If you have a redundant chimney stack in Histon that needs taking down, Ely Roofers can help you understand what the work involves and what a fair price looks like before you commit to anything.
Ask three roofers to quote for taking down a chimney stack and you can easily receive prices ranging from £700 to £2,500 or more. That range is not arbitrary. The cost of a chimney take-down depends on a number of specific, measurable factors, and understanding them helps you evaluate quotes properly rather than simply picking the cheapest figure.
This page breaks down the main cost drivers honestly, covers what a fair price includes, and flags what to watch for when comparing quotes.
For a standard residential chimney stack - single flue, moderate height, accessible by scaffold tower, on a semi-detached or terraced house with concrete interlocking tiles - a fair all-in price in this part of Cambridgeshire typically runs from around £800 to £1,400. That should include access equipment, taking down the stack, making good the roof covering with matching tiles, capping and ventilating the flue, and clearing all rubble from the site.
More complex jobs - a large double stack, natural slate or clay plain tile roofs requiring reclaimed materials, stacks on tall or steeply pitched roofs requiring full scaffold erection rather than a tower, or chimney breasts with structural issues around the base - will cost more. The upper end of the typical range for residential work sits at around £2,000. Jobs that require structural repairs to the roof timbers exposed when the chimney came out, or where reclaimed natural slate needs to be sourced and matched carefully, can occasionally exceed that figure.
Stack height and roof pitch. The higher the chimney above the ridge, the more work is involved in dismantling it and getting the brickwork down safely. A tall stack on a steeply pitched roof requires more scaffold, more time, and more skill than a short stack on a shallow pitch. Height is one of the single biggest cost drivers.
Number of flues. A chimney stack can contain one, two, or even more separate flues serving different fireplaces in the house. More flues mean a wider, heavier stack, more brickwork to remove, a larger opening to make good in the roof, and more internal capping to do. A double-flue stack typically costs 30-50% more than a comparable single-flue job.
Access equipment. A scaffold tower adequate for a single-storey extension chimney costs far less to hire than a full erected scaffold system needed to work safely at ridge height on a two-storey property. For taller buildings, the scaffold element alone can add £300 to £600 to the job cost. This should always be included in a quote, not added as a surprise extra.
Roof covering materials. Making good with standard concrete interlocking tiles is straightforward and the tiles are cheap. Matching natural Welsh slate, reclaimed clay plain tiles, or an unusual profile tile is a different matter. Sourcing reclaimed materials takes time, and the materials themselves cost more. On a prominent roof elevation where a poor match would be obvious, it is worth paying for the right match rather than accepting something that looks wrong for the life of the roof.
Condition of the roof timbers at the base. Chimneys are built through the roof structure, and the timbers around the base of the chimney can suffer from the same water ingress that damaged the stack itself. If the rafters, ridge board section, or roof decking in that area are rotten or compromised, those need to be repaired before the new tiles go on. This adds material and labour cost but is not optional - tiling over rotten timbers simply defers a bigger problem.
Lead flashing quantity. When a chimney is taken down, the lead flashing at its base comes away with it. Old lead has a scrap value. On a large chimney with substantial lead flashing, the scrap value may partially offset the overall cost. Ask your roofer how they account for this - it is a minor point but a legitimate one.
A fair, all-in chimney take-down quote should cover:
If a quote does not mention access equipment, ask whether it is included. Some very low prices are low because the roofer intends to work from a ladder, which is unsafe for this type of job and almost always results in a poorer finish.
A quote significantly below £800 for a full chimney take-down on a two-storey house warrants scrutiny. Common reasons for an unusually low price include: no scaffold, meaning the roofer will work unsafely and may not be able to lower brickwork carefully; no allowance for proper tile matching, meaning a visible patch on your roof; no internal flue capping, leaving a condensation problem to develop over the following months; or waste not being taken away, leaving you to deal with a pile of rubble.
A price that looks like a bargain but misses any of those elements is not a bargain. The cost of fixing a poor finish or dealing with damp caused by an unsealed flue will exceed the saving.
Two situations push chimney take-down costs beyond the typical range. The first is listed building status or a conservation area, where any alteration to the external appearance of a property may require planning permission or listed building consent. The costs of the application and any conditions attached to approval are separate from the roofing work itself. Always check with your local planning authority before instructing work on a listed property.
The second is the simultaneous removal of the chimney breast inside the house. Taking the breast out of one or more rooms while the external stack is down is an efficient time to do it, but it is a structural job requiring building regulations approval and structural calculations. It adds significant cost but can transform room layouts. If this is something you are considering, get it costed separately so you can make a clear decision.
To get quotes that are genuinely comparable, give every roofer the same information: the number of flues in the stack, the approximate height of the chimney above the ridge, the roof covering material, and whether there is any known existing damage to the tiles or timbers around the base. Ask each one to specify in writing what their price includes in terms of access, materials, capping, and waste removal. A quote that spells this out is far more useful than a single figure with no detail.
We are based in Ely and carry out chimney take-downs across Histon and nearby communities, including Cambridge, Stretham, Sutton, Wilburton, Witcham, Witchford, and the surrounding villages. If you have a chimney stack that needs assessing, call us for a roof survey. We will look at the stack properly and give you a clear, itemised price so you know exactly what you are paying for and why.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
