Lead flashing cost
How much does it cost to replace chimney lead flashing?
The short answer
MyJobQuote, last updated on 22 September 2026, lists £150 to £250 for a patch repair and £350 to £460 for full replacement without scaffold, or £700 to £920 with it. Treat them as national guide figures. Your own price depends on the stack, the access and the lead specified, and we state it in writing after inspecting the stack, as one total.
Typical UK figures for patching or replacing chimney lead, why scaffold can double the total, and what to look for in a quote.
The typical figures
MyJobQuote's guide to replacing leadwork on a chimney (last updated 22 September 2026) separates a patch from a full job. A patch repair is typically £150 to £250. A full replacement is £350 to £460 without scaffold, and £700 to £920 with it. These are national numbers from a third-party guide, so they describe the market and not your chimney.
The distance between the with-scaffold and without-scaffold totals shows how much of a bill can be about access instead of lead. A chimney reachable from a roof ladder sits at one end of that spread, and a stack needing full scaffold sits at the other.
Checkatrade's roof repair guide (table dated June 2026) lists lead flashing repairs at £50 to £70 per metre, and says its costs exclude VAT. For flashings beyond the chimney, our answer on lead flashing repair costs is the next page to read.
Patch or full replacement
A patch suits a flashing that is sound apart from one lifted edge, a small split or an open mortar joint. Lead is long-lived: MyJobQuote says flashing can last for over 80 years. So the metal is often fine, and the fault lies in how it was fixed or sealed. If the lead is sound but the mortar line it tucks into has failed, the answer may be to rake out the joint and re-seat the lead, which sits nearer the patch end of the range.
Full replacement suits a flashing that has cracked along its folds, been dragged away by movement, or been smeared with a sealant that has stopped working. It means stripping the old lead, checking the soakers and the brickwork behind it, and dressing fresh lead around the whole stack.
Which one applies is decided at the survey, with your own photographs laid out. Where a patch will hold, a patch is what we recommend. Our chimney flashing page shows how the system fits together, and stepped flashing on a chimney covers the side steps.
Lead code and what it does to the price
Each lead code is a set thickness and weight of sheet. Royston Lead's own brochure names Code 4 (1.80 mm, 20.41 kg per square metre) and Code 5 (2.24 mm, 25.40 kg) among the codes suited to flashings, and recommends Code 3 for lead soakers only.
A heavier code costs more to buy and takes more care to dress. The choice depends on position and exposure, and a roofer should be able to say which code is going on and why. If a quote is silent on it, ask.
Fixing matters as much as the sheet. Lead left loose, or held only by sealant, tends to lift at the corners, which is a common reason a flashing is replaced sooner than its age suggests. Our pages on lead code for chimney flashing and lead codes in general explain the options in more detail. Lead is also valuable, which is one more reason to confirm what is being supplied and fitted before the work begins.
Scaffold, VAT and other things that change the total
Scaffold is the biggest swing, as the gap in the MyJobQuote figures shows. Checkatrade's scaffolding guide (table dated October 2026) lists around £660 per week for a chimney, and a licence is needed where the scaffold obstructs the pavement.
VAT is the other swing. The standard rate is 20%, and cost guides frequently print net figures, so ask each roofer whether the total covers VAT and scaffolding before you line the quotes up.
Beyond those two, the price moves with the size of the stack, the number of sides to be flashed, the state of the brickwork behind the lead, and whether the soakers need replacing too. Our guide to scaffolding for chimney repairs shows when scaffold is needed and when a ladder will do.
How our quote works
We examine the chimney first, photographing the flashing, the soakers and the brickwork, and tell you plainly whether a patch, a replacement or something larger is called for. A full replacement is not recommended when a repair will hold, and we also check the slates beside the stack, since a lifted tile there can pass for a flashing fault.
A written price follows, in a single figure. It states whether the scaffold and VAT are inside it, so you know what you would pay, and the roof is left tidy when the dressing is done.
If the chimney stands on a listed building or in a conservation area, we explain the consent route before work starts. Our chimney repairs page covers the whole range of jobs on a stack, and a chimney leaking in rain describes the symptoms that usually send people looking for a lead price in the first place.
Related questions
Lead flashing price questions
Why is the with-scaffold figure so much higher?
Because getting to the stack is much of the labour. MyJobQuote's full-replacement range climbs from £350 to £460 up to £700 to £920 when scaffold is needed. A chimney reachable by roof ladder avoids most of that gap, which is why the survey checks it first.
Can sealant or flashing tape replace lead on a chimney?
Tape or sealant may hold for a spell, but it is a stopgap and no like-for-like substitute for dressed lead. We explain the difference at the survey. Our flashing tape versus lead page sets out how each behaves over time.