Chimney breast removal

[Jake2021]

Hi everyone

we live in a mid terraced house and upstairs we have two chimney breasts one in each room both on the same party wall, downstairs directly below the front bedroom chimney Breast is the living room chimney ( the living room chimney is a bit wider than upstairs.)

the other chimney Brest in the back bedroom below it is the kitchen but there isn’t a chimney breast?

we are wanting to remove all the breasts in which I was thinking of putting a steel Into the loft but not sure if I can put
One in there as I’ve never seen a chimney breast like mine before?

also I’m a bit confused why there isn’t a chimney breast in the kitchen ?

a structural engineer we be doing the calcs for the rsj , and already have the party Wall Agreement, also I know the use of galllows brackets aren’t allowed

the other issue I have is the partition walls between bedrooms are are studs between them and also the depth of all chimney breasts are different .

so if I didn’t put a steel
Into the loft I’m not sure how I could put it through the bedrooms


live installed loads of catnic sand rsj into supporting walls but only a couple of chimney breasts unfortunately not
Like mine lol

Any suggestions , info etc will be most welcomed

apologies for the naff photo !

Many thanks
Jake

 

[blup]

Your SE may be able to design steel supports which can be brought into the loft then bolted together. If not enlarge the hatch, or failing that crane them through the roof. At that stage you might decide it is cheaper to keep the chimney breasts as a feature. Get the SE to cast his or her eye over the other chimney.

Blup

 

[cdbe]

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but if the "spine" wall between the bedrooms is a stud wall then you will probably have to fit a steel post (of the top of the (masonry?) ground floor wall to support the inner ends of the two steels - you put two steels in, not one) in the stud wall. Your kitchen chimney breast has probably been previously removed and the first floor upwards may be unsupported!

The depths of the breasts in the loft look the same to me, what happens lower down doesn't matter.

You might be better off removing the entire stack and just patching up the roof - talk to your neighbour.

 

[blup]

You'll need something like these, which are bolted onto the party wall, not the spine wall

 

[cdbe]

The OP has already stated that gallows brackets are not allowed. I don't know whether he knows this or is speculating? As I understand it, they're generally not allowed where the wall is built with lime mortar, is only half a brick thick (both common with old terraced houses) or just not allowed by the particular local authority's policy.

His alternative is two steels resting on the masonry spine wall. If (as is fairly common with "renovated" terraced houses), the masonry spine wall has been replaced with a timber stud wall at the first floor then a steel post will be required to pick up the inner ends of the steels.

Personally, I think the two steels are "doable", but the extra work and cost associated with a post would move me towards just removing the whole lot.

 

[blup]

The OP has the party wall agreement in place but hasn't brought in the SE, who might assess that gallows bracket is acceptable, it's got to be considered on a case by case basis.

How can a post safely sit atop a ground floor wall?

Blup

 

[cdbe]

How can a post safely sit atop a ground floor wall?

Haven't a clue, job for an SE, but I would guess it involves welded brackets fixed to the party wall.

 

[blup]

Haven't a clue, job for an SE, but I would guess it involves welded brackets fixed to the party wall.

There's no sign of the OP, probably more sensible to open up the ground floor rooms and keep the chimney breasts as a feature.

Blup

 

[Jake2021]

Hi apologies for the delay I’m here lol just been snowed under with plumbing work as I’m a plumber lol

anyway to answer some questions

the house has lime motor as mentioned by someone above and the local authority here won’t accept gallows brackets anymore which would save a lot of hassle.

I have written to the landlord of the property next door as next door is privately rented asking if I can remove the full stack from the roof as it’s shared so awaiting their response

I couldn’t use a vertical due to no supporting walls below.

I suppose it could be done by putting a rsj all the way through the house in the bedrooms bolted together but that would just be a ball ache I think

I do appreciate everyone ls opinion and advice thank you