Ely Roofers carry out chimney take-downs in Willingham, handling every stage from the initial inspection through to a finished, weathertight roof.
A chimney take-down is not a single action - it is a sequence of separate tasks that each depend on the one before. Knowing what each stage involves helps you understand what you are paying for, what questions to ask and what a finished job should look like. This page walks through the process from start to finish.
We cover Willingham as part of our wider working area around Ely, and the process described here is the same wherever we work.
Before any price is agreed and before any work starts, the stack needs to be looked at properly - from roof level, not just from the ground. A ground-level inspection can reveal obvious problems such as a leaning stack, spalled brickwork or a missing pot. But it cannot tell you the true condition of the flashing, the state of the mortar bed at the base of the stack, or how many courses of brickwork are already loose or saturated.
A roofer who prices a chimney take-down purely from photographs or from standing in the garden is estimating, not quoting. When we inspect a stack, we look at the flashing junction where the stack meets the roof, the condition of the upper courses of brickwork, the state of the pot and any existing mortar haunching, and the surrounding tiles for any signs of previous movement or water tracking. All of this affects the scope and the price.
The inspection also confirms whether the job can be done safely with a scaffold tower or whether a full scaffold lift is needed. Stack height and roof pitch are the main factors here, and they make a real difference to access costs.
Safe access is not optional. Working at height on a pitched roof requires either a scaffold tower, a full scaffold rig or a hoist system, depending on the height of the stack and the pitch and condition of the roof. For most single-storey-extension stacks or stacks on a standard two-storey house, a scaffold tower is adequate. Taller stacks or steeply pitched roofs may need a full scaffold lift, which adds to the cost but is essential for safe working.
Before any brickwork comes down, ridge tiles and any roof tiles immediately around the base of the stack may be lifted and set aside to protect them. A debris chute or covered skip area below helps manage falling material without damaging gutters, paths or vehicles below. Neighbouring tiles should be checked and covered where needed.
Chimney stacks are taken down course by course, from the pot downwards. The pot is lifted off first - many pots can be lowered intact, which removes the heaviest single item safely before the brickwork is disturbed. The brickwork is then removed in courses, with each course cleared before moving to the next.
Controlled, methodical dismantling is important. Pushing or knocking sections down in one go is faster but increases the risk of tiles and flashings being hit by falling masonry, and it makes a debris problem on the roof itself. Course-by-course removal keeps the work tidy and the surrounding roof intact.
The stack is taken down to just below the roofline - typically to the level of the roof deck or tile batten level, so that nothing protrudes above the finished roof surface. The brickwork at this point is usually cut flush with the nearest rafter or batten run to give a clean base for the reinstatement work.
Once the brickwork is down to roof level, the old lead flashing and any mortar fillets are stripped away from the sides and rear of the former stack position. On a well-maintained stack, this lead may be in reasonable condition - but since the stack is being removed it cannot stay in place. The underlying tiles and felt are exposed at this point, and any damage can be assessed directly.
Common findings at this stage include cracked or slipped tiles immediately adjacent to the stack base (often caused by the stack moving over time), torn or perished felt in the area immediately around the former stack, and occasionally rot in batten ends where water has been tracking in through failed flashing for an extended period. All of these are dealt with before the reinstatement tiles go back.
With the stack down to roof level, the open top of the flue is sealed. Typically this is done with a course or two of brickwork laid across the flue opening and finished with a mortar haunch sloped to drain. The haunch needs to be rounded and sloped away from the centre, not flat, so that water sheds rather than pooling.
The internal chimney breast is left in place. Only the external stack above the roofline is removed. If the fireplace below is open, it is worth considering a small vent - such as a proprietary airbrick or ventilated cover plate - to allow a degree of airflow through the flue void and reduce the risk of moisture building up inside the breast over time.
This is the most visible part of the job and the stage that most affects the long-term weathertightness of the result. The void left by the stack base is infilled with tiles or slates to match the surrounding roof covering as closely as possible. New battens are fixed across the opening, new underlay is lapped correctly over and under the existing membrane, and the tiles are cut to fit and fixed.
On a plain clay tile or concrete interlocking tile roof, the new tiles need to be the same profile as the existing ones. A mismatch in profile means gaps, which means water ingress. We source tiles that match the existing roof as closely as possible - on older properties this can involve sourcing reclaimed tiles, which is worth the extra time to get a result that does not look patched.
At the ridge, any disturbed ridge tiles are re-bedded or re-pointed as part of the reinstatement. Hip tiles near a former stack position are checked and re-secured where needed. The completed tile area should sit at the same level and fall as the tiles around it, with no steps or lips that could pond water or lift in wind.
Once the tile work is complete, the job does not end there. All disturbed tiles in the area around the former stack are checked individually for firm seating - a tile that has been nudged slightly out of position by scaffold contact or by vibration from demolition can work loose over the following winter. Ridge and hip mortar is checked and any fresh pointing is allowed to set before the scaffold is struck.
Gutters and downpipes immediately below the work area are cleared of brick dust and mortar debris. Any tiles or materials set aside during access are put back or removed as waste. The site is left tidy - rubble from the stack goes into a skip or is bagged and removed. Brick rubble from a full chimney stack is heavier than most homeowners expect: a small stack of, say, 100 courses by four bricks wide can run to half a tonne of material.
A standard single chimney stack on a two-storey house is usually a one-day job for an experienced team. Taller stacks, stacks with heavily failed flashing, or roofs where the surrounding tiles are in poor condition can extend to two days. Access setup and strike (putting up and taking down scaffold) adds time at each end but is typically done on the same days as the main work.
We carry out chimney take-downs in Willingham and the villages around it, working from our base in Ely. Neighbouring places such as Stretham, Over and Witchford are all within our working area. If you would like us to inspect your chimney stack and explain exactly what the job involves on your property, call us to arrange a roof survey.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
