Chimney pots and the flaunching beneath them are so closely connected structurally that problems with one very often mean problems with the other, and on Redland's older Georgian and Victorian stacks, where both elements can be original to the property, this pairing is a genuinely common finding during an inspection. The flaunching is the sloped mortar fillet at the top of the stack that holds the pots in place and sheds water away from the flue opening, and its condition tends to dictate how stable the pots above it will be.
When flaunching cracks — which it eventually does on almost every stack, given how exposed it is to sun, frost and driving rain at the highest point of the roof — the pots sitting on top of it can start to work loose or develop a visible lean, since the fillet is what keeps them stable. A loose or leaning pot spotted from the ground is often the first visible sign of a flaunching problem that has actually been developing for some time.
Pots themselves are also prone to cracking through repeated frost cycles, particularly older clay pots that have absorbed moisture over many decades, and a cracked pot lets water straight down the flue rather than being shed away properly, compounding whatever flaunching problem may already exist. On Redland's period stock, pots are sometimes a distinctive style worth preserving or closely matching, rather than replacing with a generic modern equivalent, since the right pot can make a real difference to how the finished stack looks against the rest of the roofline.
Repair generally means removing the old, cracked flaunching, reseating or replacing the pots as needed, and forming a new mortar fillet correctly shaped to shed water outward rather than allowing it to pool anywhere on the stack. For chimneys no longer in active use, this is also a sensible point to fit a capped or vented terminal rather than leaving an open pot exposed to rain and nesting birds, which is a surprisingly common source of ongoing damp problems in older properties that would otherwise go unnoticed for years.
Cowls are worth considering at the same time on more exposed Redland properties, helping reduce downdraught and rain ingress while deterring birds and squirrels from an open flue, without needing separate access arranged later. Choosing the right style also helps the finished stack sit comfortably with the character of an older property rather than looking like an obvious modern addition.
If pots on your Redland chimney look loose, cracked or are sitting on visibly damaged flaunching, Brunel Roofing Bristol offers free inspections and can address both together in a single visit, with repair work carried out to a 15-year guarantee.
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