Chimney Repairs and Repointing That Lasts

A chimney stack sits exposed above the roofline, taking wind, rain and frost from every direction, so it's often the first part of a roof to show signs of wear. We're regularly called out across Coventry, Warwick and Leamington Spa for chimneys that are letting water in, crumbling at the mortar joints, or just looking unsteady.

Repointing is one of the most common jobs we do on chimneys. Old lime or sand and cement mortar between the bricks shrinks, cracks and eventually falls out with age and frost damage. Once joints are open, water gets behind the brickwork, freezes in winter and speeds up the damage. We rake out failed mortar to a proper depth and repoint with a mix suited to the age and type of brick, rather than just skimming over the top.

Flaunching is the mortar fillet around the base of the chimney pots that keeps rainwater running off rather than soaking into the stack. It cracks over time in the same way as pointing, and once it fails, pots can work loose or lean. We renew flaunching as part of most chimney repairs, shaping it to shed water properly.

Chimney pots themselves crack, chip or come loose in their setting, especially on older stacks. We reseat or replace pots as needed, matching the style where the chimney is a visible feature of the property, which matters on a lot of the period homes we work on around Kenilworth and Warwick.

Where the chimney meets the roof, lead flashing and soakers need to be dressed properly into the brick joints, not just smeared with sealant, which fails within a year or two. We renew flashing in code 4 or code 5 lead depending on the exposure, tucked into a raked out joint for a proper mechanical fix rather than a temporary patch.

If a stack is leaning, has cracked brickwork below the pointing, or is shedding bricks, that's a structural issue rather than a cosmetic one, and we'll be honest if a job needs more than repointing, sometimes a partial rebuild is the safer long term answer. We'll always explain what we're seeing and why before recommending anything.

Pricing depends on access (scaffold towers are usually needed for chimney work), how much of the stack needs repointing, whether flaunching and flashing also need renewing, and the condition of the brickwork underneath. We'll cover all of this in a free written quote before any work starts.