Chimney prices are hard to pin down, since one job name can cover very different amounts of work. Repointing can mean fresh mortar on a single bungalow stack reached from a ladder, or a tall central stack on a semi that needs a scaffold tower. A rebuild can be a few courses at the top or the whole stack down to the roofline. The figures below are typical UK ranges from third-party price guides, with the date of each guide. They are not Skyline prices.
What they do give you is a yardstick for judging a quote when it arrives. Our own written quote follows the survey and comes with photographs of your stack, as one total price. If you want to understand the jobs behind the numbers first, start with our chimney repairs overview, then chimney repointing, chimney flashing and chimney flaunching.
The ranges in one table
These are the published figures we use as a reference. MyBuilder's chimney repair guide was updated on 21/08/2026. MyJobQuote's leadwork guide is dated 22nd September 2026.
| Job | Typical range | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney repointing | £500 to £2,000, around £750 typical | MyBuilder |
| Chimney flashing repair | £250 to £1,200 | MyBuilder |
| Lead patch repair | £150 to £250 | MyJobQuote |
| Full lead replacement | £350 to £460 without scaffold, £700 to £920 with | MyJobQuote |
| Stack rebuild | £2,000 to £10,000+ | MyBuilder |
Read these as national spreads, not as what any one stack will cost. The survey of your own stack, with photographs, turns them into a written quote.
Repointing: what the range hides
MyBuilder gives repointing as around £750 in a range of £500 to £2,000, and then splits it by house shape. A bungalow stack is £200 to £700, a semi-detached side chimney £600 to £900, a semi-detached central chimney £900 to £1,500, and a detached house £700 to £900. The gaps between them come down to stack height, how many faces need working and how awkward the approach is.
MyJobQuote's guide disagrees, putting repointing at between £250 and £350 for a standard stack. Guides can part company for ordinary reasons: one may assume ladder access and a small stack, the other a taller stack and more preparation. If a quote falls well outside either range, ask what the job covers before you decide whether it is high or low.
What the mortar choice does to the price
Mortar suited to old soft brick takes more care to mix, apply and cure than a modern cement mix, so work on older stacks can sit towards the upper end. Our page on lime mortar for old chimneys explains why that difference exists.
Flashing and lead: priced by the metre or by the job
Lead work around a stack is costed in two ways. MyBuilder gives flashing repair at £250 to £1,200, a large spread that reflects how much of the junction needs redoing. MyJobQuote separates a patch repair at £150 to £250 from full replacement at £350 to £460 without scaffold, or £700 to £920 where scaffold is needed, with an average of about £570.
Checkatrade, which we cite only as a published cost source, gives Code 5 lead flashing not exceeding 150 mm at £50 to £70 per metre and stepped flashing at £80 to £120 per metre, excluding VAT. A stack typically has a front apron, two stepped runs and a back gutter, so the length of lead adds up.
Lead lasts. According to MyJobQuote, lead flashing fitted correctly lasts for over 80 years, and longer in the higher codes. A proper replacement while the scaffold stands often makes more sense than patching the same junction again within a few winters. Our guide to why a chimney leaks helps you decide which part is failing.
Flaunching: priced on survey
Flaunching is the sloped mortar cap round the base of the pots. It sheds water away from the flues, and a cracked or hollow one lets rain in around the pots. It is a small job in materials, but the stack must be reached to do it, which is where the cost sits.
For that reason flaunching is usually priced as part of the same visit as repointing or pot work, when the access is already in place. On its own, it is priced on survey, since the amount of work depends on the pots, the number of flues and the state of the cap beneath. Where pots are loose or cracked, they may need to come off and be rebedded; see chimney pot replacement for what that involves.
Why it is rarely a standalone job
Flaunching that fails often shows that the pointing below has failed too, because the same weather works on both. Fixing one and leaving the other tends to produce a second visit.
Rebuilds: the widest range
MyBuilder puts a stack rebuild at £2,000 to £10,000+. The top of that range is not a typo. A full rebuild on a tall stack with several flues, reclaimed bricks to match, new lead and a high scaffold is a substantial job. A part-rebuild starting at a stated course, with sound brick below it, sits much lower.
Prices climb with stack height, the number of pots and flues, the cost of matching brick and the amount of lead. They come down with a clear, level working area, sound brick lower in the stack and a single visit instead of several.
If a rebuild is quoted, ask whether it is to the roofline or from a named course. The answer changes the work and the price more than any other single detail.
The reasoning behind the choice is set out in our page on when a stack needs rebuilding.
Chimney scaffold and who pays for it
Scaffold is the cost that most often surprises people, since it can equal the repair itself on a small job. MyBuilder's scaffolding guide, updated 21/08/2026, gives chimney (high-level) scaffold at £400 to £900. Checkatrade, updated February 2026, gives chimney scaffolding at £660 per week. For comparison, MyBuilder puts a standard two-storey house setup at around £850 to £1,200.
A chimney tower and a full house scaffold are very different things, and it helps to know which a quote assumes. A rear stack might get by with a tower, whereas a front stack above a porch may need far more. Where the work runs past a week, the weekly rate starts to count.
Read any quote for the words scaffold and VAT. Some totals cover both and some leave one to be added later. Our answer on whether a chimney needs scaffold explains when a ladder will do.
Sharing scaffold across jobs
If the chimney work sits alongside other roof work, one scaffold can serve both. Mention the other work at the survey and we price the jobs together.
Why the same job costs different amounts
Two neighbours on the same street can be quoted very different sums for what sounds like the same repair. Height is the first reason. A stack on a bungalow can be reached with a ladder, while one on the ridge of a three-storey terrace needs a scaffold tower and a longer working day.
The number of faces comes next. A single stack has four sides, and a double stack on a Victorian terrace may have eight or more, each needing raking out and repointing. Then comes the state of the brick. Where bricks have to be cut out and replaced, the job changes from pointing to part-rebuilding, and the figure moves with it.
Condition, mortar and weather
Older stacks built in soft brick need a lime-based mortar, which takes more care to mix and apply than a modern cement mix. Weather also plays a part, because pointing cannot be done in rain or just before frost, so a job may be split across two visits. Mention any shared stack or party wall at the survey, since that can affect who needs to be told and how the work is sequenced.
What the survey adds to a published range
A guide figure is an average across thousands of different stacks, so it cannot know whether yours has a hollow cap, loose pots or lead that has lifted. The survey turns that average into a figure for your own house. The stack is inspected from the roof or a scaffold platform, with each face and the flashings photographed, and the brick, the cap and the flue terminals noted.
Those photographs travel with the written quote, which lets you see the fault the price is for. A hollow patch of flaunching or a crack across three courses is far easier to judge in a photograph than in a description.
Fixing the right fault first
Chimney faults tend to travel in groups, because the weather that loosens the pointing also cracks the cap and lifts the lead. The sensible order is to address the part that is letting water in, then the parts that will soon follow, so scaffold is paid for once. Sometimes that is one modest repair, and sometimes a larger one that spares you a second visit.
If the roof around the stack is also worn, tell us when you call. A few slipped slates or a tired ridge beside the stack can be seen and priced at the same visit, and the work can often be done from the same scaffold.
Reading a chimney quote
A written quote should tell you what is being done to which part of the stack, which materials are used and whether scaffold and VAT are in. If it just says "repair chimney", ask for more detail before you accept it. Photographs of the stack that show the problem are a good sign, because they give you something to check the description against.
When two quotes differ widely, compare what each covers instead of the totals alone. One may repoint the whole stack, another only the worst faces. One may include new lead and the other may leave the old flashings in place. A cheaper quote that leaves out the flashing is not cheaper if the flashing is what is leaking.
We keep our prices good and fair. What you receive is a single written total, sent after the survey with photographs of your stack. If repointing will do the job, repointing is what we put down, not a bigger repair. The 10-year workmanship guarantee is in writing too, and the site is cleared and waste goes with us.