Driving along a quiet street close to home the other day I just had to stop and walk back to photograph this chimney stack.  Scaffolding was up finishing off the verges after the roof had been re-tiled – a neat job – but the reasonably new chimney stack was full of moss indicating the structure is completely saturated.  This has clearly been ignored by the owner – assuming they know about it.

I’m sure it will lead to them blaming the poor chimney for the inevitable dampness below resulting on its removal instead of carrying out the correct maintenance when the ideal opportunity was provided.  Modern brick so it can be adequately waterproofed by a good cement-rich flaunching (mortar around the base of the pots) and re-pointing.

Advice to remove chimneys instead of maintaining them is gradually destroying the character of many street and even whole areas.  A visit to any small town which retains a lot of its chimneys completely changes the feel of the place.  And it’s not just visual as removing chimneys on gable walls still presents a weakness as the flues built into the exposed wall remain vulnerable but no longer has the ability for airflow to dry it out.