Chimney and Roof Survey, Exeter

The owner reported rain getting into the property, associated with the chimney at the front of the roof, along with a noise inside during wet weather.

We were asked to inspect the roof coverings, all three chimney stacks, the ridge and hip tiles, the party wall copings, the roof window, the roof vents and the rainwater goods.

A terraced house in Exeter, with three chimney stacks: one to the front of the roof and two to the rear.

Flown on a dry, sunny morning with clear skies and good visibility. The full roof was imaged from above and at oblique angles, covering all three stacks, the main slate slopes, the ridge and hip tiles, the party wall copings, the roof window, the vents and the rainwater goods.

119 stills were captured across about 35 minutes on site. The sharpest frame of each area went into the report, grouped by area rather than by the order the camera happened to take them.

On the front stack, one flue opening had been capped with a flat slate in place of a pot, and the cement around it was cracked. That was reported as the most likely point at which water had been getting in, with a recommendation to re-cap the opening properly and make good the cement around it.

The noise was not a fault. Two of the pots carry louvred metal vent cowls, and rain falling on those is what the owner had been hearing inside.

The survey also picked up something more pressing than the job it was booked for. Bedding mortar had been lost along much of the ridge and hip runs at the front and the rear, one ridge tile had broken away and slipped down the front slope, and the ridge tile at the party wall junction was cracked. Re-bedding and repointing the ridge was reported as the first priority, ahead of the chimney work.

The rest was recorded in priority order: repointing to the rear stacks, one of which had a flue left open to the weather, a slipped lead flashing at the head of the roof window, mortar repairs where the party wall meets the stacks, and a cover for a vent on the rear wall.