Putting shelves actually into a chimney breast

drummer_666

Hi,

There are old unused and I think blocked up chimney breasts in the house I'm buying.

It's the same layout as the house I'm currently renting that has a small hole cut into one of the chimney breasts and set of shelves there.

I'd like to that to my house. I'd also like to if possible 'cut' into the upstairs chimney breast from pretty much floor to ceiling, creating a series of shelves, leaving the sides of the chimney for support like in this photo



The chimney is on the party wall.

Does anyone have any idea if this is possible (even if on a smaller scale, say a 0.5m x 1m whole in the middle of the chimney breast) and ANY idea of cost. I've been searching online and can't find any info

muckybutt

You could do it yes, you will however need to support the chimney above by putting in a lintle of some sort. You will also need to block the chimney off to some degree but you will need to leave a hole in the chimney somewhere for it to breathe as otherwise you will get damp patches coming through.

Not really a diy job so I'd suggest a builder to do the work, price wise upwards of a few 100 quid

Leif

muckybutt wrote: »

You could do it yes, you will however need to support the chimney above by putting in a lintle of some sort. You will also need to block the chimney off to some degree but you will need to leave a hole in the chimney somewhere for it to breathe as otherwise you will get damp patches coming through.

Not really a diy job so I'd suggest a builder to do the work, price wise upwards of a few 100 quid

Would that require building regulations approval given that it is structural work?