Wall Removal plan – is this going to work?

Hello everybody,

I plan to remove internal brick wall (IBW). This IBW touches chimney back wall (see photo), which is to remain and serve as load bearing wall for beams in the loft, so it’s important not to damage (break thru) the chimney wall.

The plan I have is as follows:

1. Remove plaster from IBW using SDS drill + chisel bit to see bricks and pointing

2. Starting from top (joint between IBW and ceiling)– remove the top front brick with angle grinder by cutting through pointing around it. Knock it off with mortar chisel.

3. Continue removing bricks one by one (using grinder + chisel) from ceiling to floor in the front column first, then from 2nd column, 3rd one and so on until the whole wall is removed.
s you see with this and/or suggestions for improvements (sequence of actions, better tools to use etc)

A slight concern I have is I don't want to remove the very top layer of bricks which pertrudes thru ceiling to the loft, but I'm not sure if I leave it - will the mortar between those bricks and chimney wall be strong enough to hold them in place or is it best to remove the top bricks as well to avoid them falling down?

Thanks a lot

A plan would be much easier to understand. Especially a plan showing what that bit of wall is supporting and how it relates to your chimney back wall. There may well be structural implications in removing that wall (to do with buttressing, supporting ceiling joists, that sort of stuff) so a bit more investigation would be in order.
Leaving the top row of bricks unsupported won't work- they will drop out eventually.
Exact method of brick removal- cutting courses out with a grinder will create massive amounts of dust (bad) but does reduce the amount of impact energy put into the wall (good). When you get to that stage you may find stitch drilling the mortar out much easier and safer...if it is lime mortar, once the first row is out the rest will almost lift out.

Thank you for this very useful feedback - appreciated.

oldbutnotdead said:

A plan would be much easier to understand. Especially a plan showing what that bit of wall is supporting and how it relates to your chimney back wall. There may well be structural implications in removing that wall (to do with buttressing, supporting ceiling joists, that sort of stuff) so a bit more investigation would be in order.

Click to expand...

Plan and photo from the loft attached. Briefly the IBW partly supports purlin going across the roof (see left sketch), but IBW lenth is only 1.1m while house width >5 m. Purlin also rests on principals (external walls). SE visited last week and said this IBW should be Ok to remove, but I'm still waiting for his drawings/calculations.

Finally, the whitish timber on photo is a temporal 4x2 support, screwed to old truss at top and the purlin at the bottom and also resting on the IBW (to compensate for removed leg of K-shaped truss, which was resting on chimney before it was removed down to loft floor level - now chimney is leveled with the IBW as seen on photo).

Thus we won't remove IBW before all support timber is deployed on the loft according to SE calculations, but will remove it eventually.

oldbutnotdead said:

Leaving the top row of bricks unsupported won't work- they will drop out eventually.

Click to expand...

Then we won't leave them. Shall I start from the loft then by
1) cutting thru mortar between chimney and top row of IBW with grinder, and then
2) from downstairs cutting thru mortar at the bottom of top brick row, then
3) taking the top row of bricks out (lifting them up) from the loft
4) and afterwards continue removing the rest of the wall from downstairs?

oldbutnotdead said:

Exact method of brick removal- cutting courses out with a grinder will create massive amounts of dust (bad) but does reduce the amount of impact energy put into the wall (good). When you get to that stage you may find stitch drilling the mortar out much easier and safer...

Click to expand...

Do you mean cutting out top course(s) with a grinder is good (safer) way to start but once those removed - switch to stitch drilling (+chiselling to help taking bricks out) for the rest of the wall?

oldbutnotdead said:

if it is lime mortar, once the first row is out the rest will almost lift out.

Click to expand...

It probably is lime mortar, the house is 1928 built.

That bit of timber marked in red is not a purlin, it is a joist- not under a great deal of load either.
So your plan is to end up with the chimney as a freestanding column in the middle? Odd but up to you...
Yes I'd start from the top and work down, less effort required. Start by removing an easy brick (in the middle of the wall) then work to each end- you may find that the wall isn't toothed into the chimney or the front wall at every course, where it is the grinder with diamond disk (if you have room to use it) will give you a clean cut and less risk of moving bricks in the chimney and front wall. Be warned, this creates lots of dust- if you can rig up a Killaspray firing water mist at the cutting area you'll be able to see what you're doing.

oldbutnotdead said:

So your plan is to end up with the chimney as a freestanding column in the middle? Odd but up to you...

Click to expand...

Looks like I didn't explain it properly. Better sketch attached. Briefly - Lounge and Hallway have a common wall - the chimney back wall (CBW) + Wall To be Removed (WTR) attached to CBW over part of its length. The chimney is fully within the Lounge and is to remain intact, and the extruision - is the Wall To be Removed (WTR) to make more space (i.e. Hallway width) for stairs to the loft. The stairs will be in the hallway.

oldbutnotdead said:

Yes I'd start from the top and work down, less effort required. Start by removing an easy brick (in the middle of the wall) then work to each end- you may find that the wall isn't toothed into the chimney or the front wall at every course, where it is the grinder with diamond disk (if you have room to use it) will give you a clean cut and less risk of moving bricks in the chimney and front wall.

Click to expand...

The mid brick will be constrained by bricks around it and hence can only be removed by lifting it up from the loft, while the top end brick on the front wall will be only constrained by one brick. So why do you think starting from middle brick is easier than starting from end brick? (first top brick on front edge of the WTR - see the photo in the 1st post).

oldbutnotdead said:

Be warned, this creates lots of dust- if you can rig up a Killaspray firing water mist at the cutting area you'll be able to see what you're doing.

Click to expand...

Thanks will look up for this.