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Chimneys are certainly on top of the commonly overlooked features when it comes to cleaning a house. This is quite understandable given the fact that they’re not readily accessible and not in plain sight, hence, home and property owners tend to overlook the relevance of any chimney cleaning effort. But this can be a grave mistake! The importance of having your chimney swept on a regular basis cannot be over emphasized and even more so if it happens to be on a wood burner. Not only can a dirty chimney constitute fire hazard, but when left uncleaned it can also give rise to blockages which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact, from 2014 to 2018, one of the top factors contributing to about 25% of home heating fires is due to lack of cleaning, mainly from solid-fueled heating equipment, mostly chimneys. Therefore, sweeping your chimney regularly is a safety precaution and when they happen to be on a wood burner, this exercise becomes a lot more important. With that in mind, the question that arises is just how often is sweeping of a chimney on a would burner needed?

Well, it’s strongly advisable to sweep chimney on a wood burner at least twice a year by a qualified professional depending on the usage. If you happen to own an oil burning fireplace, the same also applies. In other words, this means that regardless of the type of chimney you possess, the cleaning must be done regularly. However, most chimney would only need to be swept once in a year by a qualified professional.

In general, no – you don’t need planning permission for a Velux window. The Planning Portal says that you don’t need to apply for planning permission to install a roof window if the following conditions are met:

• A roof window must not protrude more than 150 millimetres above the existing roof plane
No roof window or any other alteration can be higher than the highest part of the roof or stand out above the roof ridge
• Side-facing windows must have obscure glazing to protect privacy of neighbours and, if they open, they must be 1.7 metres above the floor of the room in which they are installed

You don’t need to apply for planning permission for a roof window because they are covered under permitted development rights. However, if you’re a leaseholder or you live in a building where your local authority has made an Article 4 Direction, you will have to apply. Usually, an Article 4 Direction is made when you live in a conservation area where any external home improvements could affect the character and look of the area. Luckily, there are special Velux windows that are designed to be more likely to be accepted by your local planning authority. They’re called conservation windows and, although there’s still no guarantee that they will be accepted, they are designed to look more traditional. Even if you don’t need planning permission for your roof window, you still need to follow any relevant building regulations for your local authority. The most important parts for Velux windows are section J and section L of building regulations, which refer to energy efficiency, thermal insulation and fire protection.

A roof is one of the most significant portions of any property and they’re also the single part of a structure most vulnerable to impairment from the elements. If your roof suffers substantial damage over time, maintenances and re-roofing charges can be expensive, time-consuming, and stressful which is why it is imperative to keep your roof in sound structural and aesthetic order.

If a tile has fallen off from the top of your roof – you can expect to pay around £70-£100 to replace it including a different tile fitted in its place. Replacing a hip roof will cost between £4,250 and £7,250, the cost varies if you have a single valley or a double valley on your roof. For a new gable roof, you should expect to pay around £3,250 to £5,250.

What does it cost to replace my roof?

The charge of substituting your roof for a new one will be subject to the age and condition that it’s in, but usually, the cost of a new roof on an average property is around £5,500.

Some of the key factors to keep in mind when calculating the cost of re-roofing your house include:

• size of your roof

• type and size of the materials used

• shape and style of the roof

• If structural changes are required or not

• the roofing company hired

Tiled roof repair costs

If you are trying to prevent water from leaking inside your house for one or two tiles, then you can expect to pay between £100 to £200 to fix them and seal the leaks.

Flat roof repair costs

Minor jobs such as repairing flat roofs as well as sheds and garages or mending blisters can usually cost around £300.

Roofing job Price range

Replacing six ridge tiles £135-£260

Replacing six broken or missing tiles £55-£105

Cleanout of your gutter £35-£80

Replacing one right tile on rooftop £70-£100

The cost of a full re-roofing job can amount to around £3,250 to £7,250 depending on the size of your property.

Hip roof Cost range Length of time

Semi-detached home £4,250-£4,750 3-4 days

Detached home £5,250-£5,750 4-5 days

2 valleys – semi-detached home £5,750-£6,250 5-6 days

2-valleys detached home £6,750-£7,250 6-7 days

Gable roof Cost range Length of time

Standard £3,250-£3,750 2-3 days

2-valley £4,750-£5,250 4-5 days

Chimney liners are a very important component of the chimney, but the fact is most home and property owners either continue to overlook them or aren’t even aware of their existence. This is, however, quite understandable given the fact that they usually last a long period of time – more than 50 years. To ensure that they last that long, the question that arises is, do chimney liners need to be swept and cleaned? The short and simple answer to this question is yes, chimney liners definitely needs to be cleaned on a frequent basis. A chimney liner happens to be an essential part of your chimney. When it’s not cleaned, it tends to accumulate dust, soot and dirt which can give rise to a number of problems you’d rather want to avoid. Chimney liner are able to provide adequate protection to your flue but even at that the water, creosote and other contaminant build up can make the liner to deteriorate, and making it unsafe for usage. In other words, contrary to several belief, chimney liners do need the same amount of cleaning as chimneys without liners. Failure to sweep your chimney liners can give rise to the following problems:

• Creosote buildup. If your main source of fire is wood, then you’ll definitely have creosote present in your chimney. This is highly combustible and its buildup may lead to fire outbreak.
• Carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is said to be on the rise by NCBI and its primarily generated from heating systems which are terribly ventilated as a result of uncleaned or dirty chimneys.

The feasibility of this will depend on the roof’s strength, in particular its load bearing capabilities. This is simply because tiles are heavier than the metal sheeting. Normally a tiled roof will need to take a load capacity of 60kg per square metre. You will need a trusted roofing company to advise on this.

Roof tiles should be replaced as soon as possible to ensure that your roof stays waterproof. Use crawl boards when replacing them to avoid damaging other tiles, if not ask a qualified roofer to carry out the work, particularly if the tiles are higher up.