Leaking Chimney

[gener8or]

Hi all, we moved into a 1920’s semi this year, the chimney breasts had been removed by the developer and supported by 2 RSJ’s in the loft.
During a heavy storm in May we heard tapping on the plaster board above, it was rain coming in through the chimneys into the loft above, I put some temporary bowls to catch the water.
After to speaking to a roofer he decided the flauching needed replacing, he said there were large cracks on it, the chimneys are capped. He charged my £245 to replace the flaunching on both.
Another big storm 2 months later I could hear some tapping again, so I went in the loft and found a big improvement (front OK) but back slightly leaking.
The roofer now thinks the chimneys could do with re-pointing, another £245.
Does anybody have any experience or advice?
Thanks Rob

 

[justlead1]

Hi. Assuming all the flashings are sound and general condition of chimney is good. I would suggest you coat the chimney brick work with a transparent sealant, available from builders merchants. Bricks and mortar are porous, allowing water to be absorbed and pass down through the chimney past any lead flashing present. To carry out this work you need a few dry days prior to application. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AAdcYazFIio. To explain the situation check out the You Tube link. Good Luck

 

[gener8or]

Thanks for the advice, the flashing round the chimney seems OK. The only place the water is coming in seems in the centre not the edges.
Does the sealent coat the bricks and motor? How long does it last?

Cheers Rob

 

[justlead1]

Hi. Sorry i can not be specific as we just give this advice when clients do not wish to reduce the chimney enough to fit a lead DPC tray on an existing chimney owing to cost. You may get a year or two, suck it and see. Good Luck

 

[jackfoley]

Hi,

We had a similar problem with our chimney stack. Water was coming through the brick and flashing which were both perished.
this must have been going on for a while as the previous owner did not bother to fix the problems so we had two holes in the felt as a result.

We decided to get rid of the chimney breast as we did not need it.
Job took half a day for two guys 500 quid including taking away all of the bricks and making good of the roof with battens, felt, 2nd hand tiles to match existing.

I'm not a builder but in my experience this may be the better option as you won't have maintenance issues in the future.So far we are happy with the result.