Chimney breast removed from ground floor only

littleteapot

This is just a hypothetical question as our chain fell through before our buyer had done any survey, but it looks like the chain might be coming back together now so the sale may progress.

I had been reading about the types of issue that can commonly be reported on surveys and one of them was building regs for chimney breast removal.

The house I am selling is a mid-terrace that has been in our family since about 1950, and owned by me for the last 10 years or so. I've known the house since I was a young lad, so about 35 years that I can remember.

It would originally have been built with a fireplace in the kitchen and lounge, with two separate chimney breasts one going up through the master bedroom where there is also a fireplace, and the other through the second bedroom where there is no fireplace. They then merge into a single stack in the loft.

The kitchen fireplace was removed, along with the chimney breast in the kitchen, and has been like that for as long as I can remember - so at least 35 years. However the breast in the bedroom above it remains. I assume it was 'cut off' somewhere between the kitchen ceiling and the bedroom floor.

However all the examples of chimney breast removal I can find on the internet show the whole breast being removed up into the loft, where large 'gallows brackets' and a lintel are used to support the remaining stack. Such stays would not possibly fit into the void between the kitchen ceiling and bedroom floor, so I am wondering how it is supported. As there are no signs of cracking/collapse after what is at least 35 years then it is probably nothing to be concerned about in reality, but as there is no documentation relating to the removal of the chimney breast I am worried that a survey might mark this as a major issue (rightly or wrongly) and cause problems such as recommending an invasive structural inspection.

 Any thoughts on this? Hopefully I am worrying unnecessarily.

FreeBear

Depends on the size of the flue, and how much brickwork there is above. I have seen similar setups such as you describe, and the flue was corbelled in the void between ceiling and floor above. The flue only projected from the wall by some 200mm, with minimal brickwork above. This apparently was accepted by Building Control (presumably with an S.E. report).

In your shoes as a vendor, I'd get a report done by a structural engineer to confirm that the support is acceptable. You will (probably) need to lift a floorboard or two rather than punching holes in the ceiling. Or the S.E. may use a borescope which would only need a small hole drilled (8-10mm). With the report in hand, you will be better placed to counter any fears from a prospective buyer.

Keep_pedalling

You should get it looked at by a structural engineer. My next door neighbour did this without providing any support, leaving it standing on my brickwork, if I had done the same the whole lie stack would have come down. My new neighbours sorted it out with the major work they carried out before moving in.

dannim12345

We had this in the house we bought, no steel / bracket just ‘resting’ on the joists.  No visable cracks or issues but I believe if next door (if there is one) take out their chimney if could make yours unstable. And could come up on the survey as an issue. 

littleteapot

Thanks that's what I thought. My concerns are actually justified for once rather than just irrational fear .

I'll see if I can find an SE with a bore scope to go in through a small hole in the kitchen ceiling as this is easy to fill after, as this would be easier than removing the furniture from the bedroom and lifting the carpet, floorboards etc.