Problem with neighbour's chimney

chickaroonee

martindow wrote: »

Are you sure that you could claim on your insurance? If it was a problem raised on your survey when you bought the house I'm not sure they would pay out.

Insurance would not normally cover existing defects otherwise we would all be off buying cheap run down houses and getting insurance companies to do them up for us.

I won't be claiming on my insurance as already said, but yes I would have thought you're right, we certainly were aware of it. But it's immaterial anyway as we won't be claiming.

camptownraces

moneybags wrote: »

I could face a similar problem soon regarding my guttering which is on my neighbour's side and keeps getting blocked because of the moss falling off their roof. Their house is rented and they don't care.:eek:

Sorry to but in on this one, but the situation described above is a matter for normal maintenance. You keep your own gutters clear, whether the moss or the leaves blocking it come from your own roof or trees, or your neighbour's roof or trees.

Normal maintenance jobs are not something you can insure against.

OP's query about the disrepair of the neighbour's chimney causing him a problem is a different matter though.

How much would it cost to fix the problem chimney stack/pot?

Is the chimney which is in poor condition right in the middle of the place where the two houses join at roof level, or is it slightly to the neighbour's side?

chickaroonee

camptownraces wrote: »

OP's query about the disrepair of the neighbour's chimney causing him a problem is a different matter though.

How much would it cost to fix the problem chimney stack/pot?

Is the chimney which is in poor condition right in the middle of the place where the two houses join at roof level, or is it slightly to the neighbour's side?

Not sure of cost, I reckon at least £500-1k, because they will need extensive scaffolding. The chimney is where the houses join, actually almost on our side, but it is their chimney.

Gra76

If we were to hire a full scaffold to go around the chimney I'd expect to be looking at a minimum of around £750-£800 + VAT, then you've got the cost of the repairs to factor in as well. I don't know how big the stack is but if they're going to take it down to the roof line then it's a pretty big job. An average stack we'd usually charge out at between £1,200-£1,500 + VAT to take down and rebuild.

Your neighbours are in for a big repair bill if the stack needs rebuilding.

chickaroonee

Gra76 wrote: »

If we were to hire a full scaffold to go around the chimney I'd expect to be looking at a minimum of around £750-£800 + VAT, then you've got the cost of the repairs to factor in as well. I don't know how big the stack is but if they're going to take it down to the roof line then it's a pretty big job. An average stack we'd usually charge out at between £1,200-£1,500 + VAT to take down and rebuild.

Your neighbours are in for a big repair bill if the stack needs rebuilding.

Don't think they'll want to take the stack down as one pot is in use and the others I think will be needed for ventilation. It looks like it needs re-pointing on the stack and all the mortar redoing on the top. Not sure what state the pots are in. It's a large stack, 4 pots I think and is made of old stone - it's a substantial old victorian terrace.

The additional problem is access - ours could be fixed on a cherry picker, but I think they will need full scaffolding.

Edited to add - are you saying that if it's in a very poor condition it will need to be rebuilt? I can see why that would be very costly.

Fire_Fox

If yours needs repairing also could you agree to share the cost of scaffolding, then the builder charge each of you for repairing your own chimneys? That means they would pay more than half the total cost which is correct. You would also pay more than your share if you don't actually really need full scaffolding, but cherry pickers are not nothing. Just thinking that might be good for neighbourly relations and get the work done promptly if you are in the driving seat. Obviously make sure you have that in writing or they have stated what they will pay to the builder himself.

Gra76

chickaroonee wrote: »

Edited to add - are you saying that if it's in a very poor condition it will need to be rebuilt? I can see why that would be very costly.

If it's in a particularly bad state of repair it might be worth taking it down and rebuilding it, but it depends on the state of it. It might just need repointing as you say, in which case that's significantly cheaper but will still require a scaffold anyway, which is still going to cost a significant amount of money.

chickaroonee

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If yours needs repairing also could you agree to share the cost of scaffolding, then the builder charge each of you for repairing your own chimneys? That means they would pay more than half the total cost which is correct. You would also pay more than your share if you don't actually really need full scaffolding, but cherry pickers are not nothing. Just thinking that might be good for neighbourly relations and get the work done promptly if you are in the driving seat. Obviously make sure you have that in writing or they have stated what they will pay to the builder himself.

No we had ours repaired on the cherry picker the other day, and in any case the chimneys are the full house width apart so the scaffolding wouldn't cover our chimney anyway. Cherry pickers are a lot cheaper than scaffolding - we paid £160 for a full day's hire, they will pay a few hundred I would've thought for scaffolding right round the stack.

Morgage_Confused

Almost certainly just the lead back gutter and many roofers would do it without scaffolding. Could do with a picture to get a better idea though.

My guess would be about £500 max to replace.

Are you sure its not a shared chimney located between both properties? Is there a chimney breast still visible in the converted loft area where its wet?

chickaroonee

Morgage_Confused wrote: »

Almost certainly just the lead back gutter and many roofers would do it without scaffolding. Could do with a picture to get a better idea though.

My guess would be about £500 max to replace.

Are you sure its not a shared chimney located between both properties? Is there a chimney breast still visible in the converted loft area where its wet?

No visible chimney breast in our house, our conversion has the stairs between the properties so I think you would see it? It is also the only stack they have and serves all their fireplaces. When you look out from our velux window in the conversion it is about 6 inches, maybe a little more across. At a guess the edge of the stack is above the edge of staircase, but the walls are thick stone so hard to be 100% sure.

From the ground our surveyor thought it likely to be the lead, but when the builders were on the cherry picker they thought the lead looked fine (and had been replaced not too long ago) but the main problem is that the mortar holding the (very old) pots in the stack has completely disintegrated, leaving large holes around the pots. The pointing has gone on a lot of the stone work too, and this is clearly visible from our conversion, and from the ground really.

Access is likely to be problematic on a ladder for all of that I'd thought, how will you get the materials up without scaffolding? Also there is an outrigger to the rear of the property and they have a larger ground floor extension too. I don't see how they can do it without scaffolding but I could be wrong.

Appreciate this is harder to visualise without a picture but I don't want to get caught taking one and upset them just yet!