Purlins Sat On Chimney Stack?

[Ben WW]

Morning all,

So I have had the chimney removed from the roof to below the roof line and now want to continue to take it out down the house, through the third bedroom etc.

As you can see from this image there are two great big purlins sitting on some brick work. My suspicion is that this brick work is in fact built up off the below wall line and not attached to the chimney and that I will be fine to simply remove the remainder of the stack without having to mess with the purlins at all.

I thought I would seek some advice from the experts though Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think.

My other question is, do Chimney stacks provide any lateral support or do the wall lines already support the main structure of the house...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Leofric]

My usual answer on these sort of queries is that structural alterations require building regulations approval which it would be best to obtain before starting work on site . That way , hopefully , you don't risk anything collapsing .
p.s . What do you mean by ' wall lines ' ?

 

[Ben WW]

My usual answer on these sort of queries is that structural alterations require building regulations approval which it would be best to obtain before starting work on site . That way , hopefully , you don't risk anything collapsing .
p.s . What do you mean by ' wall lines ' ?

Thanks LeoFric,

My existing wall lines I mean the main supporting walls that run through the house. As an older property, rather than stud walls, all the existing room separation is done by solid brick walls and then plastered over.

The below is the 'wall line' that I believe the purlins sit on.

I can't imagine that chimney stacks were used as support for a purlin as in my pics?

The question really is whether chimney stacks provide lateral support to the walls they are attached to?

The same stack has already been removed from the kitchen area on the ground floor and supported so the only real structure is the existing stack in the third bedroom and the small amount left in the loft space as per the first images.