Are Victorian bricks worth salvaging?

[cjb]

Hi there, first post!

We have a Victorian semi, we want to knock through the morning room & kitchen. We are looking to take out a chimney breast in total, from the ground floor, first floor & stack.

Is it worth trying to salvage some of the bricks? We want to try anyway to use some to block off a doorway... anyone know how to go about it? Is it worth the effort do you think?

Any advice gratefully received, I'm a complete novice!

thanks .

 

[Tom.]

If they're interior bricks, they'll probably be very poor quality. Also bear in mind that knocking a chimney down could devalue you house.

 

[shaggy]

I'm all for diy and enthusiasm but as you say you are a novice, removing chimney breast and stack may affect stability of the house wall if not done correctly. It may be a good idea to discuss this with your building control office. As for salvaging bricks it should be easy to clean them up as they will be laid with lime mortar. I do agree with Tom about keeping the chimney though, and they can be a good way of providing ventilation.

 

[TexMex]

Have to agree with the other posts. A lot of work, quite expensive, potentially dangerous and probably reducing the value of your property.

If, having established the structural implications you do procede, you use a Club hammer and bolster to remove the bricks, one by one, working from the top. Then use a decent brick scutch to clean up the bricks. Preferably a double ended one with removable bits so you can have a comb one end and a flat blade the other.

You'll be surprised at how much material goes into (or in your case, comes out of) a chimney breast and a very large percentage of it, will be useless rubble. So you'll probably have to hire a few skips. You'll also have the issue of making good the floors and ceilings. This may entail ripping up massive amounts of flooring as the chimney breast is probably supporting at least some of the joists. Oh, and don't forget the roof and walls to be sorted. Then there are the hire fees for things like accrows roof ladders, maybe a scaffold tower etc..

I doubt that I'd do it. But it's your house, so it's up to you.

 

[chappers]

As Tom says I wouldnt bother most of them will be rubbish, If they were facing bricks then that would have beeen a different matter.

 

[cjb]

Hi guys, thank you very much for your replies.

I told you I was a novice - i certainly am to this forum, because I didn't make myself very clear - I am definitely hiring a builder to take out the chimney breast/wall etc - I am an enthusiastic decorator but I'm not going to do anything that might make my house fall down!! We do have to go through Building Regs and I will need gallows brackets, RSJ's etc. which our builder will sort out, I just wasn't clear about whether any salvaged bricks would be of value or whether I'll have to obtain some myself for the extra filling in work.

I completely agree that taking out chimney breasts etc. can devalue or alter the character of a period house, but I'm an estate agent and can promise you that the work I'm proposing will add value, not subtract it. My house has bucket loads of character, but like most Victorian properties, it has many small reception rooms and I would like to knock two into one, retaining 3 others. We will still be left with two other chimneys and four working fireplaces so I think the house will still retain it's period feel.

Thanks very much for your advice, it's very much appreciated.

 

[oilman]

...........I'm an estate agent.............

Grrrrrrrroooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn!!!!

 

[Tom.]

By the sound of it, what you're doing doesn't sound too bad. I've seen many rooms knocked through, with the fireplaces in-situ, and they always look.....daft. Mind you, I'm a big fan of keeping things as they should be

Are you knocking the entire partition wall down between the two rooms? Leaving it partially up won't actually create any more space, as you'll have 2 less walls to put a sofa/tv/table up against.

Bear in mind that chimneys are a very good way of ventilating a home, even if they're not used for their original function. Your builder should be able to advise you on that. Also, check what mortar/plaster your house uses. If its lime (and it almost certainly will be), insist that your builder use the same materials. Cement does not allow water through like Lime does, and as a result your walls won't be able to breathe - and you may suffer damp problems as a result. If he gives you some flannel about extra costs, tell him the price of a big bag of lime - about 3 quid.

 

[TexMex]

What kind of doorway are you going to block up with your booty. If it's internal, then:

you don't need to bother what the bricks look like, and they are not going to support anything, so you would most definately be able to salvage enough bricks to do the job. You would have to weigh up wether the extra work is worth the saving of buying other materials to do the job. Since you Estate Agents are rolling in it , I doubt it.

If its external then:
Assuming that the stack is coming down, as you state in your first post (so incidentally you won't need gallows brackets) you will probably be able to salvage enough face bricks to block up the doorway. This would be well worth doing, as you'll probably get an exact match with the existing brickwork. If you are leaving the stack in place (supported by gallows brackets) then it is anybody's guess what you are going to find in the structure of the breasts. It's quite possible that there will be a fair number of facing bricks that are re-usable, (but don't bank on it).

 

[cjb]

Thank you everyone.

Yep, I am an Estate Agent. Apologies in advance! But I'm a nice one, I promise - I'm leading a one-woman revolt against cowboys in the industry

Tom - I do agree with leaving things as they are wherever possible, but we have two young children and the house is just not workable as it is. We are doing our best to make it practical whilst still retaining the history.

We did briefly think about knocking the wall through and leaving the fireplace but we did decide against it - like you say, it would look daft, but it would also defeat our objective of gaining extra usable space.

We have also decided we are most likely going to leave the stack (negating potential brick supply !) so the ventilation aspect will still be in place.

TexMex - it's an external doorway that we'll be blocking up, so I will have to see if any bricks can be salvaged. If not, I'll have to search around for replacements that match.

When you guys talk about lime mortar - will that need to be used internally as well as externally?

 

[TexMex]

When you guys talk about lime mortar - will that need to be used internally as well as externally?

If the existing outer skin of your wall is constructed with Lime mortar, I would fill in the doorway with the same. This will allow a closer match to existing brickwork and also maintain the breathablitiy (is that a word?) of the wall.

The chances are, if it has been constructed with Lime mortar, then it will probably be a solid wall construction, so the question of which mortar to use on the internal skin will not even arrise (it is part of the external skin).

If it's a cavity wall construction, you could, by all means use a cement based mortar for the internal skin, (since you don't care what it looks like and you don't want water vapour coming out that side either), but the extra work of knocking up a different type of mortar for the inner skin would be a pointless exercise.

If you are talking about a separate wall inside the house, you should be safe to use a cement based mortar. This has the advantage of a quicker set time.

BTW, in case they try to con you that it is going to be more expensive, bear in mind that the price difference (about £1 per hundred bricks laid)between Lime mortar and cement based, is pretty insignificant.