Chimney Repairs & Repointing across Thanet & East Kent

Chimney repairs, repointing, flaunching, lead flashings and removals across Thanet and East Kent. 20+ years' experience. Free survey and estimate.

CHOOSE A DATE

Chimney Repairs & Repointing

Chimneys are the most exposed part of any roof and the most neglected. They stick up above everything else, they take wind and rain from every direction, and unless you're up there with a ladder you have almost no idea what condition yours is in.

They're also behind a surprising number of leaks. When someone rings us about a damp patch on a chimney breast or a stain on an upstairs ceiling, the chimney is usually involved somewhere — cracked flaunching, eroded pointing, or flashings that were never right in the first place.

We repair, repoint, reline the detailing and, where it makes sense, remove chimney stacks across Thanet and East Kent.

What we do

Repointing — raking out perished mortar and repointing with a suitable mix. On exposed coastal stacks the pointing takes a beating and is often the first thing to go.
Flaunching — the sloped mortar bed at the top that holds the pots and throws water clear. It cracks eventually on every chimney, and once it does, water runs straight down inside the stack.
Lead flashings and soakers — where the stack meets the roof. Replacing failed or badly formed lead, and replacing cement fillets with proper leadwork.
Cement fillet removal — rigid cement was used for decades to seal the roof-to-stack junction. It always cracks. We take it out and do it properly.
Rebuilding — where brickwork has spalled or the stack has become unstable, taking it down to a sound course and rebuilding.
Chimney removal — full or partial, with the roof made good and re-tiled over the top.
Pots, cowls and capping — including capping off disused stacks so they stay ventilated but keep the rain out.

How we do it

We look before we quote. You cannot assess a chimney from the ground. We'll get up there or fly the drone and show you photographs of what's actually happening at the top of your stack — which is usually the first time the owner has seen it.

We use the right mortar. This matters more than people think. A hard modern cement mix on soft old brickwork does real damage: the mortar is stronger than the brick, so the brick face spalls off instead of the mortar weathering. On older property we use a softer, more appropriate mix that works with the building.

We replace cement with lead. Cement fillets at the roof junction are a temporary solution that got treated as permanent for about fifty years. Lead moves with the building, cement doesn't. Where we find failed fillets, we form proper lead flashings and soakers instead.

We think about the whole junction. A chimney leak is rarely just the flashing. It's the flaunching, the pointing, the flashing and sometimes the tiles either side, all contributing. We sort the lot rather than fixing one part and leaving you to call us back.

We're straight about removal. If a stack is disused, unstable and going to keep costing you money, taking it down is often the sensible economic answer — and we'll say so. If it's a feature of the building or you might want the fireplace back one day, we'll say that too.

One of our recent Broadstairs jobs was a full re-roof in Botany, and it's a good example of what doing the job properly actually involves.

A re-roof isn't just the tiles you can see from the street. We stripped it back, fitted a breathable membrane, sorted the timber, re-tiled, rebuilt the ridges and dealt with the lead detailing. The property also had a flat-roof dormer and a new VELUX roof window fitted, so the flat and pitched elements had to tie together cleanly and stay watertight where they meet — which is exactly where a lot of roofs let water in.

It's finished, and the home underneath it is protected for decades to come.

Chimney Repairs & Repointing across Thanet & East Kent