Once your chimney has been rebuilt in Soham, the way you look after it in the years that follow determines how long it will stay in good condition.
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
A properly carried out chimney rebuild removes deteriorated brickwork down to sound masonry and builds back up using materials matched to the property age - lime mortar for older homes, sand-cement for more modern construction. The flaunching (the sloped mortar collar around the pots) is relaid, the pots are re-set or replaced, and the lead flashings where the stack meets the roof are dressed or renewed. Done correctly, the result is a structurally sound, weathertight stack.
What happens next is up to you. The most common cause of chimney deterioration is neglect over time - small problems that go unnoticed until they become expensive ones. Understanding what to watch for, and when to act, keeps a rebuilt chimney in good condition for many years.
New mortar needs time to cure fully. In the period immediately after a rebuild, avoid lighting fires aggressively or using high-heat burns for the first few weeks if the work was done in autumn. Slow, gentle fires allow the mortar to harden without thermal shock. This is particularly relevant for lime mortar, which cures more slowly than cement mixes.
After the first winter, look at the flaunching from the ground. A good pair of binoculars is enough to see whether any hairline cracks have developed. A small crack in fresh flaunching is not always a crisis, but it is worth monitoring and mentioning to a roofer at the next opportunity.
Once a year - autumn is ideal, before the heating season starts - take five minutes to look at the chimney from the ground. Use binoculars if you have them. You are looking for:
None of these checks require getting on the roof yourself. They are ground-level observations that tell you whether a professional inspection is warranted.
If you notice any of the signs above, or if the chimney breast inside the house develops a damp patch or staining, call a roofer to inspect rather than waiting. Water that enters at flashing or flaunching level tracks down inside the stack and can saturate the masonry well below the visible entry point. By the time it shows internally, it has usually been present for some time.
Chimney flashing repairs are relatively inexpensive when caught early - typically £150-£350 for relaying a section of lead. Left until the water has penetrated the brickwork, the same problem can require a partial or full rebuild costing several times that amount.
If the chimney is in active use - with a wood burner, open fire or gas appliance - it needs sweeping at appropriate intervals. For wood burners this is generally at least once a year; for open fires burning solid fuel, more frequently. A sweep is not just about soot removal. A good sweep will also flag obvious structural issues inside the flue and at the pot level that you cannot see from the ground.
An unused chimney is not necessarily a low-maintenance one. Capped chimneys that are not swept still accumulate moisture internally, and birds can nest inside them if the cap is damaged or missing. A stack that appears dormant can still deteriorate quickly if it is not checked periodically.
Of all the components on a chimney, the flaunching fails most often. It sits fully exposed to weather at the top of the stack, it expands and contracts with temperature changes, and it has to shed water in every direction. Even well-laid flaunching develops hairline cracks over time, particularly around the base of the pots where the movement is greatest.
A cracked but otherwise sound flaunching can sometimes be repaired rather than fully replaced - a roofer can fill cracks with an appropriate sealant or rebedded mortar. Leaving cracked flaunching unattended allows water to freeze and expand inside the cracks each winter, breaking the flaunching apart progressively. What starts as a £150-£250 repair becomes a £400-£600 job if left for two or three winters.
The lead flashings at the abutment between the chimney stack and the roof slope are the most common source of chimney-related leaks. Lead is durable but it does move with temperature changes, and over time the stepped or soaker flashings can lift, crack or pull away from the pointing that holds them into the brick joints.
After a rebuild, the flashings should have been replaced or properly relaid as part of the work. If they were re-used from the original stack, check them annually. Lead that has been on a chimney for 20 or more years is near the end of its useful life and worth replacing proactively rather than waiting for a leak.
DIY sealants marketed for chimneys - the kind sold in tubes or as painted-on coatings - are often counterproductive on masonry chimneys. They can trap moisture inside the brickwork rather than letting it evaporate, which accelerates frost damage from within. If you want a mortar crack sealed or a flaunching treated, get a roofer to use the correct material for the substrate. The wrong product applied with good intentions can cause more damage than leaving it alone.
When looking for a roofer for a chimney rebuild in Soham or the surrounding area, check that they can show experience with masonry stacks of your property's age. We are happy to inspect a chimney that has already been rebuilt elsewhere and advise on its condition. Call us to arrange a roof survey and discuss what your stack needs.
No obligation · We'll call you to arrange a free visit
Call any time. Calls are answered day and night and passed straight to our roofers.
