Chimney leaking!!!!! help!!!!!

[Albo99]

Hi
I need some advice please. I have lived in my house for around five years and my two chmney stacks( 2 metres in height) are leaking. I cannot find the cause if my life depended on it. After a new roof was put on after living there for a year and countless roofers going up there to have a look, still leaking. The house in 70 years old.

The problem is when it rains, in the two bedrooms where the stacks are on the outside wall, the ceiling and wall adjacent to the stacks seem to start to kind of sweat. There are shadows on the wall and ceiling where water has obviously come in. I have this week gone up on the roof myself and coated the two stacks in a silicone waterproofer. But today when it rained pretty hard the shadows are back and the wetness on the ceiling is back! im not sure whether it is coming in from the tiles or the stacks absorbing rain and then soaking the stack right through and the n coming onto the ceiling/wall. I had a roofers advice and he says that the ridge tiles and flashing around the stacks are not to bad and suggested the waterproofer.

ive had numerous different advice form roofing contractors which has come to nothing.

Any ideas on obvious signs from the roof or loft?

Thanks Albo

Best way forward to tackle the problem.

 

[Nige F]

Soaking right through sounds most likely are both the chimneys open @ the fireplaces/and tops .. Roofer sounds pukka, as he`s not trying to sell you a new flashing.. I have seen them cut straight with a disc cutter Some roofers think a step flashing occurs @ a underground Gent`s. a back gutter is the same as a front gutter on the fascia. And a front apron is worn@ the Masonic Ladies Night. A soaker is someone who needs a drink. But us old plumbers/ leadworkers know better

 

[Albo99]

Hi, thanks for the reply.
One chimney is open at the bottom and the other is vented at the bottom. The open fireplaces are not in use and hasn't been for years. The two bedrooms which the chimney is adjacent to are also vented. The two tops of the chimney stacks are capped with cowls so to allow them to breathe. New flashing has been fitted about 4 years ago.

The roofer that looked at the roof the other day says that the flashing looks ok. There is one strip that is fitted to the back of the stacks so there is no joins to the flashing, then they strep down. I think maybe rain is soaking right through and working its way down but I put loads ofthe silicone waterproofer on the other day????? Does it take a while to dry out and should the stacks get wetter before they dry out??

Im going up in the loft to have a look to see if I can see any evidence of water coming in through the tiles.

Any other thoughts would be truley appreciated cos I'm close to throwing myself off the chimney stacks if I dont make any progress

 

[Nige F]

You`re right about the silicone proofer and you need several coats Quite likely the damp is escaping inwards too- as you thought. The cowls may not be correct, Do they look like a pot with a ridge tile on top? These can still allow birds to get in and nest, blocking ventilation thru chimney. They are actually downdraft cowls. Also, your ceilings may have a coating of original distemper under the more recent emulsions, that is like a sponge , probably lath+ plaster too ? A small amount of damp on these old structures can leave large marks Whereas you can flood plasterboard,and it will stay ok. HTH. PS unless you find Rot dry/wet ,or worm in the roof... chill...houses are more "organic" and resilient than people realise, I`d rather have your age than a new one

 

[Albo99]

Hi
Been up in the roof space. No signs of staining or water coming in from the tiles. Also no markings on the felt. Two layers of brickwork on the chimniey stacks that can be seen do look a little dark as if they are a little damp?? so maybe they it is the stacks soaking thru to the ceiling.
Will have to get up my ladder again and give the stacks a few more coats of waterproofer.
An Engineer in work also said that even after he caoted his stacks, they were still wet after a while then all of a sudden dried out. Im hoping this is the case with mine.

Thanks for your help m8

 

[masona]

Any photo?

 

[Nige F]

Going back to your orig. post- I`m fascinated by this one -The Kind of sweating and the shadows, may not actually be penetrating damp, but airborne moisture showing on the paint. I bet there`s a layer of silk emusion under there somewhere I remember doing an old cottage inside- decorating with my old dad- the place had been glossed on the walls, the weather was cold and humid.the damned place ran with condensation- no heating fitted. I would start heating that room constantly. ie turn your rads off bar that one, shut the door and open the window a fraction. You`ll force the damp into the chimney flue and away, hopefully

 

[Albo99]

Hi
Yes, there is a layer of gloss on the ceiling and wall around the chimney which I painted when we first moved in. I put a coat on to stop the staining which was there. The ceiling is actually plaster with the wooden slats which are probably very old and I have heard they are like a sponge.
We had the ceiling skimmed when we moved in.

Also, when I was up in the loft, the area which is above the area on the ceiling in the loft isn't damp?? or its not wet like below.

Can moisture just stay where it is and not go away????

The funny thing is that the area does start to dry out. but again when it rains the ceiling starts to feel wet again. and why is it just in one area around the chimney stack and not anywhere else on the ceiling on the room??

im confused again??

 

[Nige F]

I think you should get Derek Acorah...Most Haunted Living [email protected] Hiring or buying a pronged damp meter will tell you exactly what`s going on I am very inclined to go with the damp air inside the house....have seen dozens of condensation probs. over the years. Can you heat the room The ceiling is lath and plaster, skimmed over is fine.

 

[stratford99]

Hi Albo99 did you sort your problem as I appear to have the same. Two wet shadows on a bedroom wall below the area of the chimney. They only appeared after i repainted the walls, however it was matt paint on top of wallpaper paste (to size the wall) on top of old matt paint.

 

[Albo99]

No unfortunaely not I am still gatting damp patches around the stacks and havent a clue where its coming from( flashing, brickwork etc). I am suspecting the flashing is letting water in somewhere very slowly. i will have to go up again and have another look

 

[Firkin]

Are you sure it is actually damp/wet? It may well have been wet at some point in the past and what you are seeing is the inevitable ghost marking. It doesn't seem to matter how often you cover these marks over with paint, they still show through. Take the earlier advice and get a shot of a damp meter and test it.

 

[Albo99]

Hi thanks for replying.

Yes they are wet/damp. It battered down with rain the other day and the area was actually wet where you could wipe the moisture off the wall. Funny thing is though, the surface of the wall is wetter than the plaster behind it! . Which might point to air borne moisture but why isn't the rest of the gable wall wet. The plaster will be replaced but I need to cure the problem first.
I think it is coming down the gable cavity also!! When it rained hard the other day, the reception room below it was wet in place where the chimney stack is aswell as the room above it which might suggest that rain is getting in behind the flashing and working its way down the cavity and into the chimney stack and also down the cavity in the gable wall.

Whatever happens it wont beat me!!!! All I need is a good, honest, trustworthy roofer that will take time to diagnose where the leak is coming from.

 

[leadbeaterian]

Have you thought about using a smoke match to see if there is a down draught of air As taking down the pot can cause down draught problems . any bleed thro from the tar in the stack can cause problems of shadows etc .

 

[Albo99]

A chimney sweep sent smoke up the chimney a couple of years ago when the stacks were swept. So I think the stacks are venting properly.

The shadows on the ceiling are actually wet shadows which haven't got a darker colour. Weird thing is the loft is dry directly above the wet shadow which indicates no leak into it and the water maybe going down the cavity somehow due the wet in the downstairs reception room.

We are getting a company called "WARMROOF" in to have a look and give us their opinion and costing the problem Any body heard of them and are they any good/expensive??