Hard to diagnose roof leak

Soot2006

We have a dormer semi- bungalow - the dormer is very close to the chimney - narrow gap between them (about 5-10 inches max). Somewhere in this zone, water is coming in during heavy rain. The roofer recommended removing the chimney due to access but the chimney is shared with the neighbour and she uses her fireplace, so a discussion about removing the whole lot won't be possible. 

Roofer is a little stuck as he says he can't get in there to even look properly. I am of course calling out for a second opinion, and in the meantime, worrying myself rather a lot!

I've been reading online that, with a party wall agreement, I might be able to remove just my half of the chimney? An expensive job, but would it be worth it? I cannot live with the fear of water ingress and the knowledge of the unseen damage that will be happening.

All ideas gratefully received!

grumbler

a photo?
10 inches isn't a small gap. In the worst case scenario tiles and flashing there can be replaced with a led vally , can't they?

Soot2006

Good point ...  Maybe he said 10cm!

We already have the lead valley ...  roofer couldn't fault the flashing.

(The white bit we had a massive leak that was fixed last Christmas and they said the felt was in terrible condition, etc .... )

Looking at the picture now, I wonder if the dormer is the source of the leak,although I know water can travel in weird and wonderful directions, but the dripping sound seems to come from  further back than the chimney (also the chimney breast is also soaked - like there are several concurrent issues due to lack of maintenance)  ... Either way, motivated by writing it all out I have called a few roofers and hoping for a second opinion soon.  It's difficult when one knows nothing. All I know,  is I don't want inside water unless I have requested it from a tap.

Also want to get the dormer cladded at some point.

grumbler

I don't see any tiles between the chimney and the dormer - looks like a proper valley to me. If that's the place where the roof is leaking and there's nothing wrong with the valley, the fault can be only higher up.

Soot2006

Thanks, my neighbour just sent me a new roofer who lives in our street and who will have a look on Monday. He said the same as you. I appreciate the time. Water ingress is stressful. We have it at work too, so I am seeing water stains everywhere when I close my eyes.

Soot2006

Update for the future

Second roofer was able to get up there on Tuesday. He found a huge seagull nest behind the chimney and took photos of previous botch job repairs up there - cracked tiles "fixed" with mastic etc ... To be fair, it's held for the 4 years we've lived here so I guess it was a pretty good botch job, but still ....

Can't believe the first roofer didn't mention of this. Very disappointing as I've used him before, he's local, works with my friend's son, etc ....

So, looks like we have two separate issues!

The nest - now removed and the chimney breast wall is not wet this morning despite the terrible heavy rain all night!

The drip on the ceiling persists, and we now know that's pretty much where you'd expect a leak from the cracked tiles, so at least we know what has to happen next.