Slate roof - repair or re-roof, please help me decide!

ThisIsWeird

My personal take - chimneys like that are purdy. But, if the first time you saw that house was sans-stack, you probably wouldn't say, "I wished it had a chimney."

In purely practical terms, if a re-haunching/filleting will sort any leaks for a good decade+, then I'd be inclined to go with that - you'll be out of there before then, and you'll still be selling a watertight hoosie. When the house needs a recovering - whenever that is - then that's the time, imo, to do stuff like also remove the stack - it should be more cost-effective.

Unless the current roofer gives you a quote for the removal that you cannot refuse. But I doubt it. What I def would not want, is for the slate covering the old stack's space to look different.

Unless there's a compelling reason to remove it now, I would keep the stack until you recover - or just sell.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: My personal take - chimneys like that are purdy. But, if the first time you saw that house was sans-stack, you probably wouldn't say, "I wished it had a chimney."

Stick a few of these on the roof, job jobbed.

https://www.gbcsupplies.co.uk/products/false-chimneys/

New estate a stones throw from here have an assortment of these plastic chimneys stuck on the roofs. Looks naff.

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: My personal take - chimneys like that are purdy. But, if the first time you saw that house was sans-stack, you probably wouldn't say, "I wished it had a chimney."

Stick a few of these on the roof, job jobbed.

https://www.gbcsupplies.co.uk/products/false-chimneys/

New estate a stones throw from here have an assortment of these plastic chimneys stuck on the roofs. Looks naff.

Love it!

Our wee 1930s bungalow is actually named after its chimneys - there's three of them.

HaircutHel

Oh god are they for real?! 

Good point about the slates looking different where the chimney is removed. They would, for sure. 

I had one man quote to do it with a ladder and it was £950 (re-flaunch etc). Other chimney man and roofer say not possible without a tower due to the slates being old so don’t want to stand on them while working. Plus it is quite high. Chimney man quoted £1100 plus cost of pots to re-flaunch, incl a tower.

Roofer was suggesting removal for around £1500 including scaffold. (Usually £1300 plus scaffold to remove a chimney, but cheaper as they would already be there working on the leaky section). 

ThisIsWeird

Wow. To have it removed is not a lot more than having it 'flaunched.
What slates would they use to cover the hole?! Tbh, I cannot think of any scenario where it won't be obvious that there's a patch, and imo that will not look good.
This is my take; that's a pretty house. The slate roof contributes a lot to its appearance. The stack, imo, does ditto. The roof is getting on, but is still serviceable, and will continue to be for a decade or more. It needs a couple of points of attention - along the fascia, and the chimney launching. After this, it should easily see you out of that home.
So, I'd go for scaffold-flaunching&fillet guy to tie you over. 
When you come to sell, be ready to accept a £10k-ish reduction for a new roof at some point. In essence, pass the hassle on to the new owner