Removal of chimney breast and supporting wall advice please

avenida

Hi

I am hoping to remove a chimney breast and supporting wall in a kitchen was wondering does anyone have any recommendations of who to get?

Do I need building control

Do I need a structural engineers

What has anyones experiences been?

What are the costs involve?

Thanks

Old_Git

avenida wrote: »

Hi

I am hoping to remove a chimney breast and supporting wall in a kitchen was wondering does anyone have any recommendations of who to get?

Do I need building control

Do I need a structural engineers

What has anyones experiences been?

What are the costs involve?

Thanks

you do need building control .

avenida

thanks but does anyone have any idea how much it would cost and where do i start?

A.L.D.A

You are making a structural alteration so you need the consent of Building Control. Could be done either by an application (preferred) or a notice. Seems like it is a few straight forward beam calculations and should be relatively simple. Any Architect, Building Surveyor or Structural Engineer should be able to do this.

Difficult to say about cost, as much depends on the extent of the work.

BatCat

Hi,
You will definitely need building control and a steel beam (to be designed by a structural engineer).
Whatever you do, remember to have the relevant chimney pot capped. I renovated a house recently where they did not and it was riddled with damp.
Cheers,
BatCat

s_b

you must get a building surveyor type person in to confirm what you would need to do
it might cost you £200 but hes insured if your house falls down as a consequence because your house insurance wont cover it

thefreckle

I did something similar to this last year (didn't do the chimney breast but took down a supporting wall). Looking back if I were to do it again here's what I would do:

1) Contact structural engineers and get prices for the calculations - definitely shop around. My first price was £400 + VAT and I ended up getting it done for £80 + VAT.

2) Once you've decided on a structural engineer, get them to come and do the measurements - if something's wrong with the measurements it could cause you hassle when the beam arrives.

3) Apply for building control (think it costs about £70 if I remember correctly). You'll have to submit the calculations provided by the structural engineer. Then you'll have to contact them again to get them to come out and visit the site while the work's going on - the one who came to me didn't come back to see it finished but still approved the work. The certificate comes about a week later.

4) For the beam, again, shop around - I ended up getting a second hand beam for about £80 + VAT. They cut a bigger beam to suit the length I needed and they delivered as well.

5) Open an account with a building supplier - I used McNaughton Blair. The builder can then get what he wants from there (you'll need things you might not automatically think of like padstones, fireproof paint for the beam, etc...)

6) Hope the floor on each side of the wall are even - mine weren't. The builder had to use a floor leveller before he could put down my wooden floor.

I have to say I don't regret doing it a single bit - there's no denying it's a hassle at the time but it's given us so much space and really changed the house.

Finally, to costs:

Structural Engineer - £95
Beam - £70
Builder - £1100 (including plaster for a day)
Wooden (laminate) floor - £300
Painter/decorator - £500
Building supplies - £200

A.L.D.A

thefreckle wrote: »

2) Once you've decided on a structural engineer, get them to come and do the measurements - if something's wrong with the measurements it could cause you hassle when the beam arrives.

I would let the builder do the measuring as he will be building it in. Don't cause confusion by introducing another!

avenida

thefreckle wrote: »

I did something similar to this last year (didn't do the chimney breast but took down a supporting wall). Looking back if I were to do it again here's what I would do:

1) Contact structural engineers and get prices for the calculations - definitely shop around. My first price was £400 + VAT and I ended up getting it done for £80 + VAT.

2) Once you've decided on a structural engineer, get them to come and do the measurements - if something's wrong with the measurements it could cause you hassle when the beam arrives.

3) Apply for building control (think it costs about £70 if I remember correctly). You'll have to submit the calculations provided by the structural engineer. Then you'll have to contact them again to get them to come out and visit the site while the work's going on - the one who came to me didn't come back to see it finished but still approved the work. The certificate comes about a week later.

4) For the beam, again, shop around - I ended up getting a second hand beam for about £80 + VAT. They cut a bigger beam to suit the length I needed and they delivered as well.

5) Open an account with a building supplier - I used McNaughton Blair. The builder can then get what he wants from there (you'll need things you might not automatically think of like padstones, fireproof paint for the beam, etc...)

6) Hope the floor on each side of the wall are even - mine weren't. The builder had to use a floor leveller before he could put down my wooden floor.

I have to say I don't regret doing it a single bit - there's no denying it's a hassle at the time but it's given us so much space and really changed the house.

Finally, to costs:

Structural Engineer - £95
Beam - £70
Builder - £1100 (including plaster for a day)
Wooden (laminate) floor - £300
Painter/decorator - £500
Building supplies - £200

Thanks for that, Im debating at the moment whether its worth spending that amount of dosh but you say it definetly is

Willyk

I have sent you a PM. Rgds, Willyk

thefreckle

A.L.D.A wrote: »

I would let the builder do the measuring as he will be building it in. Don't cause confusion by introducing another!

Fair enough, you could do that - the structural engineer I used included that in the price and if the builder gets something wrong (probably unlikely) then the structural engineer will charge you for any alterations as a result - whereas if the structural engineer gets it wrong then there'd be no additional cost

Avenida, I suppose it all depends on your own house/situation - I'd wanted to do it for a year or two and saved specifically for it. As I said I've no regrets at all - it might only be a 4" wall you're taking away but it frees up so much space.

One other thing - don't underestimate the costs after the builder has left - we bought a new suite of furniture, TV stand, coffee table, dining room table, pictures, curtains (the 2 rooms didn't match before), etc...