Potential Chimney Stack Issue

[jus001]

Hello,

I've started to gut my bathroom (single storey addition to a victorian terrace) and now all the plasterboard is off I can see where the chimney stack has been removed in the past and it doesn't look too good to me.

My main concern is that the lintel over the window is sitting on a single up-ended brick and a lot of the bricks above the window are quite loose.

Can anyone suggest the best way to sort this out please? Or am I worrying about nothing and should I just cover it up and forget about as whoever was responsible did last time?

Thanks!

J

 

[tony1851]

Why not just put a scratch coat of cement:sand render over the loose section above the window, and then cover the lot with plasterboard and skim and forget about it?

How long's it been like that? 5 years, 10, 15?

 

[ree]

Fair enough, to do as suggested above but there might be a few other things to consider:

why did you strip the walls?

1. you could examine all around that flue - outside and in the main house - for any signs of soot penetrating the brickwork.
Is the outside rendered?

2. does the flue go up to a stack on its own or does it join with a chimney breast in the main house?

3. are there any signs of decay in the timber lintel(s)?
is that a brick or a sawn off timber on the right side below the lintel bearing?

4. best practice is to wire brush off any soot and make sure that the flue is swept, & vented top and bottom.
The fireplace area should be "cleaned out".

5. in spite of the disturbed brickwork there are lots of headers in the brick panel above the window to keep the bricks tied in.

6. best practice would be to brick up the opening and replace the lintel(s) with modern lintels.
The window is not original, it was cut in at a later date.

7. research on here about flues and soot.

All my items are FWIW: so ignore and carry on or pick and choose. Nothing is going to collapse.

 

[jus001]

Thanks both.

Walls were stripped as I need to re-tile and the boards under the old tiles were wet and had their day. Planning on using marble tiles so need to replace with some Hardiebacker or similar for the extra weight anyway. There was a polythene sheet between the boards and battens/polystyrene sheet insulation which seems to have done it's job and the bricks are all dry.

It's just a mini stack directly above the flue - maybe 300mm square and extends about 400-500mm above the roof line. The fireplace has long since gone and the flue has been bricked up of sorts below what can be seen in the photos. The wall with the window is rendered on the outside and looks to be in good condition and the wall to the left is a party wall backing onto next doors bathroom.

My plan at the moment is to attempt to brick up what I can - mainly the bit around the lintel and then see how I do (not really done much brickwork before) and then try and render the wall to level it up ready for tiling (and help with the loose bricks).

Much as I'd like to get the lintel replaced and get someone to do it properly budget doesn't really allow for it at the moment.

How does that sound?

Thanks,

J

 

[ree]

13. there's some kind of reason for the boards being "wet"? was the "wet" localsed or general?

14. Rendering the exterior of a Victorian outrigger was done for a purpose - its not original.

15. seems like the bathroom was originally a wash house, and a boiler/fireplace was angled in the corner.

16. If bricking up then remove all the rubble from the old fireplace and take your brickwork from floor level with a ninety degrees inside corner, and brick up to the dropped ceiling.

17. best remedial practice for an old solid would be to have the interior rendered up in sand and lime (this will also give you a little more room).
Your marble will stick to the un-skimmed, rubbed-up surface. Use backer board at the window reveals.

18. backer board would be expensive, and its not at all simple to DIY install correctly on a wall.

Once again, they are only suggestions.

 

[jus001]

Just localised damp where water has got behind the tiles.

I guess without chipping the render away on the outside it's impossible to know what it's hiding. There was an old window that I uncovered and looks like there may have been an exterior door in the end wall so I suspect it was done to cover up the old bricked up openings.

The fireplace had already been bricked up below the level of the photo so have done my best to brick up the bit on the wall with the window and while I won't be getting a job as a brick layer any time soon it's a bit sounder than it was before. The other wall is a bit more tricky as the gaps seem to be half brick width (the course on the inside almost seems to be set into the one behind) so I think I'll leave that be and pretend it's not there!

Thanks for your help!