chimney and knocking through to conservatory

Hello,

just wanted to get some feedback on an idea i am thinking of.

I have just bought a victorian semi and would like to knock through the kitchen into the conservatory to make one big kitchen diner. In the process i would also like to remove the rear chimney breast in order to make the most of the room.

First how expensive a job would it be for both jobs talking a ballpark figure.

Secondly when removing the chimney breast i assume it would be a very expensive job so is it possible to remove just a part of it?

Semi - if you wish to remove the chimney breast on the ground floor you have to consider what's supporting the weight of what you've left behind, ie. the chimney breast in the room above, what's in the loft and the stack on the roof. Victorian house ... your local council are unlikely to allow you to remove the roof stack so this will have to be supported on steel brackets inside the roof space. You are unlikely to have sufficient space in the floor/ceiling void above the ground floor room to install support there if you retain the breast in the room above.

Chimney issues aside, Building Regulations do not allow you knock through into a conservatory making it into one large room.

If you don’t have an external door fitted between the 2 rooms, the cons. looses its “temporary structure” status & must then fully comply with Building Regulations which it almost certainly won’t at the moment. The room will also cost you a fortune to heat is in winter!

Semi - forgot to mention in earlier post ... terrace Victorian house, is the chimney breast, etc. on the party wall, if so all sorts of added legal issues.