Wet chimney breast - blocked stack?

[MattJD]

After we moved in to our 1897 Victorian end terrace we found damp in the back bedroom chimney stack (exterior wall)

Went in the loft to take a look and could see water dripping in, brick work was in a pretty poor state and there was missing bits of mortar.

Had a local roofer out to take a look and he said it was in a poor state, missing flashing and he said the gutter back bit was made incorrectly amongst other things. He invited me up to take a look and take a few shots. I asked him to rectify the problems.

The damp patches seemed to be slowly reducing, possibly due to the nice dry spell we have had. Now the weather has turned wet again the patches have got worse

Other than the idea that the roofer was shoddy (need to get back in the loft really) my Dad suggested the flue may be blocked, when i went on the roof i remember seeing a metal vented cap that seemed to be fixed soundly but could this be the cause of the problems?

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Matt

 

[big-all]

if you look at your picture of the flashing you have a channel from the tiles up above channeling water strait into the gap above the red circle
that seems the main problem to me

 

[markie]

The cause of the water coming in is the lead work on the side of the chimmey, like you've have circled that is the main problem, the lead should of been flashend under the lead at the stack, and the lead at side should be like the bit of lead at front of stack ( over lapping more of the tiles on the side ) you'll need a new bit of lead on the side. I would love to see what the roofer has done to try to solve the problem my guess he's just siliconed the gap.

 

[MattJD]

I should have been more clear, the roof pic is a before pic.
Its since been all fixed (as far as i can see from the ground) and it was actually the roofer that pointed out these problems

I've uploaded another pic. If you look at the right hand side of the pic you can see where he has lifted the tiles to show the old gutter back. The tesco value photoshop shows how the old gutter ran up under the flashing for about 2-3 inches. He has since made a complete new back, replaced the flashing etc

There is plenty of rain heading our way tomorrow so i'll be in the loft checking for leaks!

Matt

 

[markie]

The back flashing looked ok on the pic, apart from the top of the flashing where it go's into the brick course, it's the side flashing whats not right. Did he put new lead on the side ? he's not done it right if your still getting water damage, it's a pitty he never invited you up when he had done the job so you can see what he had done. ps the tiles at the back of the stack should really be clear of the lead, not touching it ( on the upright bit of lead ) just so water/leaves etc.. can run clear better.

 

[js.roofing]

Can you not get back on the roof and take a picture of the completed work?

From there we can help you, if its still leaking your 'roofer' has probably bodged it -again!
As Markie spotted, the back lead gutter wasn't even chased into the brickwork, other than being dressed with a lump-hammer i bet its been covered with silicone.

 

[Nige F]

Was he itinerant I`ll bet there`s no lead damp tray thru` the chimney .can`t see one in pics..... flashings can be perfect...but no tray and the damp will fall(cuz it don`t rise )thru` the brickworkdown the chimney

 

[MattJD]

Bit of an update.

Went up into the loft in the rain and as i'd guessed there was water coming in in a few places, running down the brickwork and into the mortar, which is a bit ****e and im guessing thats how its getting into the chimney breast and appearing in the bedroom.

The leaks are all underneath the gutter back. He supposedly made a new gb and re-mortared all the back flashing and replaced the side flashing, to his credit he has stopped the leak on the side of the chimney (where that circled gap is on the pic) as thats now bone dry

I cannot get up on the roof without his ladders unfortunately but he is coming back on Thursday, so i'll try and get up there.

I`ll bet there`s no lead damp tray thru` the chimney

Sorry, bit new to all this, whats one of those?

On the plus side i hung my first door today

Cheers for the replys guys,
Matt

 

[mnb]

Take a look at : leadsheetassociation.org.uk/ flashings
Q1 How much did the roofer/builder charge for what he did? Your tile is fragile -did he use a roof ladder?
Q2 You appear to have "secret gutterings" - they will eventually block and leak.
Q3 Chimney flashings all wear and fail at roughly the same time ( they are the same age ). Therefore, they should all be replaced at the same time.
Q4 Your set-up is faulty in many respects and reqs stripping and re-doing
ref. lead sheet asn. standards.