The chimney repair costs in this article are correct as of 2023
Don’t you think it’s amazing how much punishment a chimney can take from mother nature? All year round, the chimney on the roof of your home is battered by icy winds, rain, and snow while we light fires at the bottom to keep our home warm. It is so important to keep the chimney on your roof in good working order and keep it well maintained. I have written this article to help you get an idea of how much chimney repairs cost if you ever have to hire a roofer to repair your chimney.
Things to consider
- Do you need scaffolding?
- Which part of the chimney needs attention?
- How big is the chimney?
- What type of fireplace do you have?
- Does any other part of the roof need any type of repair?
Chimney Repointing Costs
It is essential that you to repoint the brickwork of your chimney stack if the mortar has failed and water is finding its way into the chimney. Repointing a chimney stack is practically the same as any other type of repointing work, but it comes with a much higher risk.
The added risk involved with getting up on a roof to repoint the chimney stack means it is usually more expensive. You could expect to pay somewhere in the region of £500 to have a small chimney stack repointed. A larger chimney stack would cost approximately £1000 to have it repointed.
These rough estimates do not include the cost of hiring scaffolding I’m afraid.
Chimney Flashing Costs
If you have ever looked at a chimney you will have noticed that the chimney stack has lead flashing around its base. The lead flashing is there to protect the roof from the wind and rain. Lead chimney flashing stops the rain finding its way into the roof space by covering over the small gap between the base of the chimney stack and the roof tiles.
If a professional roofer installed good quality lead flashing on a roof, it will most likely last for several decades. However, if cheap, thin lead flashing was used and it was poorly fitted, there is a high chance it will begin to crack or even come loose, which will only cause more problems with the roof.
You can expect to pay approximately £400-£500 to have all four sides of the lead flashings replaced (the back box, step flashing, and the apron). Those prices include the cost of materials and labour. However, the cost of scaffolding has not been taken into account.
Unfortunately, most chimney jobs require scaffolding to be able to do the job safely. The average cost of scaffolding for a typical two-story home would be roughly £300-£400. As you can see, having to hire scaffolding bumps up the price quite considerably. Now you are looking in the region of about £800 altogether to replace the lead flashing on a chimney.
If you wanted to have the cracks in the flashing repaired by welding or have a section replaced, then it would be possible to get the repair costs down to approximately £200 for the repair work, but that still does not include the cost of having to hire scaffolding.
Chimney Flue Installation Costs
The size of the chimney will determine how much it will cost to replace a chimney flue or lining. It usually costs anywhere between £800 and £1200 for replacing a chimney flue or lining. There are a few factors to take into account when calculating the cost of this job.
The main two factors are the size of the chimney and the quality of the product used. The cost of scaffolding has not been included in these estimates, so you would need to add on the extra costs of scaffolding if it is required.
Do You Want to Get The Best Prices for Chimney Repairs?
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How Much Does it Cost to Repair Flaunching and Chimney Pots?
The average cost of repairing chimney pots and flaunching is £100.
If you take a look at the chimney pots on a chimney stack, you will see they are held in place by mortar flaunching. Over time, the extreme weather starts to break down the flaunching causing it to crack and disintegrate. Once the mortar flaunching has started breaking away from the base of the chimney pots, nothing is holding them in place apart from their own weight. Strong winds can easily blow down chimney pots that are not held in place with adequate flaunching.
Any professional roofer can replace chimney pots; it’s quite a simple job for a seasoned roofing expert. A roofer will get up on the roof and usually take the chimney pot back down to the ground for further inspection. If the chimney pot has any signs of cracks or any other damage, they might suggest to you about replacing the pots with new ones. The existing flaunching will be assessed, and any loose elements will be removed and replaced when the chimney pots are put back in place.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire Scaffolding?
The average cost to hire scaffolding for chimney repair is £550.
There is no getting around it; you will need to hire scaffolding for most chimney repair jobs. The cost of hiring scaffolding will depend on the size of your roof and your chimney. How long you intend to have the scaffolding on your property will also affect the final cost of hiring scaffolding.
Obviously, the longer you need the scaffolding on your property and the bigger your roof and chimney, the more it is going to cost. Smaller roof repair jobs can get away with using a mobile scaffold tower, which can reach a height of up to 6 meters. Unfortunately, a mobile scaffold tower is no good for big roof jobs.
If you need to be able to get access to a gable chimney, the costs of hiring scaffolding to reach the high would be approximately £400. If you need to gain access to a ridge chimney (which is much harder to access), you would need to hire a more complicated scaffolding system which would cost somewhere in the region of £1000 to hire.
Conclusion
I hope my article provided you with some valuable information regarding the cost of a chimney repair. If you would like a more accurate quote, head over to my quote form, enter your details and you’ll get a few no obligation chimney repair quotes in no time.
Take Care,
Jim Ardale – Roof Advisor