Chimney breast removal AND wall?

moneysaver1978

We are considering in getting a builder to look at removing the chimney breast and wall between the dining room and kitchen. The existing kitchen countertop against the wall could then become a kitchen island.



Probably a "How long is a piece of string?" but curious if any of you folks had done a similar project to your house. What sort of things we need to consider with the work involved, the costs, etc.? Is it a big project? Does it require the removal of the whole chimney stack all the way up to the bedroom upstairs and the loft? I don't think Party Wall Act plays a part here so we should be ok but do we need planning permission from the council (other than BC)?

We are thinking about this because we felt it would make the dining room a bit bigger, more airy and also bring in more light from the kitchen side.

silvercar

The short answer is it depends…

What is above? If it is still in place upstairs and in the loft, you are either going to have to remove it upstairs and in the loft or put in an RSJ to support the upper structure. You are going to need a structural engineer and building Reg consent. Unless it is a listed building you won’t need planning permission and I doubt you need part wall agreement as both sides belong to you.

Section62

moneysaver1978 said:

We are considering in getting a builder to look at removing the chimney breast and wall between the dining room and kitchen. The existing kitchen countertop against the wall could then become a kitchen island.

Probably a "How long is a piece of string?" but curious if any of you folks had done a similar project to your house. What sort of things we need to consider with the work involved, the costs, etc.? Is it a big project? Does it require the removal of the whole chimney stack all the way up to the bedroom upstairs and the loft? I don't think Party Wall Act plays a part here so we should be ok but do we need planning permission from the council (other than BC)?

We are thinking about this because we felt it would make the dining room a bit bigger, more airy and also bring in more light from the kitchen side.

You need a structural engineer or architect, rather than a builder.  You'd need structural calculations submitted for building control signoff.

Most things are possible for a cost, but you'll need professional advice on the feasibility of removing this wall for a sensible budget.  Walls with chimney breasts often act as the 'spine' of the building.  The breast makes the wall particularly stable, and that stability is often then used to provide lateral stability to other walls.

There is likely to be a structural solution that allows you to remove just the ground floor chimney, but it may be easier if the whole chimney can be removed (assuming it isn't shared with a neighbour).  This also has the advantage of freeing up space on the first floor and in the loft, and removes the maintenance liability external chimneys represent.  The work needed to stabilise and support parts of the chimney left intact is likely to be as disruptive as removing the chimney - so you probably won't reduce the amount of disruption by just having the ground floor done.

Removing the external chimney may need planning consent depending on circumstances.

moneysaver1978

Thank you, @silvercar and @Section62!

Looks like structural engineer is the first point of contact but good to know about not much difference between the removal of ground-floor chimney and the whole chimney stack in terms of disruption!

stuart45

Taking out both the wall and ground floor chimney breast puts a lot of weight on the bearing ends of the steels. When just the chimney breast is taken down, a certain amount of weight is transferred to the foundations via the wall. When that is also removed, everything goes to the bearing ends of the new beams.
There's a lot of weight in a chimney.