Alba masonry coming out on Sunday. Just called.
Assuming I'm in of course - wife was meant to give birth today - nothing so far!
Assuming I'm in of course - wife was meant to give birth today - nothing so far!
Chimney Queries
- Thread starter chuckalicious
- Start date
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Oh 
Well good luck with that then! hope all goes well.
And the baby
Well good luck with that then! hope all goes well. And the baby
He sounds like a decent guy. Doesnt look like it needs rebuilding from the pics but we cant see any lean or one side of the stack. The thing is you will have to have scaffolding for a rebuild wheras repointing may have been able to be done from ladder. Scaffolding is always safer of course. If you do have scaffolding you have an opportunity to get a liner dropped into that fireplace at the same time. Get a HETAS installer out who will also hopefully drop those five little piggies from the chimney
Ok - I managed to get a shot of the other side of the chimney from my neighbours top window. Hopefully these will help.
The first photo is from the front of the house, which shows the laminating block.
The next lot are all from the back. You can see where it's been repointed, in what looks like cement - which is annoying as I asked for it to be done in lime. The front block just below the cope is where the mason thinks things have started leaning. It's not particularly obvious from this shot sadly.
Do these images change your views?
I should just say though - thanks for all the input so far. It's greatly appreciated.
The first photo is from the front of the house, which shows the laminating block.
The next lot are all from the back. You can see where it's been repointed, in what looks like cement - which is annoying as I asked for it to be done in lime. The front block just below the cope is where the mason thinks things have started leaning. It's not particularly obvious from this shot sadly.
Do these images change your views?
I should just say though - thanks for all the input so far. It's greatly appreciated.
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Images reinforce my views theirs not much wrong with your chimney.
from the pics i cannot notice any noticeable lean to the stack, i do however notice a segment of the cope sitting slightly lower but thats quite normal in stacks such as yours.
Did Alba come out yesterday?
from the pics i cannot notice any noticeable lean to the stack, i do however notice a segment of the cope sitting slightly lower but thats quite normal in stacks such as yours.
Did Alba come out yesterday?
Thanks for the quick reply
Alba did not show yesterday sadly. Stayed in all day.
The drop on the cope and the slight lean is what makes the guy think it needs rebuilt. Assuming the stone is not in a horrific state under that cement I'm with you in that it doesn't need totally rebuilt. Annoying when one view goes against someone quoting
Alba did not show yesterday sadly. Stayed in all day.
The drop on the cope and the slight lean is what makes the guy think it needs rebuilt. Assuming the stone is not in a horrific state under that cement I'm with you in that it doesn't need totally rebuilt. Annoying when one view goes against someone quoting
Thought I'd quickly update this thread. So far only 2 quote have been given for work on this chimney. First one was from my normal roofers for a complete rebuild in brick an render for £2500 and the second from the Mason who feels that one end has leaned and dropped. He thinks it needs rebuilt as well but is quoting for it to be rebuild in whatever stone can be reused and the rest in new sandstone, all repointed in lime mortar, re-using caps and cope and reflashing. His quote is £2955.
Both quotes are excl vat.
As no other roofer/Mason I've called has bothered to come out I think I'm happy to go for the stone rebuild. It'll avoid any planning issues and will look a he'll of a lot better.
Both quotes are excl vat.
As no other roofer/Mason I've called has bothered to come out I think I'm happy to go for the stone rebuild. It'll avoid any planning issues and will look a he'll of a lot better.
Have accepted rebuild quote and work should start in July. Will post pics of finished product.
Thanks for all the help/advice.
Thanks for all the help/advice.
Thought I'd update this one.
We decided to go for the rebuild option, using the masons.
Work started on Tuesday and has gone well so far. A fair few blocks of stone have needed replaced as have 2 pots. I was horrified at the amount of sand that came down the chimneys though, shows how bad a condition some of the stone was in.
It is almost rebuilt and is getting pointed and flashed today, then is being left covered for a week or so to let the lime cure properly.
Really glad we got this done though, we've had a damp patch at the bottom of our wall since we moved in and couldn't figure out what was causing it. Turns out it's the wall which has an old fireplace in it, which has since been closed off. When the guys were taking the pots down they found that 2 of the 5 chimneys were blocked off with layers of slate, so they couldn't breathe. Hopefully that'll allow the damp to dry out now that they've unblocked and vented it.
Will post pics when finished.
We decided to go for the rebuild option, using the masons.
Work started on Tuesday and has gone well so far. A fair few blocks of stone have needed replaced as have 2 pots. I was horrified at the amount of sand that came down the chimneys though, shows how bad a condition some of the stone was in.
It is almost rebuilt and is getting pointed and flashed today, then is being left covered for a week or so to let the lime cure properly.
Really glad we got this done though, we've had a damp patch at the bottom of our wall since we moved in and couldn't figure out what was causing it. Turns out it's the wall which has an old fireplace in it, which has since been closed off. When the guys were taking the pots down they found that 2 of the 5 chimneys were blocked off with layers of slate, so they couldn't breathe. Hopefully that'll allow the damp to dry out now that they've unblocked and vented it.
Will post pics when finished.
Good decision then! glad its going to plan, look forward to your pics.
Chimney finished. 3 new photos. I personally don't think they do it justice. I think they've done a great job and it looks great.
Total cost was £3676 including VAT.
Total cost was £3676 including VAT.
Do you know, the job almost went too smoothly
Noticed 2 mistakes. One funny, the other not so good.
1. Scaffolders rotated my TV aerial to get the stuff up. Didn't turn it back round when they took the scaffold down. Now very tricky to access. Masons having to order a longer ladder to get to it!
2. Despite my warnings that the sand and debris from the work was filling up my gutters and their attempts at clearing them, one of the downpipes has completely jammed up with sand. Boss from masons and a plumber are trying to deal with it just now.
Cannot fault them for trying to resolve their mistakes though.
Ah the joys of getting work done
Noticed 2 mistakes. One funny, the other not so good.
1. Scaffolders rotated my TV aerial to get the stuff up. Didn't turn it back round when they took the scaffold down. Now very tricky to access. Masons having to order a longer ladder to get to it!
2. Despite my warnings that the sand and debris from the work was filling up my gutters and their attempts at clearing them, one of the downpipes has completely jammed up with sand. Boss from masons and a plumber are trying to deal with it just now.
Cannot fault them for trying to resolve their mistakes though.
Ah the joys of getting work done
Oh well cant have it all your own way
Seriously, job looks great, pity about the little snagging problems. They seem like a professional bunch so hopefully all will be well.
Seriously, job looks great, pity about the little snagging problems. They seem like a professional bunch so hopefully all will be well.
Yeah I really can't complain (assuming they do actually resolve the issues), but they've been timely, the job does look great and they did everything they said they would.
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