Bungalow with a new dark grey tiled roof in low afternoon light

Chimney Repairs and Repointing in Torbay and South Devon

Repointing, partial and full rebuilds from the roofline up, new flaunching and pots, cowls and caps, and the lead flashing that keeps the water out where the stack meets the roof.

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Name, number and your town, plus a picture if you have one. We ring you back with a price or a time to come and look.

The Job

A chimney takes more weather than any other part of the house. It stands above the roofline in the wind, it gets wet on four sides, and if it has not been used for a fire in twenty years it never dries out from the inside either. On the coast the salt air eats the mortar joints faster than inland, so a stack that looks fine from the pavement can be soft enough to pull the mortar out with a finger when you get up to it. That is when bits of brick start turning up in the gutter, the pot starts to lean, and a damp patch appears on the chimney breast in the bedroom because the flaunching, the mortar cap that holds the pot and sheds the rain, has cracked and is letting water straight down the flue. Most chimney work is one of three jobs. Repointing, where we rake out the old joints and repoint them in a lime or cement mortar to suit the brick. A rebuild from the roofline up, where the brickwork has spalled or the stack is leaning and it is quicker and safer to take it down to sound brick and rebuild it. Or the flashing, where the lead where the stack meets the tiles has cracked, lifted or was never right, and the leak everyone blames on the chimney is really a roofing job. We look at all three every time, because they usually go together, and we photograph the stack from the scaffold so you can see the state of it.

Signs You Need Us

Mortar missing from the joints, or bits of brick and mortar in the gutter below the stack
A pot leaning, or the flaunching around it cracked and green
Staining or damp on the chimney breast inside, especially after rain from one direction
White salt marks on the brickwork outside
Vegetation growing out of the stack
Lead flashing lifted, cracked or patched with sealant

Chimney crumbling? Send a photo.

What We Check

Every joint on every face of the stack, from the scaffold
The flaunching and pots, and whether the pot is bedded or just sitting there
The lead flashing, soakers and back gutter where the stack meets the roof
Whether the stack is plumb, and whether the brick is spalling
The flue: open, capped or vented, because a sealed flue holds damp
The tiles around the stack, which are often the ones that have moved

What We Do

Joints raked out and repointed in a mortar to suit the brick
Stacks rebuilt from the roofline up in matching brick where the old brick has gone
New flaunching and pots, cowls or caps, with vents where a flue is redundant
Lead flashing, soakers and back gutters renewed or redressed
Tiles around the stack refitted and re-bedded
Photos from the scaffold before and after

On the Day

Chimney work needs a scaffold round the stack, which we arrange. Repointing a stack is usually a day or two; a rebuild from the roofline up is two to four days depending on size. We protect the roof around the stack while we work and clear every scrap of old mortar from the gutters before the scaffold comes down.

The Cost of Leaving It

A chimney that is losing its mortar is a chimney that will eventually lose bricks, and they land on the roof, in the garden or on the street. Water down an open flue rots the timbers around the stack and the plaster on the chimney breast. A leaning stack is a structural problem and, in a gale, a dangerous one.

Our Chimney Repairs & Repointing Work

The full gallery

Photographs of our chimney repairs & repointing jobs will be added here as the team sends them.

Materials We Fit

RedlandConcrete and clay roof tiles, and the dry ridge and verge systems that go with them.

MarleyInterlocking concrete tiles, plain tiles and roofline fittings.

VELUXRoof windows and the flashing kits that let them into a tiled or slate roof.

FirestoneEPDM rubber membrane for flat roofs, in a single sheet.

Cure It GRPGlass-reinforced fibreglass flat roofing, laid wet and trimmed to the edge.

Questions About Chimney Repairs & Repointing

Does a chimney I do not use still need repairs?

Yes, more than one you use. An unused flue never dries out, so the stack stays damp and the mortar goes faster. Capping it with a vented cowl keeps the rain out while letting it breathe.

Can you take the chimney down altogether?

Yes, to below the roofline, with the roof made good over it. It removes the maintenance for good. It changes the look of the house, and in a conservation area it may need permission, which we will tell you about.

Is the leak the chimney or the roof?

Usually the lead where they meet, which is a roofing job. We look at the stack, the flashing and the tiles around it together, because blaming the chimney and repointing it does nothing if the back gutter is the problem.

Lime or cement mortar?

Older brickwork was laid in lime and wants lime, because it lets the wall breathe and move. Newer brick was laid in cement. We match what is there unless there is a reason not to.

Do I need scaffolding for chimney work?

Yes, almost always. A stack cannot be safely repointed or rebuilt from a ladder. We arrange the scaffold as part of the job and it is in the price.

Customer Reviews

Kyren and his team repointed the entire side gable on our cottage. Very tidy workers, raked out the old crumbling mortar cleanly, and matched the new pointing nicely with the rest of the brickwork. Polite, punctual, and easy to deal with.

Had Kyren and his team out to sort a leaking roof valley on our terrace after the heavy rains last month. They turned up when they said they would, got straight to work, and cleaned up all the old tile debris properly before leaving. Fair price and solid work.

We needed composite cladding put on the back extension to replace some old timber that was rotting. Kyren gave us a straightforward quote with no hidden extras. The finish is spot on, and the lads worked right through a couple of miserable weather days to get it finished on schedule.

Full re-slate and lead flashing job on our bungalow. Kyren explained exactly what needed replacing without trying to upsell unnecessary extras. Scaffolding went up and came down on time, and the roof looks great. Good, hard-working local crew.

Called Roofsure after noticing a couple of slipped tiles and loose mortar around the chimney stack. Kyren popped round to take a look, gave a reasonable estimate, and had the job done by the end of the week. Honest, reliable service.