If your chimney needs rebuilding and you are waiting for a roofer to attend, knowing what to do - and what to avoid doing yourself - can prevent a small problem from becoming a much bigger one.
A chimney rebuild means taking the stack down to a sound course above the roofline and reconstructing it from there using matching brickwork, a new damp-proof course (DPC) and properly installed lead flashings. The pot is reset and haunched in fresh mortar. All of this is work that has to be done from scaffold, with the right materials and in the right sequence.
Ely Roofers carries out chimney rebuilds in Upwell and the wider area, including Ely, March, Stretham and neighbouring villages. If your chimney is leaning, has severe spalling brickwork or has collapsed mortar joints above the roofline, a rebuild is what is needed - not a surface patch.
There is often a gap between noticing a chimney problem and getting a roofer on site to assess and fix it. During that time, there are a few practical steps worth taking to limit further damage to the property.
A leaning or structurally compromised chimney can allow rainwater into the roof structure and down into the property through the ceiling or around a breast. Check the ceiling in any room below or adjacent to the chimney breast, and check the loft space if you can access it safely from inside. If you see fresh damp patches or dripping, put down towels or a container to protect floors and furnishings, and note when the staining appeared relative to rainfall. This information is useful when the roofer surveys the job.
Take clear photographs of the chimney from ground level, from as many angles as you can manage. Use binoculars to get a closer look and photograph what you can see: leaning, open joints, cracked flaunching, lifted flashings, fallen or loose bricks. These images give the roofer useful context before they get on the roof, and they document the condition at the time you noticed the problem - useful if you later have any dispute with a previous contractor.
If bricks or brick fragments have already fallen, they may be sitting on the roof covering near the chimney base. From the ground, look carefully for any debris on the slope below the stack. Do not attempt to retrieve it - but note where it is and tell the roofer. A loose brick on a sloped roof is unstable and can slide further if disturbed, and the roofer needs to know about it before they start work.
Stop using any fire or stove connected to a chimney that has structural problems. A leaning stack has compromised flue integrity, which affects the draw of the flue and can cause combustion gases to enter the property. Do not light the fire again until the chimney has been surveyed and the problem resolved. If you have already noticed fumes coming back into the room, treat this as urgent and get the roofer out as soon as possible.
This is where good intentions can make things worse. Chimney problems attract a particular kind of DIY intervention that seems logical but tends to create new problems.
Reaching a chimney with a domestic ladder is dangerous even on a single-storey property. A chimney stack above a two-storey roof is well beyond safe ladder height for most people, and even a professional roofer working above a certain height needs scaffold or a cherry picker, not a ladder leant against the guttering. Beyond the safety issue, repointing done from an unstable position is usually done badly - mortar applied under pressure rather than properly packed produces a joint that fails faster than the original.
Silicone-based waterproofing sprays are widely sold for masonry, and there is a logic to the idea - if water cannot get in, the brickwork cannot be damaged. The problem is that most brick needs to breathe. Sealing the surface traps moisture that is already in the masonry behind an impermeable layer. When that moisture freezes, it expands and the brick face spalls off from the inside. On a chimney that already has compromised mortar joints or porous brick, a sealant application can accelerate the very damage you are trying to prevent.
Expanding foam appears in chimneys more often than it should. Homeowners use it to fill a gap at the flashing, to block an unused flue opening, or to stick a loose brick in place. Foam is not a structural or weatherproof material - it degrades in UV light, it is not watertight in the long term, and it can cause lead flashings to lift as it cures and expands. If it has been used inside the flue of a chimney that is still in use, it is a fire hazard.
A chimney that is visibly leaning has moved because the mortar has failed and there is no longer enough cohesion in the brickwork to keep it plumb. It cannot be pushed back into position. Attempting to brace it, tie it back with rope or metal straps, or prop it from the outside will not stop it moving further and risks bringing bricks down suddenly. Keep people clear of the area directly below a leaning stack and treat it as an emergency repair rather than something that can wait several months.
A common temporary fix is to rake out the old flashing and fill the joint with fresh mortar. Mortar is not flexible - it cracks as the chimney and roof move independently with temperature changes, and once it cracks it lets in more water than the original flashing leak did. Lead is the correct material for chimney flashings because it moves with the structure without cracking. A mortar patch at the flashing line typically lasts one to two winters before failing.
Some chimney situations need a roofer the same day, not in a few weeks' time:
In these cases, call ahead and describe the situation clearly so the roofer can assess whether emergency access is needed rather than a standard appointment slot.
A proper chimney survey requires the roofer to get up to the stack and inspect the mortar joints, brickwork condition, flashings and flaunching from close range. A quote given from the ground without anyone going up is not a reliable quote. The roofer should be able to tell you clearly whether a repair is sufficient or whether a rebuild is needed, explain why, and give you a written breakdown of the work and the cost before you agree to anything.
A full chimney rebuild on a standard domestic stack typically costs between £1,500 and £3,500, depending on the height of the stack, how many courses need to come down, scaffold requirements and material costs. A straightforward repair - reflaunching, replacing a flashing, or repointing a few courses - is considerably less.
Ely Roofers carries out chimney rebuilds in Upwell and across the area, including Ely, March, Stretham and nearby villages. Call us to arrange a survey and get a straight assessment of what your chimney actually needs.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
