41 Newington Road, Newington Road | Restoration Case Study

Our role: Specialist masonry contractor
Client: Private client
Value: Under £0.5m
Programme: From June 2012
Scope: Chimney stack dismantling and rebuilding, replacement stone cope, flue liners, blocking of redundant fireplaces, lime repointing of skews

41 Newington Road is a stone-built Edinburgh tenement on one of the city's main southside routes. Its tall gable chimney stack carries twelve clay cans and sits above a long concrete-capped stack of ashlar and rubble masonry. A private client instructed us to take the stack down in controlled sections and rebuild it, working from the existing scaffold at roof level above a busy street.

The challenge

The stack was a large, exposed mass of masonry at the very top of the building. Its cast concrete cope was heavy and the stonework beneath it, a mix of ashlar and dabbed rubble, needed to be opened up to be rebuilt soundly. Twelve flues ran up through it, so loose material had to be kept out of the flues, and the cans had to be saved for reuse. Everything had to be handled at roof level, lifted by hoist and kept clear of the street below, with replacement materials needing to match the existing stone and mortar.

Our solution

The stack was taken down in small sections so that disturbance stayed local and the work could be sequenced safely at height. The old shuttered cement cope was removed from site and the twelve clay cans were set aside for reuse, with balloons placed in the flues to stop falling masonry. Ashlar was taken down and reinstated, and the front rubble masonry was stripped and rebuilt using the existing stone, with stainless steel ties and new stone worked in where original units could not be reused. New blockwork bridges were built to carry the new cope, which was formed in dimensioned pre-cast stone with reinforcement bars, and the cans were refixed on completion. Type A1 flue liners were allowed for the two chimneys, redundant open fireplaces were blocked with boarding and dust sheets, and the skews were raked out and repointed in lime mortar. Stone was ordered from a specialist supplier to suit the existing masonry.

Outcomes

Stack rebuilt in sections

The gable chimney was dismantled and reinstated in small stages, keeping the work controlled at roof level.

Existing stone reused

Original ashlar and rubble were retained and rebuilt, with new stone introduced only where needed.

Flues and cans protected

Flues were guarded during the works and the clay cans were saved and refixed.

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41 Newington Road