Chimney breast / fireplace for cooker & hob

[AppleJuice]

Hi there,

I've recently bought a small maisonette and the kitchen needs some serious work, it is very badly laid out.

One thing that similar maisonettes have done on the same street is to go into the chimney breast and make use of the old fireplace to insert a cooker (but keep the sides).

I had a builder visit the property today and he inspected the stack in the kitchen, he seems to think that there is an existing lintel near the top which allows this to be done fairly simply, and if there is, he does not think that there is any need to involve building control.

Does any of this sound about right? No doubt he will need to reassess once the plaster / hardboard is stripped off.

I've attached a photo of the chimney breast in the kitchen, and a rough Paint3D working out of how the hob / oven would be inserted. I've also attached a photo of a similar property on RightMove.

The chimney is on a party wall. We are on the ground floor, and there is also a flat above us. I think the flat above has covered up the fireplace.

Do I need to get a Party Wall agreement? I've read conflicting information, my gut says that we probably do but equally we are only opening up 'the front' of the chimney breast, rather than altering the wall as such?

Any pointers would be very helpful. Thank you in advance - and yes I have read numerous threads on the same topic in this forum, I am still not quite sure, sorry!

 

[Bullet-Proof_Biscuit]

I'm doing this. You can open up the original opening, which will either be boarded over, or loosely bricked up, then you can look from inside at the brickwork and check where the lintel is, you'll easily tell. You can then remove the bricks below the lintel without issue. *The bricks blocking up the opening, not holding up the chimney!*

 

[frutbunn]

I did something similar, the kitchen originally had a range in the opening that had been bricked up to fit an open fire place, then bricked up even further for a gas appliance. I opened it back up and used the original lintol so no need for B Control, although it wouldn't have been much of a problem as I was the BCO for that area anyway.
I formed an arch though, by damping some plasterboard and laying it between to supports with a weight in the middle overnight, you can use multiboard and such like and just bend it but the plasterboard was for nowt, leftover from another job and there was no hurry.

 

[Bullet-Proof_Biscuit]

My fireplace to be opened up was just that, not originally a range, so I am concerned it will look like the below with a flue channel that will need to be removed and masonry above supported..

 

[AppleJuice]

I'm doing this. You can open up the original opening, which will either be boarded over, or loosely bricked up, then you can look from inside at the brickwork and check where the lintel is, you'll easily tell. You can then remove the bricks below the lintel without issue. *The bricks blocking up the opening, not holding up the chimney!*

Thanks for the reply, how's your progress going?

I think really what I need to do is take away the plaster and go from there. Lots of properties (of the same construction) have done what I would like to do so I am hopeful we can do it without too much issue.

I did something similar, the kitchen originally had a range in the opening that had been bricked up to fit an open fire place, then bricked up even further for a gas appliance. I opened it back up and used the original lintol so no need for B Control, although it wouldn't have been much of a problem as I was the BCO for that area anyway.
I formed an arch though, by damping some plasterboard and laying it between to supports with a weight in the middle overnight, you can use multiboard and such like and just bend it but the plasterboard was for nowt, leftover from another job and there was no hurry.

Useful to know. Assuming the lintel is in good order / isn't being touched, then I do not need to involve building control?

My fireplace to be opened up was just that, not originally a range, so I am concerned it will look like the below with a flue channel that will need to be removed and masonry above supported..

Oof, that's made me worried! When are you opening up your fireplace?

 

[frutbunn]

Useful to know. Assuming the lintel is in good order / isn't being touched, then I do not need to involve building control?

If there is an existing lintol B Control are not required, though I can only recall one occasion being asked to inspect anything like this, though I'm sure it wasn't the only one carried out.