Chimney repair
across Kilkenny
City terraces to coalfield cottages. Free CCTV survey, anthracite flues checked properly before anyone talks about a stove, insurance claims handled start to finish.
Kilkenny burned its own coal for three hundred years, and the chimneys still show it
The Leinster Coalfield sat on the Castlecomer Plateau in the north of the county, and Deerpark Colliery outside Castlecomer worked until it closed on 31 January 1969, ending roughly three centuries of mining. What came out of it was anthracite, and for generations that is what households around Castlecomer, Ballyragget, Freshford and Moneenroe put on the fire, often alongside culm made from the fine waste.
That history is not a heritage note. It changes what we find on the roof, and it changes what you can safely burn today.
Anthracite is a low-volatile smokeless fuel. It burns hot and lays down very little tar, which is why a coalfield chimney often comes back off the camera looking remarkably clean inside. But it is high in sulphur, and sulphur is what attacks mortar. The result is a particular Kilkenny pattern: a flue with almost no soot in it, serving a stack whose joints have quietly turned to sand.
And there is a second consequence that catches people out when they go to fit a stove, covered below.
A flue sized for anthracite is not big enough for logs
This is the single most useful thing on this page if you are in the north of the county.
Under TGD J Table 2, a closed appliance up to 20 kW burning smokeless low-volatile fuel or wood pellets may use a flue of 125 mm internal diameter. The same appliance burning seasoned timber, peat or bituminous coal needs at least 150 mm.
Anthracite is a smokeless low-volatile fuel. So a house that has burned coalfield anthracite for fifty years may have a flue, or a liner fitted at some point, that is entirely correct for what it has always burned and undersized the moment somebody switches to logs.
What that means in practice
If you are in a Castlecomer-area house and thinking about a wood burning stove, get the flue measured before you buy the stove. Finding out afterwards means either paying for a 150 mm liner you had not budgeted for, or committing to burning smokeless fuel for the life of the appliance. Neither is a disaster. Both are cheaper to know about in advance.
Nobody can tell you which you have from the ground. It takes a camera and a measurement, and that is part of the free survey.
40,996 homes, and 1,415 of them without a smoke alarm
Census 2022 counted 40,996 dwellings in County Kilkenny, up 5% on 2016, with 15,425 owned outright rather than mortgaged. Outright ownership skews towards longer-settled owners in older houses, which is exactly the stock where a fire or stove is still doing real heating.
The number that ought to stop you is 1,415 Kilkenny homes recorded with no smoke alarm at all. In a county with this much solid fuel history, that is a lot of houses where a chimney fire would be discovered by smell rather than by an alarm.
Nationally, the older housing is where solid fuel and oil still dominate: 41% of homes built before 1919 use oil as their main heating, against 9% of homes built since 2016. Older housing means older flues, and older flues are the ones built for one fuel and later asked to carry another.
Figures from the CSO's Census 2022 housing results for Kilkenny.
Why Kilkenny chimneys fail, and where
Sulphate attack, accelerated
Sulphates from burning coal soak into the mortar joints of an unlined flue and react with the cement, expanding it. Joints swell, the stack grows unevenly and it leans, nearly always away from the prevailing wind because that face stays wet longest. In the coalfield parishes this is the dominant failure, and it is why a stack can look sound from the road and be finished up close.
Flaunching, the cheapest thing to fix and the most often left
Flaunching is the sloped mortar cap that beds the pots and sheds water. It is the most exposed mortar on the building and the first to go. Once it cracks, rain runs down inside the brickwork instead of off the top, and the first sign indoors is a damp patch on the chimney breast upstairs. Caught early it is a small job. Left three winters it becomes the partial rebuild.
City terraces and shared stacks
Kilkenny City's older core is dense and terraced, and long runs of it have stacks serving two or more houses with flues side by side behind a party wall. When the parging between them breaks down, the flues start sharing air. That is how somebody ends up smelling a neighbour's fire, and in the worst case how combustion products cross between houses. A smoke test finds it quickly.
Kilkenny limestone, and why it behaves differently to brick
A lot of older Kilkenny building is local limestone rather than brick. Limestone is dense and durable, and it generally outlasts the mortar around it by a wide margin. That is good news and it has a catch: on a limestone stack the stone is usually fine and the joints are the problem, so the right repair is frequently raking out and repointing in a suitable lime-based mortar rather than a rebuild. Anybody quoting a full rebuild on a sound limestone stack is worth a second opinion.
One more thing specific to old coalfield houses. Because anthracite leaves so little tar, these chimneys often pass a casual look. A sweep goes up, very little comes down, and everyone concludes the chimney is grand. The soot was never the problem. Ask for the camera footage rather than the weight of the bag.
And a note on limestone specifically, since so much of the older county is built of it. Portland cement mortar is harder than the stone it sits between, so on a limestone stack a cement repoint tends to push the damage into the stone rather than protecting it. A lime-based mortar is softer than the limestone and gives way first, which is the behaviour you actually want. It is why repointing an old Kilkenny stack is not the same job as repointing a 1970s brick one, and why it is worth asking what mortar somebody intends to use.
What chimney damage looks like from inside the house
- →A damp patch high on the chimney breast. Flaunching or flashing. It shows after heavy rain and fades between, which is how people live with it for a year.
- →Mortar dust or sand at the base of the stack. On a coalfield chimney this is the sulphate tell. The joints are giving up.
- →Smelling a neighbour's fire. In a terrace that means flues are sharing air through a failed party wall.
- →The stack looks off plumb from the garden. Sight it against the gable on a clear day. If it leans, stop using the fire.
- →A new stove that will not draw. Worth checking the flue diameter before blaming the stove, especially in the north of the county.
- →A roaring sound with no obvious cause. Chimney fire in progress. Ring 999, then have the flue inspected before it is used again.
If you are not sure what you are looking at, the photo-based damage assessment gives a straight answer before anybody visits.
Every type of chimney repair, done properly
Repointing a limestone stack. Where the stone is sound and the joints have failed, raked out and repointed in a suitable mortar. Far cheaper than a rebuild and frequently the correct answer on older Kilkenny masonry.
Relining. A stainless liner sized for the appliance and for what you actually intend to burn, fed from the top, connected at the appliance and sealed at the pot with a closure plate and cowl. This is where the 125 mm against 150 mm question gets settled.
Partial rebuild. Taken down to sound masonry above roof level and rebuilt. Usually enough where the damage is confined to the exposed section.
Full rebuild. To the roofline and back up, new flaunching, new pots, new lead. Single and double stacks are different jobs and are priced separately below.
Flaunching renewal. Cut out and recast to the correct fall, pots rebedded. Cheap, quick, prevents the expensive job.
Lead flashing. Proper code lead, stepped and dressed into the joints with soakers under the slates. Not a mortar fillet.
Fire and storm damage, with insurance handled alongside. See insurance and fire damage, or the main chimney repairs page.
What chimney repair costs in Kilkenny
Including VAT, labour, materials, scaffold or hoist where needed, waste away and the certificate.
| Work | Typical range |
|---|---|
| CCTV survey | Free with any repair |
| Flaunching renewal | €450 – €1,100 |
| Lead flashing | €600 – €1,400 |
| Relining | €1,400 – €2,800 |
| Partial rebuild, above roof level | €2,000 – €4,500 |
| Full rebuild, single stack | €3,500 – €8,000 |
| Full rebuild, double stack | €8,000 – €14,000 |
| Insurance excess on an approved claim | €200 – €300 |
Access is what moves the number in Kilkenny City. The medieval street pattern means a good many terraces have no rear access at all, so the stack can only be reached from the front, which means scaffold and a licence from Kilkenny County Council. A farmhouse outside Freshford with a yard to work from is a different proposition entirely. Say which you have when you ring.
Indicative only. An exact figure follows the survey, in writing, before any work starts.
What a rebuild actually involves
Access first. A yard or a field means a hoist and a roof ladder and the job starts the morning it is booked. A city terrace fronting the footpath means scaffold, and scaffold on a public footpath needs a council licence, which carries lead time. It goes in the quote rather than appearing later.
The stack then comes down to sound masonry. How far is decided on the roof, not from the ground, because the only way to know where the good work starts is to take off the bad and look. On a coalfield chimney that is often further than expected, since sulphate damage runs deeper than it appears. If so, you hear about it before the rebuild starts.
It goes back up in a sulphate-resisting mortar, which matters more here than almost anywhere given what these flues have carried. New flaunching cast to a proper fall, pots rebedded or replaced, lead dressed into the joints with soakers under the slates.
Then everything is cleared and goes on the van. The certificate is issued before we leave and the CCTV footage is yours to keep, which matters for a claim or a sale.
We handle the Kilkenny claim from start to finish
Storm damage and chimney fires are covered by most Irish household policies. Gradual deterioration is not. That distinction decides most claims, and it gets decided by how the damage is documented rather than by what happened on the roof.
Which is a particular issue on a coalfield chimney, because sulphate attack is by definition gradual. Where a stack weakened by decades of sulphate then loses its top in a storm, how that is written up is the whole claim. CCTV of the flue, photographs before anything is touched, a written report on the mechanism of failure, and an itemised costing in the format loss adjusters expect. Johnny deals with the adjuster directly.
On an approved claim you pay your excess, typically €200 – €300, and nothing else.
Worth saying plainly: no Irish insurer makes annual sweeping a condition of cover. Sweeping is worth doing and a record helps a claim, but nobody voids a policy over a missed year.
More on insurance and fire damage work.
What needs doing now, and what can wait until spring
Being told a €6,000 job is needed this week when it could safely wait eight months is one of the reasons people distrust the trade. Here is the honest split, with the coalfield-specific ones marked.
| Finding | How urgent |
|---|---|
| Leaning stack | Stop using the fire. Same week. |
| After a chimney fire | Do not relight until inspected |
| Mortar running out of the joints as sand | Advanced sulphate attack. Survey now. |
| Smelling a neighbour's fire in a terrace | Get it smoke-tested |
| Cracked flaunching, no damp showing yet | This year, not this week |
| Flue too small for the fuel you want to burn | Not a safety issue until you switch fuel |
The one that catches people is the fifth row. A cracked flaunching with nothing showing indoors feels like nothing at all, and it is the cheapest item on this page to put right. Leave it three winters and it is the partial rebuild.
Every corner of the county
Kilkenny's Eircode routing key is R95. Graiguenamanagh and the south-east are closest to base at Clonegall, roughly thirty-five minutes; Kilkenny City is about fifty.
One man, one van, his own name over the door
Johnny Roberts runs J.Roberts Solid Fuel Services on his own out of Clonegall, Co. Carlow. Ring the number and you get him. The person who surveys the chimney is the person who does the work.
There is no statutory register for solid fuel work in Ireland, so what is checkable is insurance, the work itself and the certificate. All three are available to see.
Chimney repair in Kilkenny. FAQ
My house always burned anthracite. Can I switch to wood?
Often not without changing the flue. TGD J Table 2 allows 125 mm for smokeless low-volatile fuel, which anthracite is, but requires at least 150 mm for seasoned timber, peat or bituminous coal. Plenty of houses around the old Castlecomer coalfield were set up for anthracite, so a flue that has served perfectly for decades can be undersized the moment you switch to logs. Check before you buy the stove.
How much does a chimney rebuild cost in Kilkenny?
Partial rebuild above roof level €2,000 to €4,500. Single stack from the roofline €3,500 to €8,000. Double stack €8,000 to €14,000. Relining €1,400 to €2,800. In the city, access decides a lot of it.
Does burning anthracite damage a chimney?
Differently rather than more. It burns hot and clean so it lays down far less tar than wet timber, but it is high in sulphur, and sulphates expand mortar over years. Hence the local pattern: a flue with barely any soot serving a stack whose joints have gone soft.
Do you handle the insurance claim?
Start to finish. CCTV, photographs before anything is touched, a written report on the mechanism of failure, and an itemised costing in the format loss adjusters expect. On an approved claim you pay your excess and nothing else.
My chimney is leaning. Is that urgent?
Treat it as urgent. Usually sulphate attack expanding the mortar over years, leaning away from the prevailing wind. It does not correct itself. Stop using the fire and ring somebody the same week.
What does the free survey involve?
About an hour. The stack from the roof, a CCTV camera down the flue, a check of flaunching, pots and flashing, and a look at the fireplace and any damp inside. Flue diameter measured too, which matters here. No charge, no obligation.
Why is there a damp patch on the chimney breast?
Usually failed flaunching, failed lead flashing, or an unlined flue carrying moisture into the masonry. A survey separates them quickly and they need different fixes.
Do I get a certificate?
On every job. Insurers ask for evidence of maintenance when a claim is made, and buyers' solicitors ask during a sale.
Is there a registration scheme in Ireland?
No. There is no statutory register for solid fuel work in the Republic. HETAS withdrew from Ireland in March 2022 and is a UK body regardless. Check insurance, previous work and the certificate instead.
Does my flue have to be lined?
Not automatically. TGD J requires the flue to be suitable for the appliance, not lined as a matter of course. Lining is needed where the flue is oversize, leaks between floors, or shows cracking on camera.
How soon can you get to me?
Graiguenamanagh and the south-east are about thirty-five minutes from base, Kilkenny City about fifty. Emergency work after a storm or a chimney fire gets same or next day where possible.
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Chimney trouble in Kilkenny?
The survey is free, and it includes measuring the flue. If you are thinking of switching from anthracite to logs, that measurement is the one that matters.