Chimney Repairs & Leadwork in Newbury
Roofers for West Berkshire — repairs, re-roofs, flat roofs and leadwork. Free surveys, fixed written quotes, tidy workmanship.
Newbury Roofing Company repairs chimneys and renews leadwork across Newbury and West Berkshire — repointing, flaunching, pot re-bedding, soakers, step flashings and full stack rebuilds. Town stacks, and the tall exposed ones on farmhouses out on the chalk where the chimney is the highest thing for half a mile.
A chimney is a thin brick tower with no roof over it, weathered on all four sides. On an exposed site it takes driving rain from the south-west, dries fast in the wind, and freezes and thaws all winter — which is why stacks need attention two or three times as often out here as in a sheltered street.
Mortar is where most of it goes wrong
Almost every failed chimney we look at was repaired at some point in hard sand and cement. On soft old brick that is the wrong material — cement is stronger and less permeable than the brick around it, so trapped moisture freezing takes the brick face off rather than the joint. You get crumbling faces and a stack that looks worse ten years after its repair than before it. On pre-1919 brickwork we repoint in lime matched to the original; on twentieth-century stacks a gauged cement mix is fine. The brick decides, and we will say which at the survey and why.
Repointing
Joints raked to twice their width and repointed in a mix suited to the brick, finished so water runs off rather than sits.
Flaunching and pots
The mortar crown re-formed with a weathering slope, pots re-bedded, dead flues capped with a vented cap so the stack still breathes.
Lead flashings
Front apron, step flashing, soakers and back gutter in code 4 or code 5 lead, chased into a raked joint, wedged and pointed, in lengths short enough that thermal movement cannot split them.
Rebuilds and taking down
Leaning or spalled stacks rebuilt from sound brickwork, reusing the originals where they are good. Redundant stacks taken below the roofline and tiled over.
What chimney work costs here
| Work | Guide price | Access needed |
|---|---|---|
| Flaunching re-formed, pots re-bedded | £350 – £850 | Tower or scaffold |
| Repoint a stack | £500 – £1,400 | Scaffold to the stack |
| Lead flashing renewal, one stack | £450 – £950 | Roof access |
| Lead back gutter renewed | £350 – £700 | Roof access |
| Rebuild above roof level | £1,400 – £3,400 | Full stack scaffold |
| Remove to below roofline and tile over | £1,600 – £3,800 | Full stack scaffold |
2026 guide figures with access included. Tall or multi-flue stacks on exposed rural property sit at the upper end, because the scaffold is the bigger part of the job.
Keeping a stack that no longer takes smoke
If the fireplace works, or a wood burner is on the cards, a stack is worth maintaining. If the flue was blocked off when the gas fire went in, you are maintaining a brick tower purely so it can eventually leak into your loft. Taking it down below the roofline costs about what one rebuild costs and ends the cycle. Two things to check first: shared and party-wall stacks bring notice requirements under the Party Wall etc. Act, and on a period cottage the stacks are often the character of the elevation — in which case the answer is maintenance and a cap on the dead flue.
Leak that might not be the chimney
Tracing water that enters at one point and shows at another.
Frequently asked questions
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