Water leaks in Chimney breast

mobby

I seem to have a water leak problem on a chimney breast as in the attached images. Just appears on one side( left )and at a spot in the middle just over the mantelpiece. The house is just a over a year old. The builder has promised to sort it, but I am wondering how serious of a problem is this and how big a job to repair.

Any help guys I would really appreciate

chabsey

mobby wrote:

I seem to have a water leak problem on a chimney breast as in the attached images. Just appears on one side( left )and at a spot in the middle just over the mantelpiece. The house is just a over a year old. The builder has promised to sort it, but I am wondering how serious of a problem is this and how big a job to repair.

Any help guys I would really appreciate

If it's just an issue of water getting down the chimney from outside, would a chimney cap not sort the problem?

rooferPete

Hi mobby,

Single or two story house ? any photos of the outside ?

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mobby

rooferPete wrote:

Hi mobby,

Single or two story house ? any photos of the outside ?

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Hi rooferPete

It’s a bungalow. I have a photo of the front and roof area attached if that helps.

rooferPete

Hi,

I'm guessing that the leak is on the side of the chimney that is beside the valley, if you take a look in the attic at front and side of the chimney you may be able to trace the leak to the source.

Without more detailed photos I would guess the problem is where the first soaker flashing meets the apron on the chimney, if the chimney is meeting the valley there could be a weak point there.

Was a lead chimney tray fitted when the chimney was built ? it can happen that the tray is fitted below the counter flashing causing any water soaking from the the top of the chimney to run down the chimney breast instead of being cleared by the cover flashing.

Just a few possible causes.

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mobby

Thanks rooferpete i found another pic from a different angle.
If the builder manages to stop the leak what sort of repairs should i expect to the chimney breast. would it be just wait for it to dry out and repaint?

Thanks again for your assistance.

regards

MOBBY

rooferPete

Hi,

Narrowing the field it's possible that 12" flashing was used for the apron which means the cover flashing is barely covering it at the upstand to the chimney, the leak could be caused by the apron slipping down a little leaving an open joint across the front of the chimney.

The photo is at a distance so it is hard to tell for sure, but it's not unusual for the apron to slip a little when no lead clips are used to hold it in place.

As to painting I would wait for it to dry out then beg mad-m to supply expert advice about painting, rumour has it he knows a little about the trade

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mobby

thanks a Mill rooferPete a least now i will have an idea what to say to builder


Regards