club hammer and bolster and lowered or passed down rather than dropped. Dropping bricks from height risks damage to the roof tiles below and is not how a careful job is done. Rubble bags or a brick hoist are the right approach.
The stack is taken down to just below the line where the flashing meets the roof, or in some cases to just below the roof surface itself depending on how the chimney breast is configured internally. The remaining stub is finished with a capping course of brickwork or a concrete haunch so there is nothing left to hold water.
Once the stack is down, you have an opening in the roof that needs to be properly framed before any tile work can happen. The existing rafter layout around the chimney opening was built to accommodate the stack, so there will be trimmer rafters and possibly a trimming beam that are no longer needed. The opening is filled by cutting and fitting new timber - noggins between the existing rafters to carry the new tile battens, with cripple rafters if the opening is wide.
The timber frame needs to be solid and correctly supported. Any existing timbers that are soft, wet or showing signs of rot from historic water ingress need to be cut out and replaced at this stage. Leaving soft timber under new tiles is a false economy - it will compress over time and the tiles will start to move.
Over the new timber frame, a breathable underlay membrane is fitted, lapping onto the existing underlay on either side. This is then battened out in the same gauge as the surrounding roof so the tile courses line up correctly when the tiles go on.
New tiles are fixed to match the existing roof as closely as possible. On a modern concrete interlocking tile roof this is usually straightforward - a matching profile is available from current stock. On older clay tile or natural slate roofs, salvage materials are often needed for a good visual match. The tiles are fixed with the same head lap as the surrounding courses so water sheds correctly across the new section.
The junction between the new tiled area and the existing roof on each side is finished with soakers and step flashing in code 4 lead. This is the same detail used at any abutment on a pitched roof - it is not unique to chimney take-downs, but it needs to be dressed carefully so the laps are correct and the lead is properly tucked into the mortar joints of any remaining masonry or into a cut in the tile surface.
With the external work done, there is one final step inside the loft space. The former flue opening in the chimney breast at loft level should be capped - either with a timber frame and OSB board, or with a piece of concrete board screwed to the brickwork. This stops cold air, birds, bats or debris entering the loft through the former flue. If there is any sign of previous water damage in the loft timbers around the chimney breast, this is the moment to treat or replace affected timber before closing everything up.
A quick check of the underlay lap and the new tile bedding from inside the loft is also good practice before the scaffold comes down - it is the last chance to spot anything before access is gone.
Chimney demolition produces a lot of debris - brick dust, old mortar, broken tile material and general grit. A good job ends with all of this cleared from the roof, the gutters checked and cleared of any debris that has fallen in during the work, and the scaffold striking area swept. The skip or rubble bags go with the team at the end of the job.
After the scaffold is down, it is worth checking the gutters yourself after the next heavy rain to confirm everything is draining cleanly. Any new tile section should shed water in the same direction and into the same gutter run as the tiles around it.
A full take-down with tiling over on a standard two-storey semi-detached house typically costs between £1,200 and £2,500. Scaffold is usually the biggest single cost element. Tile matching difficulty, the complexity of the junction detail and the condition of the existing timbers in the opening area all affect the final figure. A job where the loft timbers need replacing or where salvage tiles are needed for matching will sit at the higher end.
If you combine a chimney take-down with other planned roof work, the scaffold cost is shared across both jobs and the overall cost per job comes down.
We cover Fulbourn from our base in Haverhill. If you want to know exactly what your chimney take-down will involve before committing to the work, call us and we will arrange a proper inspection at roof level and walk you through the process for your specific property.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
