Chimney repair
across Wexford
Rebuilds, re-lining and fire damage, from Bunclody to Kilmore Quay. We're ten minutes over the county line, and we handle your insurance claim from start to finish.
Wexford burns more coal than
almost anywhere in Ireland
That is not a turn of phrase. Census 2022 records 10.6% of Wexford households using coal as their main central heating fuel, the second-highest rate of any local authority in the country, and three times the national figure of 3.5%. Only Donegal burns more.
The reason is straightforward. Natural gas never reached most of the county, just 1.2% of Wexford homes run on gas, second lowest in Ireland, against roughly a third of homes nationally. Two thirds of the county heats with oil. When oil gets dear or the evening turns cold, people light a fire.
Coal burns hotter and dirtier than most fuels, and the sulphurous by-products of a coal fire attack mortar joints from inside the flue. That acid damage is the single most common thing we find in Wexford stacks, and it is why so many chimneys here look perfectly sound from the road while crumbling internally.
Take the free damage assessment →Wexford chimney fires, 2024
Attended by Wexford County Fire Service
across the county
- Wexford Town 27
- Enniscorthy 9
- New Ross 8
- Gorey 7
In the same year the service attended 54 other house fires, so chimney fires were close to half of every house fire the Wexford brigades turned out to.
Why Wexford chimneys fail —
and where
Most people assume solid fuel is a rural problem. In Wexford the census says otherwise, and it changes where the damage shows up.
Coal is a town fuel here
Census 2022 puts coal-fired heating at 19.4% of households in New Ross, 18.0% in Enniscorthy, 13.9% in Bunclody and 12.7% in Wexford Town, against 7.4% in open countryside, where oil dominates. The old terraced cores burn hardest.
→ Acid attack on mortar joints
Old stacks, no liners
5,725 Wexford households live in homes built before 1919. In Enniscorthy Urban that rises to 27.3% of all homes, the oldest concentration in the county. Those flues are bare brick or coursed stone with no liner at all.
→ Fire and carbon monoxide risk
Salt on the coast
Wexford has around 246 km of coastline, 211 km of it soft coast. The Irish masonry standard I.S. EN 1996-2 has a class for exactly this — MX4, saturated salt air, with coastal masonry as the worked example.
→ Spalling brick, failed flaunching
A word about cement, because it matters on old Wexford houses
If your chimney was built before roughly 1920 it was almost certainly built with soft lime mortar. Repointing it in modern cement is one of the most common and most damaging things done to old Irish chimneys. The Department of Housing's own conservation guidance is blunt about it: a rigid cement joint prevents the thermal and moisture movement the wall needs, and the result is cracking and accelerated decay. The same guidance singles out chimneys as generally the most exposed part of any building, persistent wetting and drying, heating and cooling, wind, frost, and the sulphurous by-products of coal fires, all at once.
We repoint in lime where lime is what is there. It costs a little more in labour, and it is the difference between a repair that lasts and one that quietly destroys the brick over the following decade.
Source: Department of Housing. Bricks: A Guide to the Repair of Historic Brickwork
What chimney damage actually looks like
Every inspection includes a CCTV survey of the flue. Most serious damage is internal and invisible from the ground.
Every type of chimney repair,
done properly
What chimney repair costs in Wexford
We publish real ranges rather than hiding behind "contact us for a quote", but they are a guide, not a quote. Every chimney is different. The accurate number comes after Jonathon has been up and looked at yours, and what you get then is a fixed written price that doesn't move once the scaffolding is up.
| Work | Typical range | What moves the price |
|---|---|---|
| Flue re-lining | €1,400 – €2,800 | Flue height, liner type, access |
| Partial stack rebuild | €2,000 – €4,500 | How far down the damage goes |
| Full rebuild, single stack | €3,500 – €8,000 | Stack height, brick match, scaffold |
| Full rebuild, double stack / multi-flue | €8,000 – €14,000 | Number of flues, shared party stacks |
| Flaunching & pot replacement | €450 – €1,100 | Number of pots, roof pitch |
| Lead flashing renewal | €600 – €1,400 | Run length, roof type |
| CCTV survey + certified report | Free with any repair | Standalone reports quoted separately |
On insurance work you usually pay only the excess. Fire and storm claims are quoted directly to your insurer, so in most cases the homeowner pays the policy excess, typically €200 – €300, and nothing else. Worth knowing separately: Wexford County Council charges €350 for a domestic fire brigade call-out, including chimney fires, and notes this is normally covered by household insurance.
Why the double-stack range is so much higher. A double or shared party stack is effectively two chimneys in one structure, twice the flues to line, more brickwork to match, and usually a bigger scaffold to reach it safely. It is the single biggest reason two chimney quotes on the same street can look nothing alike.
The figures above are indicative ranges for guidance only. They are not a quote and not an offer. Chimney work varies enormously with access, stack height, flue count and the condition of what's underneath, and none of that can be judged from the ground. Jonathon gives you an accurate fixed price in writing after he has inspected the chimney, and the inspection is free.
We handle your Wexford claim
from start to finish
Jonathon deals with the insurer and the loss adjuster directly. You don't make a single phone call to the insurance company.
You Call Jonathon
Report the damage. We take it from there, you don't have to do anything else.
CCTV Survey
HD camera inspection inside the flue plus a full external assessment of the stack.
Certified Report
Written report with imagery, cause of damage and full scope of works, submitted to your insurer.
Loss Adjuster
We attend the adjuster's inspection in person. Scope queries get settled on the day.
Repair & Sign-off
Work completed, certificate of compliance issued, claim closed out with the insurer.
Most Irish home policies cover chimney fire damage as a sudden accidental event. CCTV inspection, relining, rebuilds, scaffolding and flashing included. Claims typically take two to four weeks from report to approval. Insurers including Allianz and the AA advise having your chimney swept every year, and policies require you to keep the property in good repair, so it is worth holding on to your sweeping certificates.
Read the full insurance claim guideEvery corner of the county
County Wexford covers 2,367 km², and roughly half its population lives outside any town or village, so most of our work here is at rural properties, not in the towns. We cover all four Wexford postal areas.
| Town / area | Eircode | Population | What we typically see |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wexford Town | Y35 | 21,524 | 19th-century terraces, shared flues, 12.7% coal-heated |
| Enniscorthy | Y21 | 12,310 | Oldest stock in the county, 27.3% pre-1919 in the urban core |
| Gorey | Y25 | 11,517 | Newer stock, only 3.5% pre-1919. Mostly stove and flue work |
| New Ross | Y34 | 8,610 | Highest coal use in Wexford at 19.4%, heavy mortar attack |
| Courtown | Y25 | 4,365 | Holiday homes, seasonal use, bird nests, salt exposure |
| Rosslare & Rosslare Harbour | Y35 | 4,042 | Most wind- and salt-exposed part of the county |
| Bunclody | Y21 | 2,053 | Ten minutes from our yard. 13.9% coal-heated, Blackstairs exposure |
| Castlebridge | Y35 | 1,850 | Mixed stock, Slaney estuary exposure |
| Ferns | Y21 | 1,317 | Older village core, unlined stone flues common |
| Kilmore Quay | Y35 | 447 | Direct coastal salt, spalling brick, failed flaunching |
We also cover Kilmuckridge, Taghmon, Ballymurn, Camolin, Blackwater, Bridgetown, Tagoat, Barntown, Clonroche, Oulart, Fethard-on-Sea, Campile, Duncannon, Curracloe, Carne, Kiltealy, Rathnure, Wellingtonbridge, Ramsgrange, Craanford and every townland in between. If you're in Wexford, we cover you.
The man behind
the business
Jonathon Roberts runs J.Roberts Solid Fuel Services from Clonegall, Co. Carlow, about ten minutes from the Wexford border at Bunclody. He does the inspection, he does the work, and he is the one you deal with from the first phone call to the certificate at the end.
No subcontractors, no call centre, no different crew turning up than the one who quoted. 49 Google reviews at 4.9 stars, and the thing people mention most often is that the place is left clean.
Chimney repair in Wexford. FAQ
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