Chimney repair cost

lorryw

We are currently having our roof re slated and repaired. It is an Edwardian 2 up 2 down terrace. The roofer has told us that the chimney (shared with neighbour) is dangerous and needs repairing. Today we had a quote from builder for £2600, after contacting 6 others who didn't want to know. It just seems a lot of money but I have no idea of costs of building work.

FreeBear

Have a look in your local Yellow Pages for a chimney specialist - Often HETAS registered. Some of them will entertain chimney repairs (as will some roofers). If you can get someone in to do the work whilst the existing scaffold is up, that should keep the costs down - That said, the scaffolding may well need extending to encompass the chimney which will cost something, but not as much as a full scaffold job.

tacpot12

It very much depends on what the fault is and what scheme of repair the roofer is proposing. If the chimmney just needs to have the lead apron re-mortered into the chimney, then this is too much, but if the chimney needs to be removed, brick-by-brick, and rebuilt it might be a very good quote. If scaffolding is required, this might well add £800 to a repair quote. 

I would suggest you ask the roofer to describe the problems they have found in writing, and provide photos. (A good tradesman will always be happy to provide photos of problems that are in areas that the home owner cannot access easily).

I would also also them to put in writing what they are going to do to fix the fault(s). It would not be unreasonable to ask them to itemise the quote at least so that you can see the cost of any scaffolding that is to be erected by another firm.

lorryw

Thank you for replies. The scaffolding is in place for the roof repair and will need extending. The roofer took photographs to show us and invited us up to view the damage (scared of heights so declined!) Our neighbour is not a happy bunny, he thought it would cost a few hundred so won't contribute.
I think we will just take it on the chin and get it sorted rather than letting this drag on through the winter

stuart45

It depends on the size of the chimney(height, number of flues etc), so hard to give a price on a roof repair. 
For a rebuild a bricklayer is the right trade for the job.

Bendy_House

Hi Lorry.

We cannot comment with any accuracy on here given the info you've provided. We really need to know just what work is involved, and a photo showing the size of this chimney would also help.

£2,600 does seem to me, tho', to be high. Especially as everything is in place - scaffold etc - and they are already doing what is a sizeable job for you. You'd hope that a builder with integrity would do their best to offer a 'keen' quote, taking into account that you are already paying them what I presume is many £ks.

BUT, we don't know. This could well be a decent quote! We need more info!

A separate but connected issue is your neighb. If this chimney is shared - as I presume it is - then they are obliged to contribute. You may need to 'force' them to do this, and that could take time.

You are in a tough position - there is pressure on you to accept this quote for an easy life, and pressure for you to take the full whack as getting your neighb to contribute will likely take time.

If you can give us a proper idea of the work involved for this £2,600, then it might help us to advise. For instance, if that sum is very clearly a major p-take (and I'm not at all suggesting it is), then you might be best just holding off from it, getting your neighb to agree to split costs (force if nec...), and then to get more reasonable quotes to have it done over the next year or so (it ain't going to fall down, is it?).

If, however, it's a significant job - eg a complete rebuild of the visible stack - then the quote could well be reasonable, and it appears you are prepared to take the hit to get this done.

Do you have LP on your house insurance? If so, call them up and ask what your rights are in obliging the neighb to share costs. If the neighb is genuinely hard up (relative to you), then you may wish to propose a compromise - say they contribute only £600 or so?

lorryw

Thank you for your reply. 
Sorry, I have been very vague but I have no idea of current building costs etc. 
Our roof has been leaking for several months and we have been unable to find a roofer, they were all super busy. We finally heard from this guy after he had a cancellation. He has an excellent reputation and gave us a very fair estimate. The roof is over 100 years old and the tiles just fell to bits when removed. They had intended to repair the chimney but it is in a pretty bad, unsafe state. The roofer had difficulty finding a builder/bricklayer to take on the job and this is the only quote we have had. Extra scaffolding is being built as I write this so we are committed to having it done.
Fortunately our neighbour ( of over 40 years) has come back and agrees that the job needs to be done so will contribute.
To add to our woes our bathroom ceiling has collapsed due to the banging on the roof and damp plaster due to leak!

FreeBear

lorryw said: To add to our woes our bathroom ceiling has collapsed due to the banging on the roof and damp plaster due to leak!

Assuming this is a lath & plaster ceiling and you intend to replace with plasterboard, there is a silver lining here. Once the laths have been removed (along with all the rusting nails), you have the opportunity to pack the space between the joists with insulation. You will be able to get the insulation right up to the edges and kill any cold spots in the process. Also a good opportunity to improve lighting & fit extractors/ducting.

lorryw

Great idea. We were pretty shocked that there is nothing between ceiling and roof under the eaves. Always wondered why the bathroom was so cold.