Chimney breast removal

Katie_96

My partner and I are in the process of buying a house. We ended up putting an offer in £5,000 more than we really wanted to and as a result have had to top our deposit up with the money that was meant to be put aside for essential work. We've just had the survey back this week and there is a potential issue with the chimney. There's a front chimney that's shared with next door and a rear chimney that goes through the middle of the back rooms in the house. At some point, the chimney breast in the kitchen has been removed, but it hasn't been removed upstairs. It might be okay if the right support has been put in place, but it might not be. The advice we have received from a builder is it's worth removing it to save problems in the future. 

If anyone has had to remove a chimney breast on a first floor, it would be really helpful to know approximately how much was paid to get a rough idea. As I said, the vendor pushing us up to virtually the asking price has left us with very little cash to do this sort of job, so it could be something that forces us to pull out   

Doozergirl

There's literally no reason to take the rest of it out.  He's trying to create work. 

Even it isn't supported correctly (it probably is in some way) then the cost of getting it right could be about a thousand?  

Katie_96

Doozergirl said:

There's literally no reason to take the rest of it out.  He's trying to create work. 

Even it isn't supported correctly (it probably is in some way) then the cost of getting it right could be about a thousand?  

I have a tendency to trust this particular builder. He did a lot of work to my partner's parents new house. He did it to a very high standard at a very reasonable price, they don't think he's making much profit. 
He's been around (just for a look outside and around the back) and he think only the stack will need removing, not the chimney breast upstairs. That will reduce the weight and pressure enough. He wants a proper look inside at some point before he gives a quote though.  Removing just the stack though will save a fair bit and hopefully we can find the money for that from somewhere. 

Side note: The builder knows that if it costs too much, we literally won't be buying the house. Since we'd be getting him to do some other bits, he'd be losing work if he gave us a particularly high quote. He's not creating work for himself, he'd being reducing work for himself.

stuart45

The support needs to be checked first. If there is none removing just the stack isn't enough really.  There are probably thousands of properties around the country with this problem. When I was an apprentice, one of the old bricklayers told me he used to remove chimney breasts for people at weekends(without any support), as the bonding of the brickwork held them up. They often do hold up, but they also do suddenly fail and collapse.

Doozergirl

Katie_96 said: 

Doozergirl said:

There's literally no reason to take the rest of it out.  He's trying to create work. 

Even it isn't supported correctly (it probably is in some way) then the cost of getting it right could be about a thousand?  

I have a tendency to trust this particular builder. He did a lot of work to my partner's parents new house. He did it to a very high standard at a very reasonable price, they don't think he's making much profit. 
He's been around (just for a look outside and around the back) and he think only the stack will need removing, not the chimney breast upstairs. That will reduce the weight and pressure enough. He wants a proper look inside at some point before he gives a quote though.  Removing just the stack though will save a fair bit and hopefully we can find the money for that from somewhere. 

Side note: The builder knows that if it costs too much, we literally won't be buying the house. Since we'd be getting him to do some other bits, he'd be losing work if he gave us a particularly high quote. He's not creating work for himself, he'd being reducing work for himself.

It's nice that you trust him, but he isn't qualified in the slightest to tell you that!   Only a structural engineer is!  

You get a structural engineer in, they tell you if it's sound or if it needs supporting.  Then you ask a builder to do the work. 

Personally, I don't fancy even the weight of just the portion of chimney breast running through the height of one floor and the loft falling through my kitchen.      

Sorry, he is not qualified.  I wouldn't *dare* suggest what someone did without employing an SE first. 

How does your builder know what is in place to support the breast to then state that the support is fine as long as the stack is removed?   Has he lifted the floorboards upstairs or stripped the ceiling downstairs?  

MovingForwards

There's a bit more info in this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106052/negotiation-after-survey#latest

Doozergirl

MovingForwards said:

There's a bit more info in this thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106052/negotiation-after-survey#latest

Ta.  The builder has some interesting ideas about what buildings insurance is for as well.   If it's in a poor state of repair, it's not covered.  If it crashes through the roof, it'll be fun.  

macman

This is a structural modification, so the owner should have obtained Building Control approval. Can he produce the relevant paperwork? If not, assume it's been done without BCA and adequate support, and renegotiate your offer accordingly.