How to patch up the purlin after chimney removal

[bottle]

Hi all,

I've just taken down the chimney in preparation for some building work. This has revealed that the purlin is actually braced by the chimney stack still in place, work stopped at this point.

The intention is to rebuild a wall between the two rooms once the chimney stack is completely removed.

What are my options here?

Can I join the two purlins together then add a new brace from there to the solid wall then remove the two existing braces?

Hopefully pictures illustrate better than my description.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[catlad]

One new purlin and one new purlin post somewhere in the middle seems
the easiest solution.

 

[chappers]

take out existing braces, get a bit of timber , similar dimensions to the purlin and fix it underneath spanning the gap and then fit your prop as proposed

 

[^woody^]

Are the purlins in line with each other?