Weeping chimney stack..

[Ouch77]

Given the lovely weather we've been enjoying recently, I've had a good opportunity to assess the weatherproofing of our new house.



My biggest problem is the chimney stack is weeping in the loft. Especially noticeable as we've just had the ceilings plastered upstair

We've had a fella out to look at it, and he's quoted just under £1k for installing front & rear trays, re-leading, flaunching and replacing batten & felt around the stack.

Does this sound reasonable?

One of our longer term plans is to insert a liner down one of the flues to enable us to use the front fireplace - would synchronising these works enable much cost & hassle saving, given it's working in the same area, so access could be shared, and hopefully I wouldn't have to re-flaunch the stack twice (the second time when the liner goes in).

Could this cause potential problems? Would a single contractor be able to do this? the quote we've had is from a roofer who doesn't seem to do flue liners, likewise I've seen a lot of fireplace and liner people don't do roofing -argh!

 

[joe-90]

Does it require scaffolding? Piccie would be good.

 

[Ouch77]

Does it require scaffolding? Piccie would be good.

No pics til I get home, and then it'll be dark out Inisde just looks like a badly rendered brick stack in the loft that's weeping.

Not sure on the scaff. I wouldn't do it myself without scaff (and a safety line, and a crash-mat, and anti-grav boots) but I'm a wuss when it comes to heights.

 

[joe-90]

If it's possible to reach with an access platform than a grand is silly money for a days work. Does it really need all that doing? Usually it's just the flashing needs sorting.

 

[Ouch77]

The stack is in the centre of the footprint of the property, just off the apex, so I doubt it'd be accessible with a cherry-picker or some other automated access. I've no idea if all the work needs doing, as I've not been up on the roof to look at the state of it.

We only bought the place this summer and the surveyor did a visual inspection from the ground and pronounced no problems - I know these reports are just expensive bog-roll, but it's no more than I'd be able to acheive, and I'd assume a surveyor would know more than I.

Edit: Just found this from sunnier times:

Untitled

• Ouch77
• 11 Nov 2010
• 1

 

[Ouch77]

Update:

Just spoke to the chap on the phone, who confirmed scaffolding wouldn't be needed, and it would be completed within a day. Does it still sound like silly money?

 

[htgeng]

Does it still sound like silly money?

not to him it doesn't especially if you are giving him the folding stuff. Christmas is only a month away!

 

[joe-90]

Of course it's silly money. A heart surgeon only earns half that much.

Don't pay a penny over £250.

 

[SASroofer]

£1k is proposterous, and I dont even think all of the flashing needs replacing.

Probably just the back gutter, no more than £300

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

Never mind weeping chimney stack..........Id be weeping if I paid 1k for a days work with no scaffolding.....mmmmm so its say £50 materials £950 profit, get down the local pub/pubs you will always see a couple of roofers there who can do it alot cheapar than that

 

[Ouch77]

£1k is proposterous, and I dont even think all of the flashing needs replacing.

Probably just the back gutter, no more than £300

Had a similar comment from a tame builder who often float around my place of work, showed him the photo above and described the problem. He can't come out and look just yet as his van is broke. Might try my luck up there this weekend and inspect the lead from outside.

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

Another option to consider is it may be porous brickwork so the outer faces of the chimney will need sealing, best to get that done as well in any case if carrying out any lead repairs TBH to save later issues

 

[datarebal]

Its a lot of money for part of a job.
It should have some scaffold up to at least fascia height. (working of the tiles is possible but in my opinion not acceptable..
Replaceing the flashing and flaunching might not cure the problem.
Sealing the brickwork might help short term.

it would not cost much more to have a proper job, rebuild stack new lead trays, new flashing and so on.

Dont pay a grand for whats being suggested..