Chimney breast advice / help

aj9648

Hi

I’ve spent the weekend ripping out old wardrobes from the bedroom. There was a date on one of the boards of 1969 so looks like they date back a generation or two!!

Anyway I discovered a chimney breast at the back when I pulled it all down but oddly the bottom of the breast still had a massive hole in and looked like it was not supported by anything. Some pics and vid at below links - any advice of what I could do , it looks dangerous and structurally not sound but I don’t know much about chimneys !!

https://twitter.com/payrollexcel/status/1038453916806115328?s=21

https://twitter.com/payrollexcel/status/1038453903765987330?s=21

https://twitter.com/payrollexcel/status/1038454526917926912?s=21

FreeBear

I would concur with your opinion - It does not look structurally stable or safe. The cracks in the plaster would indicate that there has been some movement...

Does the chimneybreast continue on the floor below ?

If not, you will probably need to get a structural engineer in to advise and think about installing a steel to support the brickwork.

aj9648

Is there an option just to get rid of the breast

Got engineer coming tomorrow

alanobrien

Standard fix is gallows brackets with a steel, not to difficult or overly costly

https://www.blsurveyors.com/a-guide-to-gallows-brackets/

aj9648

Looking at the walls near there are some huge cracks in there which I’m worried about.

I’m also now concerned about the chimney in the main bedroom and if that is in the same state - again that isn’t behind fitted wardrobes and I don’t have the courage to dismantle them!!

stuart45

Have the chimney breasts below been removed?

aj9648

stuart45 wrote: »

Have the chimney breasts below been removed?

Yes the downstairs have gone

stuart45

Just as well you have an SE coming round. Gallows brackets can't be used in some cases, so steels may have to be used to load bearing walls.

aj9648

Would removing just the ground floor chimney breast need planning or building regs even if it was many many years ago? I’m just a bit frustrated we didn’t pick up before we bought the place or as part of the survey....as I am pretty sure the other chimney breast is the same as I can see anything supporting it from downstairs....

stuart45

Taking out a chimney breast has been something needing Regs for as long as I can remember.
It's something that became more common in the 70's, as before then chimneys were normally in use,
Years ago many of the older bricklayers I worked with considered it OK to take them out without any steels or gallows brackets, the idea being that the bonding in of the brick jambs was enough to hold them up.
They can last for years and then suddenly start to move, If yours is showing cracking in the masonry it's not a good sign.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF1pHzGkSC4

FreeBear

aj9648 wrote: »

I’m just a bit frustrated we didn’t pick up before we bought the place or as part of the survey....

Depends on what type of survey you had. If it was just a basic home buyer's survey with valuation for mortgage purposes, they wouldn't have looked in detail at any problems. Np lifting of carpets, poking behind floorboards or skirting, and so on. If there was nothing visible on a cursory look, it wouldn't be highlighted.

A full structural survey might have picked up on the unsupported chimney breast if the surveyor was allowed to poke holes in the walls (unlikely). A query with the local council planning dept. may have indicated that the work hadn't been approved, but many people do not think to ask.