Chimneys and parapets
A pot stands with almost no flaunching around its base and the stack is vertical. What is holding that pot, and what lean of the stack has not been claimed?
Almost nothing visible is holding the pot, and no lean of the stack has been claimed. Flaunching is the mortar haunch that beds a pot at the top of the stack. Here that haunch is almost gone, so the survey cannot point to a sound bed holding the pot. The stack itself is vertical, which means the inspection has not said the brickwork leans. An upright stack is not a fixing for the pot. The survey has seen a poorly flaunched pot on a vertical stack. It has not pulled the pot, has not claimed a lean, and has not proved the pot is secure.
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?
Pots are held by the flaunching and by whatever remains of their seating in the flue. When the mortar haunch has weathered to almost nothing, the visible holding is gone even if a stub of the pot is still wedged. You cannot know the wedge from the ground. Vertical brickwork answers a different fear, which is that the whole stack is out of plumb. This note refuses that fear. It does not transfer the stack's uprightness to the pot.
Ask a roofer or a chimney contractor to look at what still holds the pot and to reflaunch it if the bed has gone. Tell the solicitor the stack was vertical, so the note is the pot and not a leaning chimney. Do not let a quote for rebuilding the whole stack pretend the survey claimed a lean. It claimed the opposite about the brickwork: the stack is vertical. The holding of the pot is the open question.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- How much flaunching, if any, remains around the pot?
- Are you saying the stack is vertical rather than leaning?
- Did you test whether the pot is still bedded, or only look?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the pot as without a visible flaunching bed.
- Do not add a lean the survey has not claimed.
- Ask a chimney contractor to check what still holds the pot.
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 pot looks centred, is it held?
Centred is not held. The flaunching around the base is almost gone, which is the bedding the survey could not rely on. The stack being vertical does not grip the pot. The survey has not claimed a lean and has not proved the pot is secure.
Should the whole stack be condemned because the haunch is thin?
No. The stack is vertical, and the survey has not claimed it leans. The defect is the pot's missing flaunching. Rebuilding the stack is not what this note has decided. The holding of the pot is what still needs a proper look.