Chimney removal - options

holidayinn

Hi,

I know this topic has been covered countless times, however I can’t find anything that matches my particular situation.

We just moved into a semi-detached and paid for a basic survey.

On viewing we never realised the first floor chimney had been removed into the loft and held by a gallow bracket. It is still intact on the ground floor. Should the survey have picked up that the chimney had been removed from the first floor and into the loft? As I don’t think there is any building control approval for this.

We want to remove the first floor chimney, would there be any issue removing this? My only concern is that it may provide support, but surely the gallow bracket supports the stack? Also, the neighbour has removed their chimney on the back of this chimney, they most likely used gallow brackets to support but are currently away.

The other chimneys in the front part of both our house and neighbours house are still intact and supporting the stack.

Ideally I’d like to have removed the front chimney (ground floor to loft) and the rear (only ground floor) but I think this may require a steel beam and make the whole job much more expensive.

Next step would be to query with a SE.

Thanks,

EachPenny

holidayinn wrote: »

We want to remove the first floor chimney, would there be any issue removing this? My only concern is that it may provide support, but surely the gallow bracket supports the stack? Also, the neighbour has removed their chimney on the back of this chimney, they most likely used gallow brackets to support but are currently away.

You would need to get a competent person to inspect and provide suggestions on the best way to deal with this.

As well as being able to support a load (the weight above) walls also need lateral stability. The longer and higher a wall, and the greater the load, the more important it becomes to provide additional support to provide that lateral stability. One way of doing it is to make the wall thicker, another is to add a buttress which was once the common way of making church walls more stable.

In modern buildings lateral stability is usually provided by cross walls, but a chimney can also perform the same function (picture the chimney as if it were the buttress on the wall of a church). Therefore removing the whole of a chimney may result in the wall having insufficient lateral stablity.

Whether or not the ground floor part of the chimney is necessary to provide the wall with lateral stability can only be worked out by looking at the wall as a whole (and on both sides). So unfortunately it isn't possible to get a definitive answer without seeking the advice of a competent person

Hope that helps explain the need for getting professional advice though.

holidayinn

Thanks for your response EachPenny. You are right, I guess whatever I want to do I need to get professional advice.

I'm kind of setting back expectations and hopefully can remove the remaining ground floor chimney (with advice) and the front room chimney surround and leave it at that.

Should the surveyor have spotted the chimney being removed from the first floor up? I think my solicitors may have applied for a regularisation if it has been flagged? Do I have a leg to stand on in this instance or is it just buyer beware?

EachPenny

holidayinn wrote: »

I'm kind of setting back expectations and hopefully can remove the remaining ground floor chimney (with advice) and the front room chimney surround and leave it at that.

Should the surveyor have spotted the chimney being removed from the first floor up? I think my solicitors may have applied for a regularisation if it has been flagged? Do I have a leg to stand on in this instance or is it just buyer beware?

It is difficult to say for sure, it depends on the circumstances and also what kind of survey you had done - other people will have a better idea about that.

You are in a slightly better position than the owners of the house a friend of mine rents. In this case both the ground floor chimneys have been removed, along with one of the first-floor ones. The two join into a single external stack shared with the neighbours. Gallows brackets in the loft support the chimney where the first-floor part has been removed, but on the other side of the house there appears to be no means of support for the remaining first-floor level chimney. The floor-ceiling depth is too shallow to conceal effective gallows brackets. It would appear that this first-floor chimney is simply 'clinging' onto the party wall.:eek: