One flue over the cuckoo's nest

"The chimney stack is usually the last thing that is regularly checked and maintained but should be one of the first things surveyors consider."

Chimneys are often deemed to be things from the past, but they are still widely used and there is resurgence in the use of open fires, wood-burning stoves and gas appliances. They are very exposed to the elements but often overlooked because they are difficult to survey – they can also be the nub of many property problems.

Chimney breasts are generally split into three groups:

• wholly internal (on a party wall, usually back-to-back with a neighbour’s).
• three-sided (partly internal with the fourth side on an external wall).
• projected (three sides standing out from the building.

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Mike Parrett is a building pathologist, chartered building surveyor and founder of Michael Parrett Associates. He is an Eminent Fellow of RICS and the lead author on the Building Pathology Damp section of isurv.

[email protected] / [email protected]