Removal of chimney breast

ciderboy2009

Is it just the breasts that have been removed or have the actual chimney stacks on the roof been taken out as well?


If the former then, as Davesnave says, take a look in the loft to see if you can work out how the stacks are supported. If the latter then at least you don't have to worry about the stacks falling through the roof!

If you're unsure then it will be worth every penny to get a structural engineer in.

One of the chimney breasts had been removed in my house about ten years before we moved in. We had been here about 5 years when we noticed some odd cracks.

It turned out that the bracket used to support the stack wasn't strong enough - it ended up costing us around £2k to get it sorted!

thearchitect

Ciderboy is correct.


If the chimney stack has been removed then there is less cause for concern, insomuch as there would (or should) therefore be no unsupported masonry and the only questions might revolve around how the wall-face so exposed would have been made good.


If, however, there is still a stack then it has to be supported and the querstion becomes the adequacy of the arrangments. In the first instance a builder could comment however if he finds something of concern then I would tend to point you in the direction of a structural engineer. The latter will, in any event, be required to satisfy Building Control.

-taff

You can point out ot him that any prospective buyer is going to have the same queries so what you're asking for is not in any way being pernickety, you just want proof that the house sin't going to fall down [ that's if he starts getting shirty]

ck7ah

ciderboy2009 wrote: »

Is it just the breasts that have been removed or have the actual chimney stacks on the roof been taken out as well?


If the former then, as Davesnave says, take a look in the loft to see if you can work out how the stacks are supported. If the latter then at least you don't have to worry about the stacks falling through the roof!

If you're unsure then it will be worth every penny to get a structural engineer in.

One of the chimney breasts had been removed in my house about ten years before we moved in. We had been here about 5 years when we noticed some odd cracks.

It turned out that the bracket used to support the stack wasn't strong enough - it ended up costing us around £2k to get it sorted!

The stack is still there. The vendor has called the council to get someone in to look at it.

ck7ah

thearchitect wrote: »

Ciderboy is correct.


If the chimney stack has been removed then there is less cause for concern, insomuch as there would (or should) therefore be no unsupported masonry and the only questions might revolve around how the wall-face so exposed would have been made good.


If, however, there is still a stack then it has to be supported and the querstion becomes the adequacy of the arrangments. In the first instance a builder could comment however if he finds something of concern then I would tend to point you in the direction of a structural engineer. The latter will, in any event, be required to satisfy Building Control.

The stack is still there, a building inspector is due to come; not sure if its today or next week but the vendor wants to exchange on Tuesday which might not be possible.

ck7ah

-taff wrote: »

You can point out ot him that any prospective buyer is going to have the same queries so what you're asking for is not in any way being pernickety, you just want proof that the house sin't going to fall down [ that's if he starts getting shirty]

This is the exact thing i pointed out to the estate agents and she managed to convince him to get it done however he wants to exchange on Tuesday or he will pull out. Id be surprised if he can get it signed off by then.

-taff

I'm not seeing how pulling out if you don't exchange is going to help him. He'll be back in the same place and have to spend another few months sorting out another sale....and still have to find this paperwork that has mysteriously vanished.

martindow

Even if it's possible to check that the stack is adequately supported, mortgage companies often want a (pretty well useless) insurance policy to be bought.

Now that the local authority is aware, that will not be possible and it will need retrospective building regs approval which will not be in place by the middle of next week.

ck7ah

-taff wrote: »

I'm not seeing how pulling out if you don't exchange is going to help him. He'll be back in the same place and have to spend another few months sorting out another sale....and still have to find this paperwork that has mysteriously vanished.

Agree, if he pulls out, someone else will question it, we were very thorough with our research and pictures from the previous sale when he brought it were on rightmove showing the rooms with the chimney breasts, hence thats how i got suspicious.
We already knocked off £65k from the asking price however i wont want issues in the future with this especially if i decide to sell

ck7ah

martindow wrote: »

Even if it's possible to check that the stack is adequately supported, mortgage companies often want a (pretty well useless) insurance policy to be bought.

Now that the local authority is aware, that will not be possible and it will need retrospective building regs approval which will not be in place by the middle of next week.

Should i let the mortgage company know?
The homebuyers survey stated the chimneys were removed but nothing else.
I only made the local authority aware incase they had the paperwork and he just couldnt find it.