Leaking roof not fixed after £600 chimney work done

there has always been under felt even on old houses it was called torching lime mortar was applied & pointed up on every baton this held the roof tiles in place and stopped any water ingress getting to and rotting your wood work, over a period of time the roof tiles degrade the lime mortar disintegrates and lets water into the roof space rotting the trusses wall plate ect this is where modern under felt takes over and runs any water getting under the tiles into the gutter I would be very surprised if there is not some form of wood infestation in the timbers due to the age of the roof it will most certainly have nail fatigue, personally for the age of the roof its done well but it may now be time to bite the bullet and replace it £2000.00 seems very cheap for a new roof if that includes , building regs , scaffolding, and all new tiles & materials. you dont say what type of tiles are on the roof as different types are sealed differently, slates use soakers where as pan tiles use flashing's the fact your roofer has plastered it with tar based paint tells me he has no idea what is causing your problem as you are un happy with your current roofer it may be prudent to get at the very least a second opinion. not having looked at your issue its really impossible to make an accurate diagnoses, sorry to disagree but the only place that is showing water ingress is the chimney, that does not mean its the chimney thats leaking all that means is thats where water is collecting and showing, the leak could be coming from anywhere above or around the chimney and running down to the point its coming inside, you could drop the chimney below roof level but its not guaranteed to fix the problem your roofer has had a look at the roof tried different thing and they have not worked so he is now thinking its coming from some where else on the roof thats why hes telling you you need it felted , to say there is no other water ingress is a bold statement as you cannot always see any damage to wall plates or trusses without taking it apart by which time it has caused thousands of pounds of unseen damage to your timbers like i say nobody on here has seen the chimney or roof in question so its impossible to say what the issue is but a 90+yrs old its had a long life most insurance company expect you to replace your under felt every twenty five years despite the fact your roof tiles will last at least three times that long, put the job on the site and get a second opining from a local expert good luck Alex

I agree with what Alex has said in a nutshell, I think your roof would be original to the building which would make it nearly 100 years old and £2000 seems very cheap to me also his probably only priced to change battens and put new breathable membrane in... either way time to replace the hole roof and possibly think about taking the chimney stack down below roof level eg below the tiles especially if you aren’t using the chimney stack anymore as they can be a right nightmare when not in use to dry them out etc. I’d definitely get another roofer/company in anybody who covers their work or a roof in black tar or Aqua pole is a criminal who just committed criminal damage in my opinion, as their no need for it all, you only do that when you just don’t know what your doing. I’d post a job lead up on here and make sure you get proper roofing contractors out Regards Frankie BT Roofing Services That is a valid point that is why you should get a second opinion from a genuine roofer who can actually see the chimney in person to better understand what is going on, the fact you think new work was done and then just tarred over says to me new lead work probably wasn’t done or not to a good standard. the roof is incredibly old though you should really think about replacing it for new one you would get a lot of benefits from doing especially in the winter months with high moisture levels in the air etc, it will help protect the main woodwork structure better then before which is costly if it gets damaged from water ingress and goes rotten.

Hi. Without a photograph (or better seeing the job) it is difficult to assess. I can understand your frustration. I have been called out to many chimneys where work has been carried out and the customer is not happy. Is your leak actual running water or a damp patch? Has the 'leak' got worse since the work was carried out?

Felting the roof wont stop the chimney breast from leaking/ showing signs of damp. If it's the original chimney it Sounds like chimney is porous and needs a lead tray fitting. Not saying your roof wont need felting at some point in the future so you can either do strip the chimney down and fit lead tray and rebuild, if its not being used remove completely or do both chimney tray and re-roof at once, Hope this helps Dean

Could be a tray issue. Coat the brickwork in stormdry.