Chimney Breast Removal

[Indy121]

Hi,

I had my chimney breast removed from my living room and the bedroom above and up into the loft around 2 months ago.

The stack is left in place and supported with gallows brackets. When I went into the loft, I could see daylight coming into the loft from the chimney. When I asked the builder about this, he said that he didn't have insurance to go up onto the roof and cap the chimney, but there will be no problem with leaving it open. He did mention a few drops of rain could come into the roof but it wouldn't be anything that could cause problems.

After some heavy rainfall last night, there is now a wet spot on the ceiling of my bedroom - so I am thinking I may have been a little naïve in believing the builder!

Any advice? do I just need to get the chimney capped off, or am I missing anything else?

Thanks for any help.

 

[wessex101]

When I asked the builder about this, he said that he didn't have insurance to go up onto the roof and cap the chimney, but there will be no problem with leaving it open.

Oh dear, that just screams "cowboy". Yes the chimney needs to be capped unless you wanted an indoor water feature. I would be inclined to get the gallows brackets checked to make sure he hasn't bodged them as well and check if gallows brackets are even suitable or whether a steel beam was required. Was it signed off by Building Control?

 

[^woody^]

Part of the process of supporting the stack off brackets is to close the flue off at the bottom too - with either lintels spanning between the brackets or a steel plate. Not just brackets.

You also need to be sure that brackets are actually adequate, as they are not always acceptable.