Chimney Repointing in Windsor & Berkshire

A chimney stack stands above the roof with nothing to shelter it. Rain hits it from every side, frost works into it all winter, and on a working flue the heat dries it out and the cold soaks it again. The mortar between the bricks takes the worst of it. Over time it softens, cracks and falls out, leaving open joints that let water straight into the stack.

Once the joints are open, rain soaks into the brickwork and tracks down inside the stack. It shows up indoors long before anyone looks at the chimney:

• Damp patches on the chimney breast, upstairs or down, that grow in wet weather
• Stained or peeling wallpaper beside the stack
• Mortar and grit in the fireplace or on the loft floor around the stack
• Open, recessed joints you can see from the street with binoculars
• Bricks crumbling or flaking where frost has got into wet brickwork

Repointing in time stops it. Left too long, frost breaks the bricks themselves and the job becomes a rebuild.

Many chimneys in Windsor, Eton, Richmond and Twickenham were built from soft, handmade bricks laid in lime mortar. Those stacks are designed to let moisture in and out through the mortar joints. Repoint them in a hard cement mortar and the water can only get out through the brick, so the brick faces start to crumble and flake while the new pointing stays perfect.

So we match the mortar to the brick. Softer, lime-based mixes for older soft bricks, so the mortar stays the part that weathers and gets renewed, not the brick. A suitable modern mix for harder, later bricks. And a finish to the joint that matches the rest of the house.

Repointing is the right time to sort the rest of the stack too. Cracked flaunching, loose pots and lifted flashings are all fixed from the same access, which saves you paying for it twice.