Chimneys and parapets
What should you ask if a chimney stack leans but the pots are still in place?
Ask whether the lean is in the stack itself, in the pot, or only an illusion from a wide-angle photo, and whether the flashing and the flaunching have cracked with it. Upright pots do not prove the stack is plumb. A lean is not automatically subsidence of the house.
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?
Stacks stand in the weather and they are the tallest, thinnest bit of masonry. They can lean because the mortar has weathered, because a pot has been poorly set, or because the roof around them has spread. A visual survey from the ground uses binoculars. It does not plumb the stack with instruments unless that was agreed, and it does not open the flaunching. The comment should say how much of the stack was visible.
Taking a stack down to the roofline, or rebuilding it, is a roofer’s and a bricklayer’s job, sometimes with scaffold. RICS does not publish a price for that, and a condition rating is not an invoice. If the lean is new since a previous photo, say so. If the house walls below are plumb, do not file the stack under subsidence without the surveyor’s words.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Is the lean in the brick stack, the pot, or both?
- Are the flashings and the flaunching cracked or pulled?
- Do the walls of the house below show movement, or is this limited to the stack?
What are the typical next steps?
- Take a square-on photograph. A dramatic lean in a phone panorama may be the lens.
- Ask a roofer what access they need before you accept a price to rebuild.
- Do not tie a television aerial tighter to a leaning stack and call that a repair.
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
Can a stack lean for years?
Some do. “It has always been like that” is not a structural calculation. Ask the surveyor whether they think it is progressive, and what they could not prove.
Does listing stop you taking a stack down?
If the house is listed, altering the stack can need consent. The survey does not grant it. Ask your solicitor and the local planning authority before anyone dismantles it.