Chimney Repairs · Kirkby-in-Ashfield NG17
Chimney Repairs In Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Is your chimney stone-built in Old Kirkby, or brick on one of the estates?
Lime pointing, flaunching, lead flashing and capping for Kirkby's farmhouse, terrace and interwar stacks
Kirkby has two sorts of chimney, and they don't want the same treatment. Around the Cross and along Chapel Street and Church Street, the older stacks are stone or early brick, laid in lime and standing in a conservation area. Down in the railway and colliery town, and out towards Kingsway and Nuncargate, it's brick stacks on terraces and interwar semis, most of them cold since the coal fires went out. Good chimney repairs in Kirkby-in-Ashfield start with working out which one you've got. Use the wrong mortar on a stone stack and the damage shows within a few winters. Fit the wrong cap on a disused brick one and the damp ends up on your bedroom wall.
Free chimney repairs survey in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Leave your details and we'll ring you back to arrange a survey. The visit is free, you're under no obligation once we've been, and a roof that doesn't need work gets called a roof that doesn't need work.
Fully insured
Free Kirkby-in-Ashfield surveys
Itemised fixed prices
about 15 minutes from base
Who does the work
Over 20 years on chimneys of every age
Chris runs the roofing side of Roof Repairs Mansfield. He's local and has been on roofs since he was a teenager, so the difference between a lime-pointed stack and a cement one isn't something he has to look up.
He runs every job efficiently and won't leave a roof until it's watertight, even when that turns a normal day into a very long one. The team share that attitude and are proud of it. For them it's about the customer and doing the best work they can, however long it takes and whoever is or isn't watching.
1,000+
Repairs carried out
10 years
Workmanship guarantee, on paper
Free
Surveys, quotes and honest bad news
No upselling
A patch that will hold gets recommended as a patch
Chimney trouble in Kirkby and what's usually behind it
The same symptom can mean different things on a stone stack and a brick one. Here's how they tend to play out across Kirkby.
Stone faces flaking around hard grey joints
A past repoint has put hard cement into soft stone. Moisture can no longer leave through the joints, so it goes out through the stone and pushes its surface off.
Damp on the chimney breast of a 1930s semi
The flue has been cold for years and rain is getting in through the pots or a cracked crown. With no fire to dry it out, the brickwork stays wet and the stain spreads.
Loose flashing where the stack meets the tiles
On the interwar semis this often comes alongside the delaminating tiles around it. Fixing the lead alone may not help if the tiles next to it are breaking up.
Leaves and moss packed around the base of the stack
Houses near the tree-lined old railway lines collect debris against the chimney, which holds water against the flashing and brick far longer than it should.
Matching the repair to the chimney
Lime mortar on old stone and brick
Stone stacks and early brick in Old Kirkby were built with lime. We point them with lime so the joints, not the stone, take the weather and can be renewed later.
Harmful cement taken out
If an earlier repair used hard cement on soft masonry, we rake it out carefully and replace it, rather than pointing over the top.
Listed and conservation status checked
Sixteen listed buildings sit in the Kirkby Cross conservation area. We find out where your house stands before quoting, so any consent is in hand before work begins.
Flashings and tiles looked at together
On a semi where the tiles are flaking, we look at the slope around the stack too. There's little point dressing new lead against tiles that are falling apart.
Vented caps for cold flues
Most brick stacks in the town haven't seen a fire in decades. We fit caps that keep rain out but let air through, which stops damp building up inside.
Debris cleared from around the stack
Where trees overhang, we clear moss and leaves from the base of the stack and the gutters below it as part of the job.
A village chimney and a railway-town chimney under one name
Old Kirkby's farmhouses, barns and the 1717 Old Rectory went up when every chimney was laid in lime and expected to move a little with the seasons. The town below grew after the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway arrived in 1819 and the collieries followed, and its terraces and interwar semis got brick stacks built quickly for coal fires that are long gone now. The two need different hands. Stone stacks want soft mortar, matched with care, and in the conservation area any change to how they look needs Ashfield's agreement. The brick stacks mostly want pointing, new flaunching and a cap. On the estates the chimney is rarely the only worry, either. Many of those houses also have ageing felt on kitchen extensions and garages, and it makes sense to look at both while someone's up there.
"People ringing about Kirkby chimneys usually ask about the pots or the flashing, but on the older stone stacks the bigger worry tends to be a hard cement repoint done years ago."
From chimney repairs enquiries Roof Repairs Mansfield handles in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
From first look to guarantee: a Kirkby chimney repair
Free survey of the stack and loft
We go up to the chimney, work out what it's built from and how it was last pointed, and check the loft for damp around the breast.
Photographs and a straight answer
We show you photos of each face and explain whether it needs lime work, ordinary repointing, new lead or just a cap.
One itemised price in writing
Materials and labour are broken down line by line, and scaffold or other access appears as its own cost.
Work carried out as agreed
We do what's on the quote, using the mortar and materials it names. If we uncover something unexpected, we talk to you first.
Handover with photos and a guarantee
All debris goes away with us, you get photos of the finished stack, and the workmanship comes with a 10 year written guarantee.
Ten years, in writing, before we leave the drive
Every roofer in Nottinghamshire will tell you their work is guaranteed. Ask to see the paper and the conversation often changes. Ours doesn't: work booked through Roof Repairs Mansfield carries a 10 year workmanship guarantee as a physical document, dated, signed and handed over with the completion photos - not a line in an email you'll never find again. Materials sit on top of that with their manufacturers' own cover, which differs product to product, so your paperwork names the cover that actually applies to your job.
A guarantee that long only makes commercial sense if repairs are done in a way that doesn't invite a return visit. Around Mansfield that means respecting what the housing actually is: coverings and fixings from the colliery era that fail as systems, not as single tiles, and mortar that has been quietly powdering since the pits shut. So failed material gets stripped back to something sound before new goes on, mortar gets matched to the age of the brick, and anything we can't make right on the day gets said out loud rather than covered over.
The blunt version: if water we were paid to stop finds its way back through our work inside 10 years, we return and put it right at our own cost. That promise has to be cheap to honour - and it is, because of how the work gets done the first time.
10 yrs
Written workmanship cover
1,000+
Repairs carried out
Insured
Public liability held
Named
Manufacturer cover per job
Three things to ask a roofer about your Kirkby chimney
These questions quickly separate the people who understand old masonry from the ones who only know cement.
What mortar will you use?
On a stone or pre-war brick stack the answer should be lime. If it's a strong sand and cement mix, the repair may do more harm than it fixes.
Is my house in the Kirkby Cross conservation area?
Anyone working in Old Kirkby should know, or offer to find out. Changing materials or a stack's appearance there needs the council's say-so.
Will you look at the tiles around the stack?
On interwar semis the tiles beside the chimney are often as worn as the flashing. A quote that ignores them may have to be done twice.
Lime Or Cement For Repointing A Kirkby Chimney?
The mortar decides how long a repoint lasts and what it does to the masonry around it. Here's the difference as it applies to Kirkby's older stacks.
| Comparison point | Lime mortar | Sand and cement |
|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Stone stacks and pre-war brick, including Old Kirkby's older buildings. | Modern hard bricks on newer houses. |
| Moisture | Breathes, so damp dries out through the joints. | Dense, so moisture is forced out through the brick or stone instead. |
| Effect on old masonry | Softer than the stone, so the joint wears rather than the face. | Harder than soft brick and stone, which can lead to spalled faces. |
| Laying it | Needs more care, slower curing and protection from frost. | Quicker to lay and sets fast. |
| Conservation area | The expected choice around Kirkby Cross and on listed buildings. | Usually wrong for listed or conservation area masonry. |
| Future repairs | Joints can be raked out later without harming the stone. | Hard to remove without chipping the edges of old masonry. |
What affects the price of a Kirkby chimney repair
There's no single price for a chimney here, because a lime-pointed stone stack in Old Kirkby and a brick stack on a 1930s semi are different jobs. These four things make most of the difference.
Old Kirkby materials
Around Chapel Street, Church Street and the Cross, matching lime mortar and stone takes longer to source and lay, and listed status can add steps before work starts. The price reflects that.
Access
A semi usually has a side to work from, which tends to make access simpler than on a terrace in the middle of a row. Either way, access is a separate line on the quote.
Undoing past cement
Raking out an old cement repoint without damaging the stone is slow work, so a stack that's been badly repaired before costs more to put right.
What gets done alongside
If the tiles round the stack are flaking or a flat roof needs attention, doing it while access is in place saves paying for scaffold twice.
Kirkby-in-Ashfield chimney questions
Do I need consent for chimney work in Old Kirkby?
Ashfield District Council, whose offices are on Urban Road in Kirkby, handles planning here. Repairing a chimney like for like doesn't need permission on an ordinary house. Inside the Kirkby Cross conservation area, though, altering how a stack looks or taking it down should be cleared with the council first, and the sixteen listed buildings there need listed building consent for anything beyond basic repair. The Article 4 direction in that area covers the stone boundary walls, not chimneys. Annesley has a separate conservation area of its own.
My semi backs onto an old railway line. Does that affect the chimney?
It can. The disused cuttings and embankments around Kirkby are full of trees now, and leaves and moss build up around the base of nearby stacks and in the gutters, holding water against the flashing. Clearing it out regularly and checking the lead are usually all that's needed.
Do you repair stone chimneys in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, or only brick ones?
Both. Stone and early brick stacks get lime mortar matched to the original, and brick stacks on the newer houses get the repair that suits them. After the free survey we'll tell you which approach your chimney needs.
Is it worth keeping a chimney on a 1930s semi we never use?
If it's sound and you like the look, a cap, fresh pointing and good flashing will keep it dry for years. If the stack is crumbling or causing damp, taking it down can make more sense. We'll give you prices for both.
Can the chimney be repaired at the same time as the tiles around it?
Yes, and on Kirkby's interwar semis it's often the sensible way. If the tiles near the stack are delaminating, replacing them alongside the new flashing means the lead and tiles are fitted to each other properly, and you only pay for access once.
What to do in Kirkby-in-Ashfield
If you've a free afternoon while the mortar cures, Kirkby has some good spots close by.
Portland Park
Locals call it the Quarries: a nature reserve off Lindley's Lane on a magnesian limestone quarry that was filled in during the 1950s. There are ponds, woods and meadows, a café, and what's left of the 1819 railway embankment.
Find it on Google Maps : Portland Park
Kingsway Park
Opened in 1930 on land once known as Sixteen Acre Field, it's now a Green Flag park with a bandstand, bowling green, pitches and the Acre Café. Look out for the stone arches at the Hodgkinson Road and Kingsway gates.
Find it on Google Maps : Kingsway Park
Annesley Old Church
A Grade I listed fourteenth-century church ruin beside Annesley Hall, just south of Kirkby. Byron and D. H. Lawrence both wrote about it, and the council made it safe to visit in 2012.
Find it on Google Maps : Annesley Old ChurchFinding Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Our Sandy Lane yard is about 15 minutes from Kirkby. Planning here belongs to Ashfield District Council, whose offices are in Kirkby itself.
Word from around the town
What homeowners across the Mansfield patch made of the work, in their own words.
"The back bedroom ceiling had a mark that came and went for two years and I'd stopped even noticing it. When Babet hit it turned into a proper leak overnight. They came out two days later, found a split flashing round the chimney - nowhere near where the stain was - and had it done in a morning. Showed me photos of the fault before and after. The quote and the invoice were the same number, which I'm told is rarer than it should be."
"Ours is one of the old colliery houses and the ridge had been shedding bits of mortar onto the path for months. I expected to be told we needed a new roof - the bloke next door had been quoted for exactly that by someone else. Instead they rebedded the ridge, refixed four tiles and told me the rest of the roof was fine for years yet. Charged a fraction of what I'd braced myself for."
"Water was streaming down the front of the house whenever it rained hard and I assumed the worst about the roof. Turned out the gutter had lost its fall and was tipping everything over the edge in one spot. They reset the brackets, sorted a joint, checked the gully at the bottom and were gone within a couple of hours. Also pointed out a slate that wants watching next year rather than fixing now - appreciated that."
"Bought a 1900s terrace near the town centre and the survey flagged the chimney. Two other firms quoted to take it down entirely. These lads went up, told me the stack itself was sound and it just needed repointing with the right mortar, new flaunching and a cap on the dead flue. Three years on the chimney breast is bone dry. Kept the chimney, saved about two grand."
"The extension roof had ponded for years and every couple of winters someone would patch it and it would come back. They were the first to explain the actual problem - no fall on the deck - and quoted to sort that rather than just laying another layer of felt over it. New rubber roof, water actually runs off it now. You get told the truth, which is worth paying for on its own."
Been a customer?
A short review is the most useful thing you can give a local firm - it tells the next household in Mansfield with a dripping ceiling who they can trust with it.
Areas we cover
Kirkby is one of many places we cover. The full list is below if you'd like to see another town.
Stone stack or brick, get it looked at properly
Book a free chimney survey anywhere in Kirkby, Annesley or Nuncargate. We'll tell you what your stack is made of, what it needs and what it'll cost, in writing, before any work begins.