REBUILDING A CHIMNEY BREAST TO INSTALL A WOOD STOVE

frankg25 · 17 Jun 2009

I have a 1900's terraced house and the previous owners have removed the chimney breasts - possibly for a more "modern look" leaving the stack intact in the loft. I would like to rebuild the breast and install a wood stove in the living room - hardly rocket science you would have thought?

Do I need planning permission for the breast rebuild? and building control approval for the stove installation?

What a mine field, one stove installed said adamantly no you need nothing, but I'm not so sure.

I know how beuracratic the council is - with parking, refuse collection and just about everything else and I'm loathed to start a process I could have avoided. the property is not in any conservation area or listed in any way.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.[/b]

Ossy · 17 Jun 2009

You won't need planning permission but will need to notify building control. The breast that you'll be putting in for a stove will probably be bigger than what was there previously, so you might need some new foundations for it, as well as tying it in to the existing wall it will abut to.

stuart45 · 17 Jun 2009

One option is to use a stainless steel liner and then build the breast.

frankg25 · 18 Jun 2009

thanks for the replies I really appreciate it.

What does "tying" the new breast in mean?

I assume from the plastered up holes in the ceilings that the previous breast was 118 x 41cm.

I've spoken to a few builders and chiney people who have both been keen to start with but as the various discussions progessed have slowly lost interest and ended up looking at me like I was asking them to build me a time machine.

I personally don't think it's that difficult if I could find the right person. easier said than done.

Do I have to tell building control about the stove installation? I assume it's just the rebuild I have to informe them about.

stuart45 · 18 Jun 2009

Its the installation of the stove and its liner that Building control will be interested in, but if you get it put in by a HETAS engineer there is no need to go through BC. The chimney breast would then be just a decorative feature. If you want to put the breast back as it was originally, except with clay liners there is a fair bit more work involved. Tying in means the jambs into the party wall.

frankg25 · 19 Jun 2009

Thanks for the advice. do you know what jambs are and what they actually do? I thought it would just be a case of simply rebuilding the brickwork?

stuart45 · 19 Jun 2009

The jambs are just the sides of the breast built at right angles from the party wall. They are usually either 9 or 13 inch brickwork. Once the lintel is on the brickwork can be taken round in 4 inch work, and inside is built solid to the flue. Modern chimneys are built differently, and can be built with factory-made block systems such as Isokern..

frankg25 · 25 Jun 2009

I have spoken to the local council builidng control dept and they said to rebuild a chimney how it was before after it had been removed by a previous owner does not require building control noticing.

Would they put this in writing I wonder? because without it in writing it means nothing.

Has anyone else done anything similar?

frankg25 · 25 Jun 2009

when I say chimney I mean chimney breast inside the house

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REBUILDING A CHIMNEY BREAST TO INSTALL A WOOD STOVE

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