Chimneys & leadwork in Lichfield

A chimney is the most exposed masonry on any building — weather on every side, nothing above it — so it degrades faster than the walls below. On a Georgian or older Lichfield property, where the brick is soft and handmade and the stack is tall, that is a real piece of work rather than a morning's pointing.

The mortar question is the whole job here and most of the damage we see was done by somebody trying to help. Old handmade brick is soft. A hard modern cement mortar is stronger than the brick it sits between, so when the joint and the brick both take up water and freeze, the joint wins and the face of the brick blows off instead. Repoint a Georgian stack in a hard cement mix and in twenty years the pointing will be immaculate and the bricks around it will be ruined. We mix soft and lime-based for this stock, which is slower to go off, less convenient, and correct.

Then there is consent, same as the rest of Lichfield. On a listed building a chimney stack is part of the listed structure — rebuilding it, changing its profile, or taking it down are alterations, and they need consent. Even repointing wants the right specification if anyone asks. We will tell you at survey which situation you are in, and if we are rebuilding above the roofline we salvage and reuse the original brick where it is sound, because a Georgian stack rebuilt in modern brick is visible from the street and it is visible forever.

The leadwork is ordinary craft and it is the part we enjoy. Soakers between every course, a stepped flashing chased into the joints and wedged, a back gutter behind the stack, code 4 or code 5 depending on exposure — and on a tall Lichfield stack, exposure argues for the heavier code. No cement fillets. Not here, not anywhere.