Chimney Repairs in Purley
Purley is largely a suburb of the early 1900s onwards, and houses of that period were built with open fires in mind. Edwardian villas and the homes of the 1920s and 1930s nearly all carry one or more tall brick stacks. A chimney stands clear of the roof with weather on every side, so it ages faster than any wall beneath it.
These are the four places where a stack usually fails:
- Pointing. The mortar between the bricks washes out and leaves open joints.
- Flaunching. The mortar bed that holds the pots cracks, and rain gets into the top of the stack.
- Flashing. The lead that seals the stack to the roof lifts, splits or pulls out of the brickwork.
- Pots. A pot cracks, works loose or leans, and an open pot on an unused flue lets rain fall straight down.
Any one of these lets water into the stack. From there it reaches the loft, the bedroom ceilings and the chimney breast below. Our chimney work covers repointing, rebuilds, capping and flashing repairs, along with the removal of stacks that are no longer wanted. Our leadwork covers box gutters, valleys and the step and cover flashings beside a stack. All of it comes under chimneys and leadwork.
Reaching a Chimney on Purley’s Slopes
Purley sits where two dry valleys meet, cut into the chalk of the North Downs, with one running up towards Kenley and the other towards Coulsdon. Many streets climb the valley sides, so a house can stand well above the road on one side of the street and well below it on the other. That changes how a chimney is reached. Scaffolding often has to be built off a sloping drive or a stepped garden, and it may need to rise higher on the downhill side. We own our scaffolding and our own team puts it up, so the access is planned together with the repair.
Brick Repointing in Purley
Brickwork on a house of this age has stood through a century of rain and frost, and the mortar gives way long before the bricks do. The signs are easy to spot: joints that sit back from the face of the brick, mortar that rubs away under a finger, and damp patches indoors on an outside wall.
Repointing means taking the old mortar out and replacing it with new mortar matched for colour, so the wall reads as one piece when the work is finished. Where a building calls for traditional methods, we use them.
The job can be the whole front or side of a house, a parapet, a chimney or a boundary wall, and we take on heritage and listed buildings. On a hillside plot, boundary and garden walls catch the weather from both sides and often need attention before the house does. We offer rendering as well. Carry on to brick repointing for the full service.
Roof Repairs in Purley
Roofing in Purley is mostly clay or concrete tile on a pitched roof, often with hips, bays and valleys that give water more joints to find. Slipped, cracked and missing tiles are replaced, leaks are traced and stopped, and worn lead and flashing is renewed. Guttering and roofline faults are put right in the same visit where possible.
A slope that faces across a valley is more exposed than it looks from the street, and storm damage tends to show there first. Urgent damage is covered by our emergency roof repair service, which runs across South London and the South East. Find out more about roof repairs.
Facias Replacement in Purley
The roofline on an older Purley house was built in painted timber, which rots once the paint fails. Replacing fascias and soffits in Purley usually means fitting uPVC boards in their place, with new gutters and downpipes where the old ones have had their day. Bargeboards and box ends are renewed in the same way, and gutters that overflow are cleared and set straight. Our fascias and soffits page has more.
Flat Roofing in Purley
Bay windows, porches, garages and rear extensions account for most of the flat roofs here. We lay and repair torch on felt, GRP fibreglass and EPDM rubber roofs on homes and on commercial premises. On an existing roof that can mean sealing a leak once it has been found, mending blisters and tears, or reinforcing a joint or an edge. Go to flat roofing to read on.
New Roof in Purley
When the tiles, battens and underlay have all worn out together, we replace the roof in full. That may be a tiled or slated pitched roof, a reconstruction, an extension to the roof or a new flat roof, with chimneys rebuilt or taken down along the way where needed. Scaffolding for a new roof comes from our own stock and is put up at no charge. Read about having a new roof fitted.
Damp Proofing in Purley
A house cut into a slope often has the ground standing higher against one wall than the others, and that wall is the first place to look for damp. We start with a survey to tell rising damp, penetrating damp and condensation apart. Then we treat the cause. That might be better ventilation, a treatment to the outside of the wall, tanking or a waterproof membrane, or a new damp proof course injected into the brickwork. This is our damp proofing service.
Property Refurbishment in Purley
For a house that needs more than one repair, we can take on the whole refurbishment: structural improvements first, then updates to kitchens and bathrooms, tiling and flooring, plastering, rendering and decorating, with the roof and chimney work above. We can manage the project and arrange the structural engineer and the drawings as well. Details are under property refurbishment.
Common Questions About Chimneys in Purley
Should a stack be repointed or rebuilt?
It depends on the bricks. If they are sound and the stack stands straight, repointing and new flaunching will usually do. If bricks have crumbled, the stack leans or the top courses are loose, the affected part should be taken down and rebuilt. Often it is only the upper courses. We inspect the stack and explain which applies before you decide.
Can a disused chimney be taken down?
Yes. A stack that serves no fire or appliance can be capped to keep it dry, lowered, or removed altogether with the roof made good over the opening. Removal needs care where a stack is shared with a neighbour, or where the chimney breast below is staying, because the brickwork left behind still has to be supported. Taking a chimney away changes how a house looks, so in a conservation area speak to the council first.
Does a house on the Webb Estate need extra consent?
It may. The Webb Estate and Upper Woodcote Village are conservation areas, made up largely of individually designed Edwardian houses in large gardens, and homes there are also bound by restrictive covenants. Work that alters the outside of a house, chimneys and roof covering included, should be checked with Croydon Council and against the covenants before it begins. A repair that matches what is already there is the simplest route. If a planning application is needed, we can help with it.
Three generations of the family have worked in roofing. The firm is fully insured and its work is guaranteed. To book a free visit, get in touch.