Magical floating chimney breast?

[ouchy]

Many decades ago someone decided to remove this chimney breast from my kitchen. They seem to have given up halfway through the ground floor and just left it there.

20220213_085138

• ouchy
• 13 Feb 2022

The stack was also removed and it's been capped. It's in a corner between a party wall and the rear exterior wall of the house.

Is this dangerous? Can I just take a hammer and finish the job? It only protrudes out about half a brick length into the room but I'd like to remove it to make space for kitchen cabinets and to get a bit more elbow room in the bathroom above.

 

[Mottie]

When we first moved in this house, the boiler was in the kitchen and it had its own chimney that went straight up and out of the roof. When we had a new boiler fitted in the loft and the kitchen remodelled, we took the chimney breast out of the kitchen. A few years later we removed the section of chimney from the loft and off the roof and made good the hole with reclaimed tiles. All we have left is the section on the landing and that's been hanging there for around 25 years.

 

[ouchy]

I did a bit more poking and it seems like there's a void about 4 inches deep behind the vent. Which also happens to about how deep the chimney breast is.

 

[ouchy]

Definitely goes back more than 4 inches, it was just full of crap, such as a copy of the Mirror from 1961.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Many decades ago someone decided to remove this chimney breast from my kitchen. They seem to have given up halfway through the ground floor and just left it there.

I would hazard a guess, that the small intrusion in the first photo, hides some sort of gallows bracket - which supports the rest of the chimney above. An heavy steel L bracket, fixed to the wall.

 

[ouchy]

I would hazard a guess, that the small intrusion in the first photo, hides some sort of gallows bracket - which supports the rest of the chimney above. An heavy steel L bracket, fixed to the wall.

I think you're right, it would explain why the vent is so high up too. The area under the vent definitely sounds hollow.

 

[ouchy]

What would be the plan if I wanted to at least make room for cabinets in the kitchen? I guess a gallows bracket higher up is probably a bad idea?

Outside looks like this

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I cannot really see how your last photo of the outside wall, can be of the back of that chimney, because in your earlier photos, the upper floor - the chimney appears to be somewhere in the middle of the house. Really jobs like this need to be reviewed by a structural engineer to assess what can and cannot be done.

 

[ouchy]

The chimney is in the back left corner of the house looking from the street. I also have a photo of inside the roof. It's just behind the red cylinder.

Getting an SE to look at before we do anything does sound sensible.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Getting an SE to look at before we do anything does sound sensible.

Yes, definitely - It looks as if it might be feasible to demolish it from the top working down, which once complete the bracket and etc. at the bottom can be cleared out of the way.

 

[tell80]

ouchy,

From what I can gather:
1. you could remove the soot stained triangle of remaining chimney breast in the loft.
2. then remove the chimney breast in the bathroom.
3. And then remove the "hanging" bit of chimney breast in the kitchen.

4. you can see a faint track on the outside where, over the years, the flue soot has penetrated the brickwork.

5. from kitchen to loft, the soot stained back/party wall should be wire brushed clean, dont attempt to wash the staining, & then use two coats of SBR to seal any impregnated soot into the brickwork.
6. the second coat of SBR is left tacky for rendering over.
7. the render mix to be 3:1 sand & lime, & a remedial skim.
8. dont use any gypsum plasters.

FWIW: you should not have a propane cylinder, empty or full, inside the house.

 

[cdbe]

It's just half a brick sticking out of the party wall and tied in at the right hand side - just take it out whenever you want, I'd leave the section in the loft but attend to the external pointing.

 

[^woody^]

A 100mm projection is fine

 

[ouchy]

I borrowed an inspection camera and drilled some holes in it to try and see more of what's going on but it turns out the whole thing is just plastered over brick. No gallows brackets to be found.

 

[tell80]

As I suggested earlier, in my unacknowledged post, simply take the chimney breast down from the loft to the kitchen - remove it all to gain the space you want. No need for a camera.