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Chimney Words, in Plain English

The terms you'll see on a written price.

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Sixteen terms

Stack
The part of a chimney that stands above the roof.
Flue
The passage inside the chimney that carries smoke out. A stack can hold several.
Chimney breast
The part of the chimney inside the house, running up through the rooms.
Pot
The clay or metal tube on top of each flue.
Flaunching
The mortar bed on top of the stack that holds the pots and sheds rain.
Cowl
A cover on a pot to stop downdraught, rain or birds.
Flashing
The lead that seals the joint between the stack and the roof.
Apron
The front piece of flashing, lying down the roof below the stack.
Soaker
A small piece of lead under each slate beside the stack.
Back gutter
The lead gutter behind the stack, on the uphill side.
Lead tray
A sheet of lead built through a stack to stop damp tracking down inside it.
Repointing
Raking out old mortar joints and filling them with new mortar.
Parging
The lime render lining the inside of an old flue that has no clay liner.
Liner
A clay, pumice or stainless steel tube forming the inside of a flue.
Downdraught
Wind pushing smoke back down a flue.
Party wall
The wall between two attached houses. A shared stack usually sits on it.

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More on chimney repairs

Costs, leaks, mortar, flues and rebuilds.

Two brick chimney stacks with clay pots above a white gableWhat chimney repairs costEvery job, priced. Repointing is €300 to €1,500.A rendered chimney stack with lead flashing at its foot on a slate roofA leaking chimneyWhere the damp shows tells you where the water gets in.An old brick house with a brick chimney at each end of its roofRepointing a stackWhen new mortar is enough, and when it isn't.A period house with a chimney and pots at each end of its slate roofLining a flueFor stoves, tar and cracked flues. €800 to €2,500 fitted.A long slate roof with two rendered chimney stacksRebuilding a stackA lean, bulging or loose bricks. €800 to €2,000 above the roofline.A row of houses with slate roofs and tall brick chimney stacksCapping and cowlsAn unused flue capped with a vent is €300 to €900.

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