Chimney Repair Birmingham: Repointing, Rebuilds and Flashings
Chimney repair in Birmingham addresses a stack that has been weathering on all four faces for a century, where eroded mortar and failed leadwork admit water that appears as damp on a bedroom wall rather than as a roof leak. Book a survey and the defects on the chimney stack come back sorted into immediate, this season and monitor. It covers: Chimney stack · Repointing · Flaunching.
- On site in 45 to 90 minutesEvery elevation photographed from ground level and ladder, and the roof void inspected from inside.
- A written report in two daysDefects separated into immediate, this season and monitor, with photographs against each.
- An itemised written scopeAgreed and signed before anyone starts, with no variation without a new figure.
Call the crew07446 375079
Monday to Friday, eight until six, and Saturday mornings. Emergency make-safe runs outside those hours.
Crews work across 8 Birmingham and Solihull districts: Sutton Coldfield, Harborne, Edgbaston, Moseley, Solihull, Erdington, Kings Heath and Selly Oak. Postcodes outside that run are quoted case by case rather than turned away.
- Free survey No charge for the survey, and none if the report says nothing needs doing.
- Own crews The people who survey the roof are the people who lay it. No subcontracting, no lead resale.
- Written scope first Quoted as an itemised scope agreed before work starts.
- Workmanship warranty Issued in writing on completion. Sole trader, no scheme registration.
A stack carries its own weathering details, and they fail before the slope around them does.
4 signs are visible from the ground: Open or eroded mortar joints, The stack looks out of plumb, A loose or cracked pot and Damp on the chimney breast inside.
What we fix
What chimney repairs do we carry out?
Chimney work covers repointing eroded joints, rebuilding leaning or spalled stacks, renewing the flaunching that beds the pots, and replacing soakers and cover flashings where the stack meets the roof covering.
- Repointing is eroded joints raked to a sound depth and refilled with a matched mortar.
- Flaunching is the mortar fillet bedding the pots on the stack head.
- Services offered: repointing, partial and full rebuild, pot refitting, flaunching renewal, flashing replacement
How it works
A redundant stack is a different question.
- A sulphate attack bows the brickwork out of plumb, producing a leaning stack.
- An eroded mortar joint admits water which appears as damp on a chimney breast.
- A cover flashing is dressed over soakers and let into a mortar joint.
- A mortar fillet cracks under differential movement and admits rain.
What it costs
What chimney stack costs
- Chimney repair materially cheaper when carried out during a re-roof on the same scaffold
Straight answers
Why is there damp on the chimney breast?
Damp on a chimney breast usually means water is entering the stack itself through eroded joints or a failed flashing. It travels down the flue and shows internally at first-floor level, which is why it is misread as rising damp.
Sulphate attack and one-sided weathering bow the brickwork out of plumb. A lead soaker means individual pieces interleaved with the covering at the stack sides; a cover flashing means sheet let into a mortar joint and dressed over the soakers.
When does a stack need rebuilding rather than repointing?
A stack needs rebuilding once the brick faces have spalled, the joints have eroded beyond repointing depth, or the stack has bowed out of plumb. Repointing a stack that has lost its brick faces buys one or two winters.
The mortar fillet fails as cracks at the junction because brick and metal move at different rates. Chimney damp shows as a stain on a bedroom chimney breast, not on the ceiling. Repair, reduce below the covering line, or remove entirely.
How is a chimney made watertight at the roof?
A chimney is made watertight with individual lead soakers interleaved with the covering at the sides, a front apron, a back gutter, and cover flashings let into the mortar joints. Cement fillets are a shortcut that cracks.
- Chimney repair access: requires scaffold to the stack; ladder work is not adequate for rebuilding
What does chimney repair cost?
Chimney repair is priced by the work required and the access needed, since scaffold to stack height is unavoidable for rebuilding. Repointing, flaunching and flashing renewal are itemised separately. Costs fall sharply when combined with a re-roof.
Keeping, reducing or removing a disused stack
Water entering a stack shows on the breast at first-floor level, and is routinely misdiagnosed as rising or penetrating damp. A cement fillet at a stack is a shortcut; correctly interleaved soakers with a cover flashing accommodate movement and last decades longer.
Book a chimney survey
One-sided weathering plus sulphate expansion bows a stack; the lean is diagnostic, not cosmetic. Stack work during a recovering avoids a second access hire and cuts the figure substantially.
Repointing, and 6 more
- repointing
- flaunching
- soaker
- cover flashing
- mortar fillet
- sulphate attack
- stack head
Recent work
Job photographs are added as each contract completes, with the date, the district and the defect named in the caption.
Where we work
8 Birmingham and Solihull districts
- Sutton Coldfield
- Harborne
- Edgbaston
- Moseley
- Solihull
- Erdington
- Kings Heath
- Selly Oak
Postcodes outside that run are quoted case by case rather than turned away.
Related pages
Book a chimney stack survey
A survey takes forty-five to ninety minutes and the written report follows within two working days. Nothing is charged for the survey, and nothing is charged if the report says nothing needs doing.