How much to rebuild a chimney??

quietheart

We've just had our front chimney removed as we'd had problems with damp patches and smells.The chimney was rendered and the bricks underneath were falling apart and were sodden with rain and green so lots of rain must've been getting in.
We need the rear chimney as we have a gas fire. What are the options? I can only think of a rebuild from the roofline up, the house is detached and the chimney breast is on the outside of the house. We've been given one vague quote of £1500, which seems a lot. This is from a roofer, is that who you'd expect to do this sort of work?
Thanks for looking anyway.

quietheart

bump it up!

HugoSP

There is no reason that a roofer cannot build the chimney, as long as he can mix mortar and lay blocks, bricks or masonery.

Having said whoever is doing it needs to know how chimneys are built to prevent damp etc. Ideally a chimney specialist would be my first choice but a roofer would know about making a structure waterpoof I suppose.

Ask him how he's going to line it.

£1500 is not unreasonable - even for a small 2 story house.

ben500

Hugo is correct, in fact there are probably more chimneys built and relined by roofers than by chimney specialists.
This site will help you identify the correct liner for your appliance

http://www.ncc-flue.co.uk/intro.htm?shopid=1

What I would suggest you do is to identify your gas appliance and use the above site to identify the correct liner, then armed with this information, ask the tradesman what exactly he intends to do, if he mentions a liner then ask him which one he will be using (Do not offer your information to him) if he correctly identifies the liner then you can be reassured he knows what he is doing, if he doesn't mention the liner or gets it wrong shop around, gas fires give off dangerous fumes and you don't want a cowboy working on it and taking risks with your lives.

As for the price I have seen a lot higher quoted, scaffold costs can amount to that alone in a lot of cases.