If you're thinking about having a chimney stack taken down at your Swaffham property, here's exactly what the job involves from the first inspection to the final clear-up.
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Before any work is planned or priced, the chimney and the roof around it need to be looked at properly. A ground-level inspection can confirm whether a stack is visibly leaning, whether pots are loose, or whether there's obvious spalling brickwork. But it can't tell the full story.
A proper survey means getting up close - either from a ladder or from the scaffold once it's up - to check the condition of the brickwork, the mortar joints, the flaunching around the pots, and the lead flashing at the base of the stack. The roof covering immediately around the chimney is also checked for damaged or slipped tiles and for any sign of water tracking under the surface.
This first look tells us what we're dealing with: how much of the stack needs to come down, what the roof covering material is and how it will be matched, whether the felt and battens underneath are in good shape, and whether there's anything unusual about the structure that will affect how the job is done.
Chimney work must be done from scaffold. Working from ladders on a pitched roof to dismantle brickwork is not safe, and it's not possible to do the job properly without a stable working platform. For a standard two-storey house, a scaffold tower or a section of tube-and-fitting scaffold is erected to give access to the stack and the surrounding roof area.
The scaffold also makes it practical to lower the brickwork safely rather than dropping it, which protects the roof, the guttering and anything below. In a built-up area, scaffold is essential for controlling where the rubble goes.
When getting a quote, confirm whether scaffold erection is included within the chimney take-down job or priced as a separate contract. The scaffold will stay up until the work is finished and signed off, typically being struck on the final day.
Once the scaffold is in place, the chimney pots are removed first. These are often bedded in mortar that's still solid, so they may need to be broken free carefully. Pots are lowered down rather than dropped.
The flaunching - the mortar collar around the pots - comes off next. Then the brickwork is taken down course by course. Each brick is loosened with a bolster and club hammer and either lowered in a hod or bucket or passed down the scaffold. The aim is to bring the stack down to just below the level of the roof covering, leaving nothing visible above the tiles or slates.
On some stacks the brickwork is still well bonded and this takes time. On others, the mortar has deteriorated to the point where bricks come away easily. Either way, the process is methodical. Rushing a chimney demolition risks damaging surrounding tiles or sending loose brickwork down without control.
The lead flashing is removed as the stack comes down to the roofline. This is the lead that was sealing the joint between the stack and the roof tiles. It's collected and removed from site as scrap.
With the stack removed, the area around the opening is exposed and inspected. This is when the condition of the felt and battens directly around the chimney becomes clear. Near a chimney that's been leaking, this material is often damp or partially rotten. Replacing it at this stage is straightforward - the tiles are already lifted - whereas doing it later would mean lifting the tiles again.
Any cracked, broken or slipped tiles immediately adjacent to the stack are also set aside and replaced. If the tiles have been bedded in mortar where they meet the flashing (a common technique on older roofs), the old mortar is cut back cleanly.
The roof timbers below the opening - specifically the rafters and the top of the ceiling - are checked for signs of water damage. If a chimney has been leaking for some time, the timber can be softened or stained. This is important to catch at this stage. If there's significant timber damage, that would need to be addressed as a separate piece of work, but it's not common in take-downs where the stack hasn't been actively leaking badly for years.
Before the roof surface is relaid, the top of the remaining flue needs to be sealed. With the stack gone, the flue opening at or just below roofline level is an entry point for rain, birds and cold air into the roof space. A mortar or concrete cap is formed over the top of the remaining flue structure to close it off permanently.
Inside the roof space, it's good practice to also place a board or block over the top of the chimney breast to prevent air movement through the redundant flue from below. This step is sometimes skipped on quick jobs - it's worth asking specifically that it's done.
New or reclaimed tiles or slates are cut and fitted to fill the area where the stack stood. Battens are nailed in to match the existing gauge (the spacing between each batten). The felt is lapped properly beneath the new tiles. The edges of the repair are interlocked with the undisturbed tiles on either side so there's no open joint.
Where the bottom of the old stack sat on the roof surface, the area is cleaned of old mortar and the tiles are relaid level. The repair is checked for any gaps or lifted edges that could lift in wind.
Matching the tile or slate profile and colour to the existing roof is a key part of this step. On a rear slope, a near-match is usually acceptable. On a prominent front slope, more care is taken to source tiles that blend in as closely as possible.
Once the roof is relaid, the scaffold gives a good vantage point to check the finished area. Tiles are pressed to confirm they're properly bedded, the repair is checked from below by looking up along the roof plane, and any mortar or debris on the surrounding tiles is cleaned off.
Inside the loft, the sealed flue is checked and the area below the repair is inspected for daylight or draughts, which would indicate gaps in the felt or tiling.
All brickwork, mortar rubble, broken tiles and the old lead flashing are loaded out and taken away. The scaffold is struck on the same day once the job is confirmed finished. The property is left as it was found, minus one chimney stack and the ongoing maintenance costs that came with it.
The time a chimney take-down takes depends on the stack and the roof around it, so it's worth asking for an estimate of the programme when you get a quote. A larger stack, a double stack, or one where the surrounding roof needs more extensive repair can take longer. The survey stage gives a clearer picture of the programme before work starts.
Call Norwich Roofers to arrange a survey and get a clear quote for your chimney take-down.
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