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

[Albo99]

I am seriously considering removing the chimney stacks now. No one seems to know where the problem is coming from and no one will take on the responsiblity of the problem Does anybody see any problems with this. Any problems that might occur from removing them??

Any idea

 

[dampchim]

We have what sounds like exactly the same sort of damp patches
in our plaster in the wall and ceiling behind our disused chimney too.
At least two others in our street have the same problem.
We have not yet resorted to exorcism but were thinking about it!

Initially, a builder said the chimney and flashings were sound.

The damp remained.

We decided to have the chimney dropped.

The builders said the chimney was no good and to have expected water ingress from the rear of where the chimney was.

Still the damp remained.

Throughout all of this, there was no obvious sign of water getting in
when inspecting the loft space.

I decided to put airbricks in the external chimney walls.
For a trial, I started at mid-chimney height, but intend to put one at the top also, (not a complicated job, it was just a case of drilling lots of holes through the mortar around one brick, tapping a bit with with a cold chisel and easing the brick out, then replacng with the plastic airbrick).

The damp remained.

On looking again in the loft space, I could see where the water had stained the roof rafters where the rear of the chimney had been.

Theory:
We think that the water had got in at the rear of the chimney. We think it
got into the mortar and bricks, soaked into the ceiling and roof rafters
and plaster. Also, it would make the air in the disused chimney damp.

We decided to remove the damp plaster from the wall and cut out a square of ceiling plaster containing the damp portions.

On removal today, we found that the bricks and rafters behind were initially damp, but dried soon after. The plaster was crumbly and damp and came easily off the walls (we think it had contained the damp in
it somehow). There were also large gaps in the mortar through which
air blew in from the chimney space.

Our plan is to put in the higher airbrick in the external wall, plus another
on the internal wall between the chimney and the bedroom.
Also, to dry out the roof and ceiling rafters, then replace the ceiling
plasterboard and finally re-plaster the wall.

Of course, our theory could be wrong, so any suggestions are very
wecome!!

 

[Albo99]

Did you have your chimneys dropped completely and then tiled over? Thats wot I am looking at doing. Have you any idea of cost? My two chimneys are about 2 metres high each and am expecting a large bill.

Its strange cos I had my back bedroom re plastered and this room is much better and the damp patches are not there anymore. But the damp was there before I plastered them. It may mean the plaster is shot and damp.

No signs of staining in the loft or where it is coming in. But this week and last week when it rained hard, the area around the stack(ceiling and wall) in the front bedroom was absolutely soaking wet.

I will look at putting two airbricks in. There are two there at the mo. One at the top which will be removed when the stacks are gone. And one at the bottom of the stack.

Thanks, and let me know when you find a good exercist. Thats the next step after dropping the stacks!!

 

[masona]

There maybe a hairline crack roof tiles above the chimney area running onto the rafters then into the chimney breast? A photo would help though.

 

[dampchim]

Yes, we had our chimney dropped and the roof area was tiled over
and felted underneath.
Our chimney was about 1.8m high, and three different builders quoted us between £350 and £400 to do the job.
It has rained pretty solidly now for the last two days here and there is no
water getting in now where the chimney was.
(It is easy to inspect now, as I have cut out an 80cm square of plasterboard from the ceiling which contained the damp areas, and we
can now view and feel this loft space from the bedroom).
The builders did say that (besides the chimney being in a very poor state), when they took away the flashing at its base, they had found a
cracked tile.
They also replaced another cracked tile that was halfway up the roof
slope and offset to the side, in case water could penetrate and track down.
Having hopefully removed the original source of water getting in and
making sure that the unused chimney flue is ventilated enough, we hope
that the new plasterboard area in the ceiling and new wall plaster will
not have the same problems?
Fingers crossed!

 

[Mw Roofline]

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.

Hi, whats on top of the chimney? Do u have clay pots and caps, or just caps or is there just a slab on the top as its unused? Cheers

 

[Albo99]

The problem with my leaking chimney stacks is now over!!!
This is due to the fact that they are now now in a skip smashed to bits on my drive
Now let that be a lesson to them eh

Big thanks to all that replied to my cries for help, much appreciated

Albo

 

[paratrooper]

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??

8) Albo99 PLEASE check that the water is not tracking across a wall tie is your out side wall brick look at spraying the wall at the same level and above with a waterproofer i think this is your problem it could be coming in anywhere on the wallabove your patch from paratrooper

 

[SurreyRoofingEstimator]

Chimneys are the biggest problem we have when recovering a roof, bearing in mind that when a roof needs replacing it can be at least 40 years old, at that time the chimneys were nicely dried out by the open fires below and of course didn't have a damp proof course.

Now of course with central heating the chimneys are not used and so cannot dry out properly. It is very hard trying to explain this to customers when they see damp apearing after a roof has been replaced and in some cases we've had months of customers insisting that we haven't done our job properly when we know full well what the problem is.

Mind you we had one major problem with this once that actually turned out to be because the householder was drying their washing out in the bedroom by the radiator and had all the windows shut, yeah, slight condensation issue. Sometimes the simplest things casue the biggest hassle lol

 

[justlead1]

Hi. I have posted before on this subject. However here goes, The cheapest method is to coat brickwork/ masonry with a sealant. The long term fix is a sheet lead DPC. tray. Check out a video designed to demonstrate the fitting of a chimney tray and reasons why they are fitted. http://www.justlead.co.uk

 

[noseall]

adding to SurreyRoof's comments:

damp problems within the chimney masonry are exacerbated by the fact that those chimneys that dealt with real fires have become saturated with hygroscopic salts.

these salts can pull moisture in simply from damp air.