Roof Leak - please advise

[Rays]

We've got a disused chimney stack (2 metres) on a property thats about 70 years old. When it rains, water is soaking through the wall of the upstairs corridor (immediately underneath the stack) and the adjacent ceiling to the extent that you can see water dripping down the wall I've been up in the loft when its raining hard and there doesn't seem to be any water coming in. Outside, the lead flashings are missing. A roofer has recently capped off the stack and apparently sealed off the area around where the lead flashings should have been with some silicone but its now 6am on a Sunday morning, and we're having a big downpour and the wall is wetter than its ever been Could this cause long-term damage?
I note that there was a similar posting last year and after much discussion the guy ended up taking down the stack which appeared to sort the problem. Can someone (anyone ) please advise whether I should go down a diagnostic route (i.e. have lead flashings applied first etc) and see what happens or simply take down the stack which presumably would sort the problem out and seems inevitable anyway.
On a slightly different note the roofer also noted that my guttering was old and needed replacing. Admittedly when it rains hard, they appear totally inadequate and water comes down like a waterfall in certain areas . The gutters have been cleaned out this summer. He's offering deeper metal gutters (to replace the shallow-appearing plastic ones that I've got). Is metal guttering better than plastic and is a cost of 20 pounds per metre (all in) reasonable?

 

[Nige F]

£20 per metre is it cast iron....also what metal ..and what`s wrong with plastic deepflow........sounds like you`ve got a roofer from one of those TV programmes....there`s a good one on here.....just wait for his advice ........or from Roofline here too....I used to do gutters and flashing being a plumber but can only manage bungalows nowadays

 

[Rays]

Any advice on how i can find someone who can do an honest roofing job. I've tried National federation of Roofing contractors and Federation of master Builders websites but these guys seem too busy to respond. (Based in Chertsey Surrey)

 

[Roofer]

The NFRC is a bona fide organisation but unfortunately for you it's members are mostly larger contractors and not generally interested in small works.

From the sound of it the best way to go would be to remove the stack if you're sure it won't be needed again and replace your gutter with plastic (deepflow if necessary) I can't see any reason why metal guttering would be preferable.

But it sems to me that you need a small builder rather than a roofer to sort your problems. But that's another problem in itself if you don't personally know any good tradesmen.

 

[yvon]

we had the same chinmey stack problem last year, had it removed and the roof re tiled in that area. we still have the wet coming into the bedroom in the same place, after having 3 different roofers in to try to sort the problem. roofer no. 4 is coming at the weekend.