Who Owns The Chimney

renegadefm

Appologies in advance if this is the wrong section, but someone might be able to help non the less. Its complicated but I'll try to keep it brief.

I live in a middle terrace of four houses and have lived here for 30 years aswell as my neighbours either side. and we have all got along quite well. The houses had open fires as heating but the flues leading to the chimney which was shared with my direct neighbours the other side developed poor concrete so everytime we lit a fire my neighbours had smoke coming down their fireplace, so about 29 years ago we decided to do away with that forn of heating, and ripped out the chimney breasts from the fireplace all the way uo to the chimney and sealed it off in the loaf which gave us more space in the rooms and more square where the breasts was.

But as the years rolled on we noticed a damp patch in one of the bedrooms by the ceiling. Over these years I have lost count how many builders and roofers I have had to try and solve it, and I dread to think how much I have spent on it by replacing flashing, roof slates, repointing the chimney bricks, all sorts.

Then I suddenly thought, when we done away with it all 29 years ago the builder at the time done away with the chimney pots but kept our neighbours pots as they spent out on relining their flues so kept that type of heating so was basically the only ones who now used the chimney, but I wondered if rain was settling on top where my pots used to go and drain down where the redundant flue is until it goes so far in the loft hence the wet wall above our bedroom ceiling.

But recent talks with yet another roofer/builder who now believes my theory to be the cause has said to cure this the chimney would need to be taken down and re-built on a smaller scale so as to be honured so to speak only for my neighbours which I was prepared to pay for, so no expence for my neighbours was necessary.

By now you can imagine we are desperate to sort this out as we got a damp wall and a bedroom we had to stop using which is meant to be for our 4 year old daughter. So we approached our neighbours just to keep them informed of what needed doing and mentioned it wouldnt be any cost to them, but my neighbour suddenly got nasty and said things like, hang on you cant take my chimney down, so I said what do you mean your chimney, its a shared chimney surely as I used to use it too, then he said but you surrendered any connection with it 29 years ago when you ripped out your chimney breasts and flues.

So now I'm left in limbo and can't carry out the work. You could argue I could argue that well if my neighbour is claiming the chimney to be theirs that the expence falls to them to fix our leak, but my builder reckons thats a grey area due to the fact my neighbour doesnt suffer a problem with the chimney, and its me that requires it to come down, which I dont understand as I'd be the one funding its rebuild.

So whos responsible for this 30 year old problem to be resolved, who actually owns the chimney? My neighbour wont let me even start.

Mistral001

If the neighbour does not have any problems with the chimney then do not touch their part of it whether they agree to it or not. You will be taking on responsibility for making sure the work is not only done to your satisfaction, but to the neighbour's as well.

If the neighbour uses their open fires in the their house then any small amounts of water ingress will be dried out by the heat from the flue. This means that their flashings pointing might be a similar state as yours but because of the open fire it does give rise to dampness in the rooms below.

I assume there still is a chimney breast in the roof space. You perhaps need some sort of ventilation in this chimney breast's flue top and bottom.

PS the ventilation in the flue will be additional to getting your part of the chimney repointed and its flashings checked.

renegadefm

Mistral001, the flashing was all replaced many times by different builders over the 29 year period non of which cured it.
My neighbours have been fine so far to allow me to do work on and around the chimney, but the most recent builder I have got said he understands my theory of rain running down the redundant flue on my side and going as far as the ceiling line in the loft, but to cure it properly the chimney needs down sizing and my flues properly sealed up once chimney is down.

But I have reached a stale mate and nothing can be done. What can I do? Its not like they are paying a penny.

renegadefm

There is part of the old breast in the roof space or as I call it loft, but the water/rain is going in where the pots we're taken out. Its ironic really the most obvious place the rain is penetrating in was over looked by so many builders and expence. Vents could be put in the roof space once the other problem has been solved my current builder said.

But I cant start due to my neighbout claiming the chimney is theirs. What is the legalities in this as I always assumed it was a, shared chimney?

Mistral001

renegadefm wrote: »

There is part of the old breast in the roof space or as I call it loft, but the water/rain is going in where the pots we're taken out. Its ironic really the most obvious place the rain is penetrating in was over looked by so many builders and expence. Vents could be put in the roof space once the other problem has been solved my current builder said.

But I cant start due to my neighbout claiming the chimney is theirs. What is the legalities in this as I always assumed it was a, shared chimney?

Of course they own the part of the chimney that is on their side of the party wall. You cannot do anything to that part of the chimney without their permission no more than you can brick up their front windows.

renegadefm

Minstral001, so how would I ever solve this?
Its a 30 year old problem, and I have done everything else to try and solve it.

Now the current builder says it needs to come down to be rebuilt to be 100% sure it will cure it.

But why is next door saying its their chimney?

I cant strip down my side of the chimney it doesnt work that way. But we have the leak.
So if its their chimney cant I take them to court to force them to fix it?

Mistral001

renegadefm wrote: »

Minstral001, so how would I ever solve this?
Its a 30 year old problem, and I have done everything else to try and solve it.

Now the current builder says it needs to come down to be rebuilt to be 100% sure it will cure it.

But why is next door saying its their chimney?

I cant strip down my side of the chimney it doesnt work that way. But we have the leak.
So if its their chimney cant I take them to court to force them to fix it?

You will probably never solve the problem 100% if the neighbour does not want you to demolish and rebuild their property.

You just have to mitigate the problem as much as you can with making sure the pointing, flashing and haunching are in good order and introducing ventilation where you can.

The removal of the pots may have caused more problems than they solved, so that could be something that you should look at again.

renegadefm

Well I have as I mentioned spend a fortune on flashing and pointing etc over a 30 year period, non of it has worked so far.

But like I said the most recent builder/roofer has told me the chimney needs taking down and lead put underneath or something like that he said and cap my flues off from there and not the top of the chimney for best results.

The problem I have if it isn't done soon my beams and everything will rot in the roof space as its wet up there.

I am in limbo.

Can't I take him to court for damages to my house? Its a shame its come to this as I have said I'm funding it, so I cant see their problem.

vw100

Can you just get a chimney cowl and cover the pots. The cowls also have air vents to allow ventilation. Cheap and easy solution.

renegadefm

vw100, the pots leading to our fireplaces we're removed 29 years ago, and the builder at the time put slates over the holes and cemented it over, so the chimney at the top is flat apart from one pot for my neighbour as they use one fireplace their side.

But the new builder/roofer I have hired has said because its a 30 year old problem, to 100% sure to fix it, the whole chimney needs taking down and a smaller one put up for my neighbours as I don't have any fireplaces my side.
Basically any rain has been going down the redundant flues my side as rain goes in where the pots used to be. But putting the pots back isnt an option as we don't use the fireplaces if that makes sense?

Mistral001

renegadefm wrote: »

Can't I take him to court for damages to my house? Its a shame its come to this as I have said I'm funding it, so I cant see their problem.

You can take them to court, but you will not win as they have done nothing to damage your property.

I would get another builder to look at it. One who will not promise the impossible of fixing it 100%.

Alternative is to provide some incentive to the neighbour, who presently has a chimney with no problems, to have their chimney knocked down and rebuilt. Promises that it will be a good job etc etc will not work I should imagine as they presently would consider they have a good job.