Hi all and a Happy New Year...after some advice. Sorry for the long post.
I have my builder coming to look at the weekend but just want to get some thoughts as to a course of action.
We have a chimney stack on the back of our house which is lined and has a kitchen cooker hood / extractor in it inside. The chimney then goes through a virtually flat roof up the outside of the house and terminates above the side of the main house.
When we returned after Christmas rain had penetrated the chimney, leaked into the extractor and deposited all over the cooker. Initially I thought it had come down the lining but on further investigation it has come through the bricks / mortar and is then dripping down the inside.
I have climbed up onto the flat roof and the existing mortar is like a sponge and some existing repointing (done badly before we bought the house) has come away, so see where the problem is.
Now I think we have 3 options.
Re-point the chimney - including rake out then a 2 stage repoint which I know he uses due to other work, with weather pointing.
Take the chimney down and rebuild using the existing bricks.
Take the chimney down and only rebuild a stub chimney for the extractor vent or replace with a plastic vent pipe out of the near flat roof.
Knowing my builder I think Options 1 and 2 will probably cost about the same as he is a brickie by trade and could probably take down and rebuild in 2 days. Secondly I could take the chimney down so he could rebuild it. Will probably take him as long to repoint.
Alternatively we remove it - not a fan of this idea as it is an 180 year old house and we like the feature of it but will probably be the cheapest option. Would have to have roof patched as well though.
The chimney is single skin bricks, what are peoples thoughts so I can talk through it with the builder when he comes.
I have my builder coming to look at the weekend but just want to get some thoughts as to a course of action.
We have a chimney stack on the back of our house which is lined and has a kitchen cooker hood / extractor in it inside. The chimney then goes through a virtually flat roof up the outside of the house and terminates above the side of the main house.
When we returned after Christmas rain had penetrated the chimney, leaked into the extractor and deposited all over the cooker. Initially I thought it had come down the lining but on further investigation it has come through the bricks / mortar and is then dripping down the inside.
I have climbed up onto the flat roof and the existing mortar is like a sponge and some existing repointing (done badly before we bought the house) has come away, so see where the problem is.
Now I think we have 3 options.
Re-point the chimney - including rake out then a 2 stage repoint which I know he uses due to other work, with weather pointing.
Take the chimney down and rebuild using the existing bricks.
Take the chimney down and only rebuild a stub chimney for the extractor vent or replace with a plastic vent pipe out of the near flat roof.
Knowing my builder I think Options 1 and 2 will probably cost about the same as he is a brickie by trade and could probably take down and rebuild in 2 days. Secondly I could take the chimney down so he could rebuild it. Will probably take him as long to repoint.
Alternatively we remove it - not a fan of this idea as it is an 180 year old house and we like the feature of it but will probably be the cheapest option. Would have to have roof patched as well though.
The chimney is single skin bricks, what are peoples thoughts so I can talk through it with the builder when he comes.
