The short answer
Yes. A chimney pot sits in a collar of mortar called flaunching, so a roofer lifts the old pot off, clears the old collar, checks the brickwork beneath and sets a new pot in fresh flaunching. Matching an old pot, fitting a cowl and the access to the stack decide how long it takes and what it costs.
A pot is the visible end of the flue. Replacing one is routine roof-edge work, provided the stack under it is sound.
How a pot comes off and a new one goes on
A chimney pot is a clay, concrete or metal tube that crowns the stack and carries the smoke clear of the roof. Nobody fixes it with screws. It stands in a sloping collar of mortar, the flaunching, which holds it upright and throws rain clear of the brickwork.
What are the steps of a pot replacement?
The old pot is lifted off, or broken out if it has cracked, and the worn flaunching is cleared away. We inspect the pointing in the top courses and the flashing beneath, since a fault there will undo a new pot quickly. The new pot is set level on the flue, then bedded in fresh mortar shaped to fall away on every side.
The flue opening must stay clear, and the new pot must fit it. A pot of the wrong size can narrow the flue or sit badly on the stack, so we measure before ordering. The work is done at height, so access comes first, whether that is a roof ladder or scaffold, and it is planned before the pot is ordered.
Matching old pots
A row of pots on an old terrace is part of the street. When one is replaced, a plain modern pot beside weathered originals looks wrong, and on a listed or conservation-area house the look matters for more than appearance.
Can an old pot be matched?
Often, yes. Salvage yards hold reclaimed pots in a range of shapes, heights and colours, and new pots are made in traditional profiles too. We take the size, shape and colour from your stack, hold the candidates up against the others, and agree the choice with you. Every reclaimed pot is tapped and inspected for cracks before it goes up, since a hairline split opens in frost, and a pot with a hidden flaw is worse than a plain new one.
On a listed house, changes that alter the building's character need listed building consent, and a different pot can be one of them. Ask Somerset Council's planning team before you order. Our page on chimney listed building consent sets out the steps. Matching the brickwork under the pot follows the same principles, so what applies to pots applies to the stack as well.
Cowls, caps and what goes on the pot
A new pot is a good moment to decide what sits on top of it. A cowl is a cap that fits over or into the pot to keep rain, birds and downdraught out of the flue. A flue no longer in use can be capped off, with ventilation left in the cap.
Should a new pot get a cowl?
It depends on the flue. A flue in use needs a cowl that suits the fire or stove, and one that is not used may only need a vented cap. Birds nest in open pots, and a nest in a live flue is a blockage. Our answer on chimney cowls goes into more detail, including how a cowl keeps nesting birds out of the flue.
If a sweep has been called for the flue, tell us. A sweep can say whether the flue is clear and whether it is still in use, which changes the choice of cowl or cap. The fitting is done at the same visit as the pot, so you are not paying for access twice, and the whole of the stack head is left tidy and sealed when we come down.
What decides the price and the access
A pot is a small part, but the price follows the job around it. The height of the stack comes first, then how we reach it. A pot on a low rear stack may be reachable with a roof ladder alone, while one above a front slope on a terraced street may need scaffold, and a licence from the highway authority if the scaffold obstructs the pavement.
What else changes the price of a pot job?
The pot itself matters: a plain new pot is not the same price as a matched reclaimed one or a made-to-pattern one. Beyond that, the price depends on whether the flaunching only needs relaying or the top courses of brick need repair, and whether a cowl or cap is fitted. If the survey finds loose pointing or tired lead nearby, we tell you, so you can decide to do it all while access is up.
The written price after the survey is one total. For a pot that has already moved, see what to do about a loose chimney pot. The chimney repairs page shows the rest of the stack work, and a picture of the stack top with the sky behind it helps us judge the pot before we visit.
More on pot replacement
Can a cracked pot be repaired instead of replaced?
A hairline crack in a sound pot can sometimes be left, but a split one opens in frost and the pieces can drop. We look at it close up and tell you which it is. Replacing a cracked pot while the flaunching is being relaid costs little extra, because access is already set up.
Do I need to replace the flaunching with the pot?
Yes, as a rule. The pot is bedded in the flaunching, so lifting one disturbs the other, and old flaunching rarely goes back well. Fresh flaunching, sloped to shed water, gives the new pot a firm seat and the top of the stack a sound seal.
The full picture: Chimney repairs in Taunton ยท More short answers