Chimneys and parapets
The chimney stack leans and the rafters were not measured for spread. Why should that lean not be written up as roof spread by default?
Because the rafters were not measured, so roof spread is not the default. The chimney stack leans, and that lean belongs to the stack until something shows the roof pushing the wall. The survey has recorded the lean. It has not measured the rafters for spread, and it has not written the lean up as spread. A stack leans from its own height, its mortar, sulphate action or a poor base. Roof spread is outward thrust of the rafters at the eaves. Without that measurement, defaulting to spread names a mechanism the inspection did not establish. The finding is a leaning stack.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Spread shows at the wall head: eaves that have kicked out, ceilings that have dropped where the ties failed, and a crack pattern that opens at the top of the wall. A stack can do none of that and still lean, because it is a heavy column of brick standing out of the roof with its own faults. The surveyor did not measure across the rafters or record a spreading eaves as the cause of this lean.
Ask the surveyor whether any eaves kick or rafter measurement exists anywhere else in the report, and keep it out of this sentence if it does not. Tell the solicitor the stack leans and spread was not measured. A roofer or a bricklayer can discuss the stack on its own terms. Do not tell a lender the roof is spreading because the chimney is out of plumb. If spread is a real worry, it needs the rafters looked at, which this visit did not do.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you record a leaning stack without measuring the rafters?
- Is there any measured spread you are relying on for this lean?
- Should the note stay as the stack, not as roof spread?
What are the typical next steps?
- Write the lean as a chimney-stack defect.
- Do not default it to roof spread.
- Measure the rafters only if spread itself needs to be investigated.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the ceiling has a crack near the stack, is that spread?
Not by default. A ceiling crack near a stack can be the stack, the ceiling joists or the finish. The rafters were not measured for spread, so the lean is still not written up as spread on the strength of that crack.
Does a plumb stack on the other gable clear the rafters?
It says the other stack was not leaning. It does not measure these rafters, and it does not convert this lean into roof spread. Each stack is its own note. Nothing in this visit settles the leaning stack beyond the lines already set out.