Hopefully this is in the right place (if not feel free to move).
I have had a problem with one of my chimney for a few months now. When it rains very heavily (as it seems to always do now) there is a leak that comes down the chimney - it is a constrant drip and whilst it is not loads at the end of the day water is getting in and that is not good.
I had a boom lift round to the house last week to try and get some high level painting completed and I asked a builder who has done a couple of bits and pieces for me to look at it whilst this machinery was there.
Later that day he contacted me to say that unsuprisingly the chimney crown was cracked and needed fixed. He has quoted me £700-£750 to fix the crown but he has suggested that it may be better to replace the corwn altogether with a new crown that overhangs the brickwork of the chimney. At the moment the crown appears to be a raised sloping cement effort (you know the sort) and there is no overhand on the brickwork so the water is just running straight down the four sides of the chimney. He has not given me a price to replace the crown but stated that it wouldnt be a lot more. He pretty much said that this was the way I should proceed as the current situation with no overhang was not a great long term solution.
For information the top of the chimney is approx 10-11 metres from the ground and is probably about 18-24" wide and about 36"-48" long (sorry not sure) - it has two chimney pots on it both of which are in good condition.
Firstly is £700 a fair price (he has stated that he has scaffolding that will be able to get him access) and secondly is it worth replacing the crown with one that overhangs the brick work of the chimney?
PS I will be getting a couple of additional quotes but any advice on those couple of queries at this stage would be appreciated.
I have had a problem with one of my chimney for a few months now. When it rains very heavily (as it seems to always do now) there is a leak that comes down the chimney - it is a constrant drip and whilst it is not loads at the end of the day water is getting in and that is not good.
I had a boom lift round to the house last week to try and get some high level painting completed and I asked a builder who has done a couple of bits and pieces for me to look at it whilst this machinery was there.
Later that day he contacted me to say that unsuprisingly the chimney crown was cracked and needed fixed. He has quoted me £700-£750 to fix the crown but he has suggested that it may be better to replace the corwn altogether with a new crown that overhangs the brickwork of the chimney. At the moment the crown appears to be a raised sloping cement effort (you know the sort) and there is no overhand on the brickwork so the water is just running straight down the four sides of the chimney. He has not given me a price to replace the crown but stated that it wouldnt be a lot more. He pretty much said that this was the way I should proceed as the current situation with no overhang was not a great long term solution.
For information the top of the chimney is approx 10-11 metres from the ground and is probably about 18-24" wide and about 36"-48" long (sorry not sure) - it has two chimney pots on it both of which are in good condition.
Firstly is £700 a fair price (he has stated that he has scaffolding that will be able to get him access) and secondly is it worth replacing the crown with one that overhangs the brick work of the chimney?
PS I will be getting a couple of additional quotes but any advice on those couple of queries at this stage would be appreciated.
First guy seems on the ball to me
