Removal of chimney breast in house

lovemotown

Ah, mine was from the downstairs dining room to ceiling level. It is still in from upstairs and through into the loft.Like I say, my neighbour has done his as well on the other side of the wall.

It was shored up by the builder downstairs but not with these modern techniques mentioned.

Like you say, I'm kinda hoping there wasn't any regs or requirement or whatever so long ago and that these worries are only over recent times?!

Do you think there will be a problem when a buyers surveryor comes out?

If so, is there anything I can do?

Worried now...........

Cheers

AMILLIONDOLLARS

lovemotown wrote: »

Ah, mine was from the downstairs dining room to ceiling level. It is still in from upstairs and through into the loft.Like I say, my neighbour has done his as well on the other side of the wall.

It was shored up by the builder downstairs but not with these modern techniques mentioned.

Like you say, I'm kinda hoping there wasn't any regs or requirement or whatever so long ago and that these worries are only over recent times?!

Do you think there will be a problem when a buyers surveryor comes out?

If so, is there anything I can do?

Worried now...........

Cheers

It came up on my survey and that was 11 years ago! They made it a condition of purchase to get it fix before they would release a retention against my mortgage. I had to get confirmation that the work had been done. I managed to negotiate a reduction in the price of property because of it.

Looks like 11 years on nothing has changed!!!


AMD

Milarky

I've got to say this, really; what sort of person would take out a ground floor chimney breast all the way up to the ceiling space and NOT fit supports?

wallbash

Lets NOT panic .:D

Lots of chimney breasts were removed over the past years ( I have done a few)

To give you some comfort. Chimney breasts are corrballed ( not the right spelling ) brickwork . So in the distant past the lower bricks were just removed.

Then we got a bit more careful and used RSJ or the Gallow brackets.

Then some councils started to object to the brackets.

So now its part ( well for many years ) of the Building regs.
But I know of some houses with no brackets and no RSJ , they are NOT falling down. Would I buy one , yes .... but would require a discount. Then I would put in a RSJ . Cost ?? couple of guys /three days and the price of the beam.

Not a fortune.

To the OP , if you like the house , get a £1000 ... no make that £2000 ( for the aggro ) knocked off the price.

mlz1413

years ago a colleagues neighbour held a party after he had knocked the lounge and dining room through.

Someone at the party commented that he had made a really good job of hiding the RSJ, after asking what an RSJ was the neighbour rang building control.

So Milarky I guess the answer is you just never know!

cherry76

wallbash wrote: »

Lets NOT panic .:D

Lots of chimney breasts were removed over the past years ( I have done a few)

To give you some comfort. Chimney breasts are corrballed ( not the right spelling ) brickwork . So in the distant past the lower bricks were just removed.

Then we got a bit more careful and used RSJ or the Gallow brackets.

Then some councils started to object to the brackets.

So now its part ( well for many years ) of the Building regs.
But I know of some houses with no brackets and no RSJ , they are NOT falling down. Would I buy one , yes .... but would require a discount. Then I would put in a RSJ . Cost ?? couple of guys /three days and the price of the beam.

Not a fortune.

To the OP , if you like the house , get a £1000 ... no make that £2000 ( for the aggro ) knocked off the price.

Going to ask vendors to sort it out. Will it be a messy job & will it need to be redecorated I mean part of the wall? Thanks

silvercar

Going to ask vendors to sort it out. Will it be a messy job & will it need to be redecorated I mean part of the wall? Thanks

Can work out cheaper to remove the chimney stack completely, than support it in the loft space.

mlz1413

cherry76 wrote: »

Going to ask vendors to sort it out. Will it be a messy job & will it need to be redecorated I mean part of the wall? Thanks

It will create dust but it should not be a huge job IF the supports are already there. If they aren't it will be a bigger job and so create more mess.

Yes it will need decorating as when finished it will have to be replastered, but if you intend to decorate then you could use this a bartering tool on the price.

wallbash

I read the OP that the chimneys are removed down stairs BUT not upstairs
( and therefore not in the roof space)

So really its a matter of lifting a few floor boards first , in the rear bedroom and or bathroom. So there 'might' not be such a big mess.

cherry76

No matter what cannot win. Made offer on house in good decorative order and now finds it is possible will need to re-wire. Damp has also been identified and needs to be dealt with, damp works has been done on the property and it has 30 yrs guarantee but company no longer exists. What ever I do, I will need to redecorate the house or walk away? It would have been ok if I bought a house who needs refurbishing but I made an offer on it because it is in good decorative order and I can just move in as it is. Thanks for all your advice.