Chimney Breasts Removal - Two Very Different Quotes!

[dahokolomoki]

I’ve been getting builders to come and quote for a renovation project, and getting quite diverse quotes for one of the works – removal of two chimney breasts from the bedrooms.

As a background, the property is a 2-bedroom 1st floor maisonette, in an Edwardian terrace house that only has the ground floor flat and my first floor flat (with unconverted loft above). It’s also a London project – which I guess will make it more expensive!

The chimney breasts are approximately 1.8m wide and about 25cm deep, and I think the height of the rooms is approximately 2.6-2.8m high.

I'm getting a replastering and redecorating done for the rooms as part of the project, and those bits of the work are accounted for already elsewhere in the quote.

One builder has quoted £2700 total to remove both chimney breasts. The other builder has quoted £2250 for each chimney breast. So quite a big difference! Neither includes structural engineer fees, Building Control costs, or cost of any support structures that will be needed.

My question is – which is the more realistic quote? Is the cheaper quote underestimating the amount of work? Or is the more expensive quote way overcharging?

 

[par1sons]

Im assuming your having the chimney taken out from ground level to loft for that price whether it be the first quote or even the staggering amount of the second quote.

If these fees dont include BCO and structrual enginners fees i would get a few more quotes done.

However, you will be amazed how many bricks will come out of a chimney so you will need a fair few skips thats for sure.

Your supports will be steel gallow brackets or maybe some monster RSJs spanning your width but the BCO will tell you what they want.

My local council charged me £160 for BCO for a garage/carport extensions (midlands mind).

I removed a chimney breast myself 5 years ago from floor to loft and it was very hard going. BCO instructed i needed to install a steel gallow bracket which thankful my old man could make being an engineer so it cost me nothing. I reckon i used 5x 8 yard skips and drank 100 litres of water.

Get more quotes and for good sake get the quote your happy with in writing

Good luck

 

[dahokolomoki]

No, the quote is ONLY for the first floor removal - so the ground floor chimney breast is still staying. The quotes include putting in the support structure in the loft for the rest of the chimney stack (but not the actual steel beam cost).

My local council (Lambeth Living) charging £300 through BC per chimney breast. Expensive. But oh well, its London.

Oh well, I've now gotten another quote, which came in at £2500 per chimney breast as well. But then again, the last quote was way more than the first two for the other works as well. So I don't know what to do.

 

[CharlesLevy]

We're also in a terraced house in Lambeth. We want to take out our rear chimney breast (upstairs and down). We had a quote we were happy with to remove it (£3k including making good), but it turns out he was planning on using gallows brackets, and Lambeth have ruled these out.

We now need to get recomendations from a structural engineer before coming back to BC with a plan! I'm keen to remove the chimney, but not at any cost.

Does anyone know how much I should expect to pay the structural eengineerfor this work, or have any suggestion of how much more a fully engineered solultion is likely to cost?

Thanks in advance.

Charles

 

[stevebamford]

Just a thought but does the ground floor flat ever light in a fire in their fireplaces ? If so you might have a slight smoke issue if you remove the chimneys

 

[ln1234]

We had our chimney breasts removed 2 years ago, and had a nightmare with building control.

I would recommend very strongly that you get a structural engineer to draw up plans and for BCO to pass them before you get any builders in. The reason for this is that BCO rejected the SE's designs 5 times before they agreed on one. Luckily I was paying the SE a flat rate but they weren't best pleased at having to revise their drawings so much.

Once you have these drawings, your builders will be quoting on a like for like basis as they'll know the exact spec they need to adhere to.

 

[CharlesLevy]

Thanks for the advice, the issue is that we don't want to spend the money on the SE if we're likely to find out that the project is now too expensive.

After talking to what seems like a friendly SE today I think the most likely option will be mounting two steels the full width of the house (only 4.5m) in the loft and then using these to support the stack - something like this I guess - http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTPXkQun6QNO7zvdwJ_Ei4TISK7jNqoAVb-D5SYr1SPxsD8J7Ed

And sorry, I should have been clearer, its a little 2 up 2 down terraced house so we have both floors, and want the rear chimney out of both, but want to start using the front chimney - they join in the loft so that rules out taking the stack out and tidying up the roof!

 

[Alarm]

So your not insured?

 

[brendankiwi]

So your not insured?

No! I am non professional. I am a writer who is trying to scratch a living doing odd jobs. By negligence, I mean that I don't take charge of the carpenters work or the project. THe carpenter guarantees his work and I proceed to take the chimney down brick by brick. I have done this 5 times and know what is involved in terms of safety eg I know how to transport the bricks safely and how to handle tools. I think you can help eliminate all risks by complying with council rules and checking on the neighbours and supervising. Its like mowing a lawn... you don't need a professional to mow it... but you need to make them aware of the risks and see that they use the mower correctly.

 

[geraint]

So your not insured?

No! I am non professional. I am a writer who is trying to scratch a living doing odd jobs. By negligence, I mean that I don't take charge of the carpenters work or the project. THe carpenter guarantees his work and I proceed to take the chimney down brick by brick. I have done this 5 times and know what is involved in terms of safety eg I know how to transport the bricks safely and how to handle tools. I think you can help eliminate all risks by complying with council rules and checking on the neighbours and supervising. Its like mowing a lawn... you don't need a professional to mow it... but you need to make them aware of the risks and see that they use the mower correctly.

and you have no permission from the freeholder...

happy days....

 

[catlad]

cost more than £10 pound if I've got to get my ladders out

 

[fis297]

Please, please, please , If anyone wants to have any job done to their home would you please remember it is your home, So if you want a Pole, Turkish, Lithuanian, Latvian, or any other cheap labourer etc let loose on your house would you take into the consideration that health and safety is a big issue in the building trade its not all about how cheap, its about the correct and safe way of doing a job.
you do not let a laborer loose on your chimney for £500 pounds who has to hire the tools for the job and you as the project manager ? are you bloody mad ?
get a detailed quote, ask friends if they have had a similar job done and how much and get recommendations.
I am sure that you can find an eastern european who is capable but there are many local friendly builders like myself who have been in the business for years who has a mortgage and kids to support in this country who are willing and capable of doing the job at a reasonable price.

AND PLEASE THIS IS NOT ABOUT RACE. IF I COULD GO TO EASTERN EUROPE AND EARN 3 0R 4 TIMES MY COUNTRY'S AVERAGE MONTHLY WAGE IN A "WEEK" THEN I WOULD BE OUT THERE.

This is about keeping me off the dole, which i have never done in 27 years of being in the trade. i still enjoy the building trade and dont see why i have to change, as many of my co- tradesman have had to do ( even when i had no work as my wife has part time job , we just had to make do ) as for chimney removal it depends on size of job just like any other, so a "FREE"detailed on site inspection would need to be made (not send out numbers on these sites) so
to supply and fit brackets, steel joist, remove chimney, make good ceiling and walls and clear rubble i would say £1700 + (inspection first)

 

[rome]

.Interested in a quote how do I get your number?

 

[rome]

Interested in a quote how do I get your number?