Chimney rebuild and repoint - Banstead

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We travelled to Banstead to give this chimney, which was in a sorry state, a much-needed makeover! During this job, we discovered that the central flue had been opened to accommodate a flue lining, and the contractor had dumped the original chimney capping into the box gutter behind the stack. The brick joints towards the top had become very friable and began to collapse, making it very unsafe and causing it to leak. 

We carefully dismantled the loose bricks and re-bedded them. We then removed all loose pointing to a depth of at least 20mm using grinders. This meant we could get a substantial cement mortar joint in between the bricks. We then pointed to weather struck and cut, which is the type of smoothed finish. Our customer was really happy that their chimney was left looking very neat and that there was no longer a leak.  

We travelled to Surbiton to replace some soil pipe collars for our customer. The current pipes had original lead collars. These had deteriorated over time, and the lead had split, allowing water ingress. 

The new collars are made of lead (the silver square part) with a heavy-duty rubber (the black part immediately against the pipe), which creates a water-tight seal. These last for decades and keep the joint between the roof tiles and the pipe water-tight. Our customer was happy to know that there would no longer be any water ingress, keeping them safe and dry!  

For this job, we travelled to Raynes Park to do a Velux replacement for our customer. Their current Velux was an original, which was one of the first they manufactured. Unfortunately, it was causing a leak, and although it had two panes of glass, they were never a sealed unit, so it had to go.  

We replaced it with a new white UPVC Velux that is fully double-glazed. Our customer was very pleased with the work, and he is also now able to lock it open or closed. 

We travelled to New Malden to one of our long-standing customers. They initially asked us to replace a tile that had fallen onto their driveway, which we did for them,  but they also requested a general check-over of their roof. So, we sent our drone up to take a closer look, and they were shocked by the state of their chimney. From the ground, it didn’t look too bad, but up close, you can see the brick joints were failing, and in parts, we were able to put our fingers between the joints. 

We used a grinder to grind back all the brick joints on their half of the chimney and repointed it using a strong mix of mortar. It’s a very dusty job but an enjoyable one. The customer was delighted to have their chimney restored to a high standard.

This job in Carshalton involved cleaning a set of solar panels that had become heavily soiled over time. The customer got in touch as the panels were extremely dirty and no longer generating the level of energy they should. While this isn’t a service we regularly offer, we were more than capable of carrying out the work—especially as the height made it unsuitable for standard window cleaners. 

We carefully cleaned the panels using a mild detergent and a medium-stiff brush, removing a build-up of grime, mainly caused by algae. With a bit of gentle elbow grease, everything came up spotless. The panels are now clean, clear, and back to capturing plenty of energy as they should. 

We didn’t have far to travel for this job, as it was local to us in Banstead. Our customer needed some new chimney pots and cowls fitting. As you can see in the before photo, the chimney was looking a little worse for wear. For this job, we opened up one semi-covered flue, which has a ridge tile bedded over it on the left, and fitted a pot and the cowl. We also changed the adjacent cowl and fitted a new one onto the right-hand chimney pot, which didn’t have one. 

We carried out remedial repairs to the ramping of cement around the chimney pots, which is called flaunching. This had deteriorated over a long time, which was allowing water ingress. The chimney was given a new lease of life! No birds will now get down into the flues anymore, and no water can get down the flues or through the top of the chimney through the flaunching.  

We travelled to Raynes Park to replace this GRP flat roof. The roof had failed despite it only being ten or so years old! For this job, we boarded the roof with OSB3 tongue-and-groove boards, securing them at 300mm centres. We then fitted pre-formed fibreglass trims to all of the corners, and bandaged all of the board and trim joins with 100mm nylon bandage and resin with catalyst. 

Once dry, we used 600gsm glass fibre mats with resin to create a bespoke roof covering over the whole area, including the parapets, as the detailing around the edges (which might otherwise be lead flashings) often fails. Once completed, we sanded it all down to get a smooth finish and applied a top coat of grey resin for UV protection. Our customer was very pleased with the results and was even happier to have no more leaks. 

We travelled to Surbiton to repair this chimney that needed some TLC, as it was causing a leak. The apron to the front of the chimney had fallen out, and some of the pebble-dashing was cracked and loose. The flashing was also loose, meaning water was running in behind. We removed all of the loose pebble-dashing and refixed the flashing.  

The render was crumbling and missing in places. This then allows water to trace into the bricks and eventually seep down into the home. So to fix this, we added a scratch coat of render to the bare brick sections and gave the old render a key. Once this was all done, we re-pebble-dashed and painted the chimney, leaving it looking good as new and keeping our customer dry!  

This job in Ewell involved a full valley replacement after the existing valley had deteriorated and was no longer providing adequate protection. We carefully stripped back the surrounding tiles to expose the valley, removed the failed materials, and installed a new valley to ensure proper drainage and long-term durability.  

The area was then re-tiled with precision, ensuring a neat finish and correct alignment for effective water runoff. The new valley now provides a reliable, watertight solution, restoring the roof’s condition and keeping it functioning as it should. 

This job in Worcester Park involved installing new lead flashing to a chimney where the existing detailing had failed. The original dentil slips (tiles bedded into a cement mortar fillet) had deteriorated over time, and the underlying soakers (lead or zinc pieces beneath the dentil slips) had also failed, allowing water ingress. 

We carefully removed the defective dentil slips and old soakers, then installed new lead soakers to restore proper waterproofing. A new lead flashing was chased into the brickwork and securely fixed into the chase, before being pointed with cement to ensure a fully watertight seal. The result is a clean, durable finish — and most importantly, no more leaks. 

We travelled to Chipstead to fix some verge tiles that had sagged at the bottom of the roof. You can see in the before photo that the battens weren’t fixed at the verge side, and had sagged massively.  

To fix this, we secured the battens with new woodwork and then screwed the tiles and bedded them into place. This needed to be done, as even though it hadn’t happened yet, eventually it would have caused a leak or the tile would have fallen out.