How much would capping a chimney cost?

[broody]

Hi, I've had to use my builder and rated people website to find a roofer to cap my chimney off, it's letting rain water in. How much would I expect this to roughly cost so I don't get ripped off? I'm in the Midlands.
Thanks

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

£100 plus cost of materials, for a one man band operation working from a roof ladder.

 

[^woody^]

£100 plus cost of materials, for a one man band operation working from a roof ladder.

That's cheap. Is that for 1/2 bucket of mortar and an Asda bag, or a proper job.

And how much for the vent top and bottom?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

That's cheap. Is that for 1/2 bucket of mortar and an Asda bag, or a proper job.

And how much for the vent top and bottom?

That is what the local guy who does all the small roofing jobs charges me for such minor jobs. A couple of hours would see it done. I don't know how much the actual vent might cost, so that would be extra. What bottom vent? There was only mention of capping the chimney off, I would assume it has some sort of vent at the bottom. I have one which is capped, it has a chimney pot which is closed at the top, but surrounded by vents - so air can flow, but rain cannot get in.

A larger company may well require scaffolding to be erected, which would obviously cost much, much more.

 

[broody]

The chimneys are open bottomed in the loft supported adequately.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The chimneys are open bottomed in the loft supported adequately.

Pardon? The OP only asked about having his open to the rain chimney pot swapped out for a capped one, so as to prevent rain coming down inside the stack.

 

[broody]

Pardon? The OP only asked about having his open to the rain chimney pot swapped out for a capped one, so as to prevent rain coming down inside the stack.

Sorry I was replying to my original post about people saying vents for the bottom, but the chimney is open.

Also, does removing pots and capping off with slate sound the way to do it? (Chimney pots would never be used again. Also one pot seems wonky on the top of the chimney. Had one person reply from an advert.

Thanks

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Sorry I was replying to my original post about people saying vents for the bottom, but the chimney is open.

Also, does removing pots and capping off with slate sound the way to do it? (Chimney pots would never be used again. Also one pot seems wonky on the top of the chimney. Had one person reply from an advert.

Thanks

No expert, but I would suggest no, it needs to be open vented to allow a proper airflow through the chimney, so just sealing the top up completely is a bad thing to do. So it/they need to be replaced with vented pots, but sealed at the top.

I would be very wary of any tradesman who uses such sites. If they are trust worthy, word of mouth keeps them busy, they would not need to pay a web site to list them. Such sites just collect the money, don't vet the tradesmen and if it all goes wrong - they take no responsibility.

 

[Iamchamps]

Not interested in the actual topic here but just need to clear up the inaccuracy on the above post.

You will find some of the best trades person on sites like trustatrader. Word of mouth means nothing really. If Dorris tells me Bob did a good job fitting her kitchen it probably means it’s looks ok and everything works she doesn’t know the amount of corner cutting and stuff that has been done.

The online sites I can see a consistent history of either good or bad I would take that any day over word of mouth, and every single trades person I have hired from one I would rate top notch.

You usually find the older generation of trades people who are scared to embrace these sites are the same ones who tell people they are bad.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You usually find the older generation of trades people who are scared to embrace these sites are the same ones who tell people they are bad.

There are numerous tales of jobs gone wrong as a result of taking people on to do jobs from these type of web site, on this web site. Why would anyone who does a good job need to pay such sites to seek work, most decent tradesmen are already inundated with work.

As said, the site owners don't vet the people they list, don't check they have PLI, you just pay and you are listed. They can then just get their mates to post that they have done a good job on the web site. Seeking out recommendations from locals who have had work done, may not be perfect, but it is certainly a step up from such web sites. Even asking a tradesman for references from previous customers and checking them, is better than taking a risk on someone on a pay for web site.

I am not scared to embrace them, I embrace any new ideas, but first I look at the motives. The motives for such sites is simply to make money, the more they have advertising, the more they make from their advertisers - so why vert them?

 

[Iamchamps]

Everything you are saying is wrong. I don’t have the effort or time to correct to.

 

[^woody^]

You will find some of the best trades person on sites like trustatrader.

Corrected for you.

*You will find that all of the best tradespeople are not on sites like Trustatrader.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Corrected for you.

*You will find that all of the best tradespeople are not on sites like Trustatrader.

Correct, the best are inundated with work and just don't need to chase more work via dubious web sites.

 

[Leofric]

You usually find the older generation of trades people who are scared to embrace these sites are the same ones who tell people they are bad.

- and you might usually find the older generation of trades people are the most skilled

 

[broody]

Had a guy came round to take a look and the chimney pot lifted out of the chimney with ease, the pot had a 1cm gap all around it and that must be where the water is coming in. Resealing should help hopefully.