Repairing Several Terrace Chimneys in One Visit

Why a row is better done together

A terrace is a line of linked stacks, and the scaffold needed to reach one is nearly always long enough to reach the next. If each household books separately, the same boards and poles are erected and taken down more than once, the street is blocked again, and the repaired stack may sit beside one that is still failing. Doing several stacks while the scaffold is up is simply more sensible than doing them in turn.

The wider advantage is consistency. Stacks on a row are normally the same age and built from the same bricks and mortar, so they tend to fail in the same way at about the same time. A joint visit lets the pointing, flaunching and lead be treated the same way along the row, and the finished heads read as a set. Neighbouring stacks that share a party wall, covered in Shared and Party Chimney Stacks: What You Can and Cannot Do Alone, should be done together in any case.

None of this requires every neighbour to join. Some will, some will say not yet, and some will not reply. The aim is to make the invitation easy, give clear information and leave the decision with each owner. We can survey each stack separately and set out which work is needed at each, so owners can say yes to the parts that concern them. A short written summary for each household, naming the stack, the work and the access needed, is easier to agree to than a vague offer to do everyone’s stack.

Scaffold continuity and access

A continuous scaffold is designed for the whole length of the run, with the boards, ties and a platform at stack height all following the same line. Continuous means there are no gaps where a stack has been skipped, no changes of level without a stair or ladder, and no reliance on the neighbour’s roof to stand on. If the front of the row has a footway, a council licence is usually needed for the pavement; the page for chimney repairs in Birkenhead mentions how that works in Birkenhead.

Ties are a practical limit. A scaffold is tied back to the building at regular points, and each tie is a fixing into someone’s brickwork or through a window reveal. Every owner whose wall takes a tie needs to know where it goes and be satisfied that it will be made good. Access across back yards, through alleys or through houses must be agreed in advance as well, not on the morning the scaffold arrives.

Scaffold hire is time-based, so the longer the scaffold stands, the more it asks of everyone, so a realistic programme is more important than a quick one. It is reasonable to ask the contractor to explain how long the access will stay and what would extend it, and to check that the quotation says so, as set out in What Should Be on a Chimney Repair Quotation?.

The order of work along a row

Work normally runs from the top down. Loose or leaning heads come off first so they cannot fall, then the heads and pots are rebuilt or reset, the flaunching is formed, the lead at the base is renewed and the pointing to the shaft is done last. Doing the lead before the pointing, or the pointing before the heads, means the new work is damaged by what follows.

Along a row the order of stacks matters too. Starting at the end where the scaffold is lowest or the access is easiest lets materials be hoisted once and moved along the platform. Pots, cowls and guards are fitted last so they are not knocked during other work, and the options for them are in Chimney Pots, Cowls and Bird Guards: Which Do You Actually Need?. Where a stack is to be repointed, the right mortar is set out in Repointing a Chimney: Why the Mortar Mix Matters More Than the Finish.

Each stack may need something different. One may need only repointing, the next a part rebuild, and a third a full rebuild. Mixing those on one scaffold is quite normal, and the sequence on the day follows what each stack needs. A bad day for weather is also handled one stack at a time: mortar is not laid in rain or frost, so heads are left covered and the crew moves to dry work, such as lead, when it can. The decision for each is usually made using the approach in Repoint, Rebuild or Remove? How the Decision Gets Made.

Matching the finish and keeping neighbours informed

New pointing, new bricks and fresh flaunching look different from weathered stacks nearby, and on a row the difference is obvious. Agree early what you want the row to look like: matching the existing joint profile, using the same mortar colour, and pointing every stack to the same standard. A sample panel on one stack, agreed before the rest is done, avoids arguments about colour later.

Communication is simple but easy to neglect. Tell neighbours when the scaffold goes up, which days will be noisy, where the skip and materials will be, and who to call if something goes wrong. A short note through each door, with a name and number, prevents most disputes. Mention access to back yards, the hours the crew will be on site, and that a delivery of bricks or sand may block the street briefly. Neighbours who know what to expect are much more likely to be relaxed about it. If a neighbour declines, their stack is simply left and the row is finished around it.

Please do not climb on a shared scaffold or roof to look at the work, and keep children and pets away from the foot of the stacks. If you want to talk it over before involving anyone else, send a photograph of your stack and we will say what we would expect to be done. All our work is on the outside of the chimney; flues are for a HETAS or Gas Safe registered installer or a sweep.