Chimney Repairs
A leaking chimney destroys ceilings quietly — the water travels down inside the stack and shows up rooms away from the actual fault. We repair, repoint, cap and remove chimneys across the North East: family-run, Checkatrade verified score of 9.86 from 120+ reviews, and every chimney job starts on the roof, not with a guess from the drive.
Chimneys fail in three places
Almost every chimney leak we attend comes down to one of three faults. The flashing — the lead apron where the stack meets the roof — lifts, cracks or was dressed too short in the first place. The flaunching — the mortar crown on top that holds the pots — cracks and lets water straight into the flue. Or the pointing in the stack itself perishes, so the brickwork takes on water like a sponge. A proper repair identifies which one you have before any price is given, because the fixes are completely different jobs.
What a proper chimney repair includes
- Lead flashing renewed to Code 4 or 5
- Flaunching re-cast in proper sand/cement
- Repointing in matched mortar — lime on older brickwork
- Pots re-bedded, capped or removed as agreed
- Scaffold or tower included in the quoted price
- Photos of the fault and the finished work
Cheap chimney work is a false economy. Smearing mastic over lifted flashing buys a season at best, and repointing in the wrong mortar mix can be worse than doing nothing on older brick. We'd rather show you the photos and do it once.
Repair, cap or remove?
If the chimney still serves a fire or boiler, the answer is repair — flashing, flaunching and pointing as needed. If it's redundant, capping the pots and re-flashing is often the sensible middle ground: the stack stays, the water stays out, and the cost is a fraction of a rebuild. Full removal down to below roof level — with the roof made good over the top — makes sense when a stack is leaning, when it's beyond economic repair, or when it's simply a maintenance liability nobody wants. We also handle shared stacks on terraces properly: photographed, failure point identified, and a written report both neighbours can work from.
Chimney FAQs
Can I just cap a chimney and forget about it?+
If the chimney is redundant, often yes — capping and re-flashing is frequently cheaper than a full rebuild and stops the water getting in. We'll price both options so you can choose on facts.
How long should chimney pointing last?+
Twenty years or more in matched lime mortar, fifteen-plus in sand-cement. Anything failing before ten years was the wrong mix for the building.
Do I need scaffolding for chimney work?+
Usually yes for anything beyond a quick inspection — a scaffold or tower is included in the price we quote, not added later.
The stack is shared with my neighbour — who pays?+
That depends on where the failure sits. We photograph the stack, identify the failure point and supply a written report, so both neighbours — and any insurer — are working from the same facts.
Need Roofing Work You Can Rely On?
Contact Stoker Property Solutions for new roofs, flat roofing, repairs and maintenance across Newcastle, Sunderland and the wider North East.