Buddleia Growing from chimney! help!

ED20

Hi all
We are in the process of purchasing a 1900's 2 bed terrace house and have just had the homebuyers survey/ report completed. Amongst a host of other issues they have raised the issue if a buddleia growing from the chimney stack. Obviously this needs to be removed and how much damage it has done to the chimney stack need to be established.
Who would i contact to do this? builder, roofer, landscape gardener!?

also any ideas of what the worst case scenario would be? could the chimney collapse if not dealt with swiftly?

Any info would be much appreciated

x

anselld

A builder most likely or a roofer who can do brick/mortar/pointing.

Buddleia can be quite badly destructive if left to its own devices; I have seen it destroy a fairly decent sized garden wall.

Make sure it is fully removed including the roots. Brickwork must be repaired / re-pointed with the correct (probably lime) mortar.

AlexMac

Late Victorian houses are incredibly 'forgiving' of structural wear and tear, so (speaking only as an amateur, but one who's owned and worked on several of 'em over 30-40 years) I'd say it's very unlikely that its' done permanent damage or that the stack will collapse unless the buddleia's the size of a tree.

Any decent builder will remove it and re-point the chimney stack, and while they're up there, they may as well check and if necessary, repair, the 'flashings' - the lead strips (sometimes more cheaply replaced by mortar) which provide a waterproof seal at the vulnerable junction of the roof slates and brick stack. That could be anything from fifty quid to a few hundred, but the bigger expense could be access.

Most professional builders (such as my bro-in-law) no longer use ladders for higher access, and scaffolding itself could cost a couple of hundred. Some might still be prepared to use ladders, but last time I had this done they refused, in their words, because the site was on a busy road and if the local building control inspector drove by, he'd have gone ballistic.

I assume there are no obvious signs of damp penetrating down the chimney breasts in the rooms immediately below, so it's probably not a big deal (and certainly not a deal breaker - if that's the only problem in a 100+ year old property) but I'd get a quick quote, or at least chat to a builder to get an idea of cost. And because it is something you will have to do soonish, either be prepared to cough up after completion, or negotiate a few quid off the price on the grounds that it would be better for you to do it properly than for the existing owner to send up a cowboy now with a machete!

G_M

Unless it is very large and has caused a lot of damage, an odd job man with a ladder will nip up, remove it, patch up any damaged mortar. Couple of hours? My man would charge £30 but we have a good arrangement. He'd also replace the odd tile while he was up there.

A 'proper' builder might demand scaffolding (£400 before they start work) so cost can vary a lot!