A tired period stack made watertight again. Raked out and repointed, fresh flaunching, new lead flashing and a re-bedded ridge line.
On site · 2026
A period property with a tall red brick chimney and a clay tile roof. Years of weather had opened up the pointing, cracked the old flaunching and tired the lead and the ridge. The brief was simple. Make the stack sound and watertight without changing its character.
The whole scope agreed and priced in writing before the scaffold went up.
Job No. 02
Case Study · CR
Five stages on a scaffold to the stack, from raking out the old joints to the finished ridge.
Stage 01 · AccessScaffold up to the stack, then a close look at every side of the chimney: the pointing, the flaunching, the lead where it meets the roof and the ridge line running into it. A clear list of what needed making good before any mortar was mixed.
Stage 02 · BrickworkThe failed joints were raked out and repointed with a colour matched sand and cement mix, finished weather struck. Sound joints were left alone so the stack kept its character while the weak points were made good.
Stage 03 · LeadThe tired flashing was stripped and new lead dressed around the stack where it passes through the roof, then wedged and pointed back into raked joints so water is taken clear of the junction.
Stage 04 · RidgeThe half round ridge tiles were lifted, cleaned off and re-bedded on a fresh mortar bed, then pointed and struck so the ridge running to the stack is fixed down and watertight again.
Stage 05 · FinishThe old flaunching was cut out and renewed to a clean slope over the offsets and cap, the stack given a final check, the site cleared and the scaffold struck.
A chimney takes more weather than any other part of the roof. It stands proud of the tiles, so wind driven rain hits it from every side and sits on every flat surface it can find.
The flaunching, the sloped mortar cap around the pots and on the offsets, is usually the first thing to go. Once it cracks, water pools on the brickwork instead of running off, soaks into the joints and then freezes. That is how a sound looking stack starts to break up from the top down.
So we cut out the tired flaunching and re-flaunch it to a clean slope, rake out and repoint the open joints, and renew the lead where the stack meets the roof. Water is shown the way off the stack, not into it. That is the difference between a repair and a leak that keeps coming back.
"No more damp patch on the chimney breast. That's the whole point."Homeowner · Chimney & ridge repair · 2026
Hover any material for how it was used on this chimney and ridge.
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Cracked flaunching, failed pointing, tired lead or a slipped ridge. If your stack looks past its best, we will take a look, tell you honestly and quote in writing.
