Chimney breast removal problems

pabloh999

Thinking of removing chimney breast downstairs, it would really open up the room. Its a 1950s semi d, internal wall shared with next door.
Is there any problems that could arise? Possibly dampness i am thinking

SeeZee

Thinking of doing the same. Did you get anywhere with this project

mrjoneill

BEWARE chimney could topple over, have seen it happen where it crashed through the roof killing the workman so engaged. The Chimney breast is the foundation for the chimney stack.

SeeZee

That's what I'm afraid of mrjoneill.
I have seen it done on a bungalow where an RSJ was put between two walls to support the chimeny breast in the attic.
Was that accident caused where the taken away all the way to the apex and a support added between the wall and the chimeny stack

A fella called fish

You MUST engage a structural engineer if you wish to remove a chimney breast. You won't find project specific structural advice online.

The chimney breast, as noted above, supports the walls above, but can also be a critical stabilising element for a building...so don't be stupid about something like this.

mrjoneill

SeeZee wrote: »

That's what I'm afraid of mrjoneill.
I have seen it done on a bungalow where an RSJ was put between two walls to support the chimeny breast in the attic.
Was that accident caused where the taken away all the way to the apex and a support added between the wall and the chimeny stack

I have no experience of this but it would seem to be the solution if you want to remove a fireplace structure, one starts at the very top and remove it from the top down piecemeal. In this case it seems that the stack is build into load bearing walls holding part of the roof and ceilings and floors if that be the case that the house needs to stay structurally intact. This is a mammoth task of supporting the structure while you define a new internal one. There is no quick fix solution.
As for the case I’m familiar with that caused the chimney collapse it was chipping away at the fire place structure to remove some of it so it was less proud.

sydthebeat

this thread has crossed the line.

Any works done to the structure of a dwelling requires structural engineering imput.

thread closed.