Newmarket Roofers carries out chimney rebuilds in Isleham from first inspection to final clean-up, with scaffold erected for every job.
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Before any price is agreed or any work starts, the chimney needs to be properly inspected. A look from the garden can reveal an obvious lean or missing pot, but it cannot tell you how many courses of brickwork are affected, whether the flaunching has fully failed, or what condition the lead flashings are in.
A proper chimney inspection means getting someone up close to the stack. That usually requires either a scaffolded platform or, on a smaller job, an extended ladder to get eye level with the top of the stack. We will not quote for a full rebuild on the basis of a ground-level view alone, because the extent of the work can only be accurately judged from close inspection. If a contractor gives you a fixed price for a chimney rebuild without going up to look at it first, that is worth questioning.
At the inspection stage, we look at every element of the chimney system: the brickwork courses from roof line to pot, the condition of the mortar joints, the flaunching, the pot itself, and the lead flashings on all sides. We check whether the stack has moved or leaned, and whether the failure is confined to the upper courses or runs deeper. All of this information shapes what work is actually needed.
Once we know what we are dealing with, we explain to you clearly what needs doing and why. Not every chimney problem requires a full rebuild. If the brickwork below a certain point is sound, we take the stack down to that level and rebuild from there. If the problem is limited to the flaunching and pot, we deal with that without disturbing the brickwork.
A chimney rebuild from the roof line upward is the right course when the brickwork itself has failed - when bricks are spalling or breaking apart, when the mortar joints have opened throughout, or when the stack has moved out of plumb. In those cases, rebuilding is more economical than trying to repair individual courses.
We will tell you honestly what the options are, including whether a partial repair is a realistic solution or just a short-term fix. Some chimney stacks are at a point where a repair will hold for a couple of years before the remaining brickwork catches up. Where that is the case, we would rather say so than let you spend money on something that will need doing again shortly.
All chimney work is carried out from purpose-built scaffold. This is not optional and it is not a way of adding cost to the job. Working off a ladder on a chimney stack is unsafe, it makes it impossible to carry out careful brickwork properly, and it does not give you or the roofer a stable working platform to handle materials. Scaffold is erected to give full, safe access to the stack from all sides.
The scaffold is typically a freestanding structure tied to the building at roof level. It takes a day to erect and will remain in place for the duration of the job, including any cure time needed before the scaffold is struck. Scaffold hire is a genuine cost, and it is one of the main reasons chimney work costs more than work at eaves level. Any quote that does not include scaffold for a chimney rebuild should prompt you to ask how the work is going to be done safely.
Once the scaffold is in place, the failed or unstable courses are carefully taken down by hand. This is not a process that can be rushed. Bricks and mortar debris removed from height need to be controlled and lowered safely rather than dropped, both to protect the roof covering below and to avoid damage to gutters, soffits and anything on the ground around the property.
Where whole bricks are sound enough to be reused, they can be cleaned and incorporated into the new work. This matters particularly on older properties where a matching brick is difficult to source. The removal process also gives us the clearest view of the underlying structure, so if there are any surprises - a failed internal flue liner, unexpected movement in the lower courses - we can identify them before the rebuild begins.
New brickwork is laid from the last sound course upward, using a mortar mix matched to the age and type of the existing bricks. On older properties this will typically be a lime-based mortar rather than a hard cement mix - the softer lime mortar is compatible with the softer bricks used in period construction and allows the small seasonal movements that all chimney stacks undergo.
Each course is laid level and plumb, checked as the work progresses. The stack is built to the original height unless there is a reason to alter this - for example, if a pot that was previously too short to draw properly is being replaced with a taller version. The dimensions of the stack and the number of flues it serves determine the number of pots required at the top.
Once the brickwork is up to height, the flaunching is prepared. The flaunching is the sloped mortar bed that anchors the pot and sheds rainwater away from the top of the stack. It is built up in layers to a sufficient thickness to resist frost, and finished with a clean slope on all sides. The pot is then bedded into the fresh flaunching and left to set.
Lead flashings are checked and dressed once the new brickwork is in place. Where flashings have been disturbed during the rebuild, or where they were already failing, they are relayed properly - stepped flashings chased into the mortar joints on the sides of the stack, and a lead back gutter where the high side of the stack meets the roof slope. This is the detail that keeps water out at the junction between the chimney and the roof, and it needs to be done correctly for the rebuild to do its job.
Once the mortar has had adequate time to set and the flashings are dressed, a final check is made of the whole stack from the scaffold before it is struck. Any mortar smears on the brickwork are cleaned off. The scaffold is then dismantled and all debris from the job, including broken bricks and old mortar, is cleared from the roof and from around the property.
A rebuilt chimney stack should look clean and correct, with consistent joint widths, proper flaunching at the top and sound lead at the base. If the chimney is in active use you can have it swept and lit as normal once the mortar has cured fully - typically several weeks, though this depends on conditions. If it is a decorative or disused stack, a pot cover or vent cap can be fitted to keep rain and wildlife out of the flue.
Newmarket Roofers carries out chimney rebuilds in Isleham and across the surrounding area including Newmarket, Mildenhall, Wicken, Chippenham and nearby villages, as well as further afield to Ely, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge. If you have a chimney that needs attention, call us to arrange an inspection so we can give you an accurate picture of what is involved.
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Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
