Chimney Flashing Failure — what's actually going on

Damp showing on a chimney breast wall or ceiling near the stack.

Often urgent — water can travel for hours before you see it.

Common causes

Original lead well past its 60-year service life
Cement haunching cracked and letting water track behind
Soakers missing or undersized for the tile profile
Mortar pointing on the stack itself perished

How we fix it

Strip the old lead and dress in fresh code-rated lead
Rebuild soakers and step flashings properly into the courses
Re-point the stack while the scaffold is up
Photograph each layer so the work is documented

Chimney Flashing Failure by area

Locally specific notes for chimney flashing failure across the towns and neighbourhoods we cover.

Chimney Flashing Failure in HamptonTW12 Chimney Flashing Failure in RichmondTW9

Our guides on this

Chimney repointing and lead flashing costs

Chimney prices are set by access first and brickwork second. Getting a safe platform to the stack is usually the largest single item, which is why doing pointing, flaunching and flashing together in one visit costs far less than three separate call outs.

Chimney flaunching repair guide

Flaunching is the shaped mortar around chimney pots that sheds rain from the top of the stack. Cracks, loose edges or failed pot bedding can admit water, but staining near a chimney may also come from pointing or lead flashing, so the whole stack should be inspected before the flaunching is renewed.

Lead alternatives: when they work and when they don't

Lead substitutes exist for real reasons: cost, weight and theft. They are not a universal replacement for milled lead.