Condition ratings
Flashing is lifted beside a chimney stack that still looks plumb. Do the flashing and the stack share one rating?
No. Lifted flashing beside a chimney stack does not share one rating with a stack that still looks plumb. The flashing is the weather joint. Plumb describes the stack's line. A joint can be open while the brickwork of the stack has not moved. Rate, or read, each of those separately, and do not let a straight stack cancel an open flashing.
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?
Flashing is the metal, often lead, chased into the stack or dressed over the adjacent covering. Lifted flashing is an open joint that can let water down the chimney breast. Plumb means the stack still stands on its original line, which is a comment on the masonry, not on the joint. Those are different elements and they can carry different ratings. An open joint that needs repair but is not serious or urgent is rating 2. If the surveyor thinks water is already getting in and the defect is serious or urgent, that is rating 3, and you should get written quotations before legal commitment. A plumb stack with no repair currently needed can stay at rating 1.
Do not let the kinder number cancel the harsher one. The what to do now note advises you about the element that is rating 3, if either of them is. It does not invoice the seller to rebuild a stack that the report says is still plumb. Mortar fillets used instead of metal, and the soakers under the flashing, are often only partly seen. A part that was not seen is NI, not rating 1, and concealed parts are not guaranteed sound because the stack looks straight. When you ask a roofer for a price, say lifted flashing, and leave the stack's alignment as a separate line unless the report has tied the two together.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which rating belongs to the flashing, and which to the stack?
- Did you see soakers under the flashing, or only the lifted edge?
- Is the open joint serious or urgent, or a repair that is not?
What are the typical next steps?
- Price the lifted flashing, not a rebuilt stack, unless the report links them.
- Keep the plumb comment on the stack alone.
- If the flashing is rating 3, get written quotations before you commit.
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 leaning stack be rating 3 while the flashing is rating 1?
Yes, if the lean is the serious defect and the joint needs nothing now. Read the words.
Does a stain on the breast prove the flashing and the stack share a rating?
No. A stain shows water arrived. Ask which element the surveyor says let it in.