If you are trying to picture exactly what a chimney take-down involves at a Necton property, here is an honest step-by-step account of how the job gets done.
A chimney take-down is not a job most homeowners will go through more than once. Knowing what happens at each stage - and in what order - makes it easier to ask the right questions, plan for the disruption, and judge whether a quote covers everything it should. What follows is a straightforward account of how a typical chimney take-down is carried out.
Before any work is priced or planned, the chimney needs a proper look. From the ground you can often see obvious problems: a lean, spalling brickwork, missing pots, or lifted flashing. But the condition of the flashing at roof level, the state of the tiles around the base of the stack, and the height of the stack above the ridge are things that need to be seen up close.
Some chimneys are straightforward - a single-flue stack on a plain pitched roof, accessible from one side, with standard tiles around the base. Others sit awkwardly near a valley, a hip, or a roof window and need more careful planning. The initial inspection is also the point at which the scaffold requirement is assessed. The position of the stack on the roof dictates where the scaffold lifts need to go, and that feeds directly into the cost.
It is worth asking, at this stage, whether the chimney breast inside the house is being retained or removed. The take-down we carry out is to the roofline and below into the roof void. The internal chimney breast (the section running through the rooms below) is a separate job involving internal plastering, potential structural support, and building control notification if load-bearing elements are affected. We do not include internal chimney breast removal in a roofline take-down unless specifically agreed.
Safe working at roof level requires a scaffold. For a chimney take-down, a standard scaffold lift along the relevant elevation of the house is the usual setup, with a working platform at eaves level and access up to ridge level. On a two-storey property, this typically means two lifts.
The scaffold is erected before any roofing work begins. On a job where both the chimney removal and the roof repair are being done in a single visit, the scaffold stays up until the roof is finished and inspected, then it comes down. Trying to work off ladders on a chimney take-down is not safe practice and any roofer pricing the job without scaffold should be questioned on how they intend to do it safely.
The stack comes down from the top. Pots and flaunching (the mortar bed around the pots) are removed first. The brickwork is then taken down course by course. Bricks are hand-passed or lowered in a bucket or hod - not thrown or pushed off - both to protect the roof tiles below and to avoid debris falling outside the scaffold.
The stack is taken down to just below the roofline. That means removing the courses that sit above the tile surface, leaving a stub of brickwork inside the roof void rather than cutting flush with the tile surface. The precise level depends on the roof pitch and the position of the stack relative to the ridge, but the principle is the same: nothing protrudes above the tiles once the job is finished.
On the way down, the condition of the brickwork tells you a lot about what was happening inside the stack. Heavily salt-stained bricks, wet mortar joints, or traces of damp in the top courses all confirm that moisture was already working its way into the structure. This is relevant if there is any internal damp near the chimney breast that still needs to be addressed.
The remaining courses of brick inside the roof void need to be sealed off so that water cannot enter through the stub from below. This is done with a mortar fillet or a concrete cap across the top of the remaining brickwork. It is a straightforward part of the job but an important one - a poorly capped stub can let damp into the roof void for years without being spotted.
Ventilation is not usually needed at this point unless the original flue was providing incidental ventilation to the roof space, which is uncommon on a properly built roof. If there is any concern about roof void ventilation, it can be assessed during the inspection stage.
The tiles or slates immediately around the base of the old stack have to come off to allow the roof to be reinstated properly. The flashing (usually lead) that sealed the joint between the stack and the roof surface is removed at this stage. The area around the old stack base is cleared back far enough to allow new tiles or slates to be laid with a full underlay beneath them.
If the underfelt or breathable membrane in that section of roof is damaged or very old, it is replaced in the repair zone. Leaving a patch of new tiles over a torn or absent underlay is poor practice - moisture that gets under the tiles needs the underlay to direct it back out rather than into the roof structure.
New battens are fixed at the correct gauge (spacing) to match the surrounding courses. New tiles or slates are then laid to fill the opening, cut to fit where they meet the edges of the existing covering. The aim is a repair that sits level with the surrounding roof surface, with no lips, gaps, or raised sections that could catch the wind.
Matching the existing tile or slate is important both for appearance and for practical reasons - tiles of a different profile or thickness will not sit flush. On older roofs with plain clay tiles or natural slate, reclaimed material from a salvage source is often the most reliable match. On concrete interlocking tile roofs, matching profiles are generally still available new.
Where the old chimney position meets a ridge, the ridge section needs to be taken up and re-laid to close the gap properly. Ridge tiles are re-bedded in mortar or re-fixed with a dry-ridge system depending on what is already in use on the rest of the roof.
If the chimney position was near a valley, a hip, or any other junction on the roof, small sections of lead or soaker may need to be made good. This is often minor work but it needs to be done properly - a small gap in a valley or at a hip junction will cause a leak even if the main repair is sound.
Once the roof covering is reinstated, the repair is checked from scaffold level and, where possible, from inside the roof void if there is access. The aim is to confirm that the opening is fully closed, the tiles are bedded and fixed correctly, and there are no obvious gaps in the covering or the underlying membrane.
All brick rubble, mortar debris, old flashing material, and tile offcuts are cleared from the scaffold platform and the surrounding area. The scaffold comes down once the work is signed off.
A clear quote for a chimney take-down should cover the following, or explain clearly what is and is not included:
If any of those items is missing from a quote, ask why. Scaffold in particular is sometimes left out of a headline price and added later.
If you have an unused chimney that needs to come down, call Dereham Roofers. We will come out to Necton, inspect the stack, and give you a clear picture of what the job involves and what it will cost.
No obligation · We usually respond within 2 hours
Storm damage, active leak, damaged ridge - we aim to be on-site within 24 hours.
