Chimney conversion in kitchen

[Tomandolia]

Hi all,

I bought a ground floor flat recently (converted house 1890's) and would like to opened up the chimney in the kitchen and put the cooker into the space. It's a massive chimney and would be a good way to use the space and I'm guessing I'll need planning permission as it is a shared building? I read that this is possible but you need to add supporting lintel above the opening. It has a sealed gas supply and I'm guessing we would need to get electrics put into the opening too. Any ideas of how much this would all cost?
Thanks
T

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

The traditional Victorian range fire breast has a brick arch with a scrawny iron bar to support the arch bricks. Normally at a height of about 5" or so. If your construction has all of this then you can go to this height without any extra lintels. Borrow a metal detector to see if you can find the bar. If you want to go higher then a lintel is required.
Frank