Removing a chimneybreast

[HOUSER1980]

Hi all. In my bathroom airing cupboard I have an old chimney breast. My bathroom is above the kitchen and I don't have a chimney in the kitchen.
The chimney seems to start in the bathroom and goes up all the way to the roof.
I want to remove the chimney in the bathroom to square the room off to fit a shower.
From what I can see every other brick in the chimney is built into the exterior wall. What is this type of brickwork called? Somebody mentioned pinned??
If I remove the bricks in the bathroom will the "pinned" bricks be strong enough to hold the rest of the chimney up? The chimney only comes out of the wall a foot and a half and it about the same wide.
Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[^woody^]

Bonded not pinned. Don't listen to that someone for anything else.

You won't know the condition of the brickwork within the chimney until you open things up. Normally it's very loose. Plus you have the flue to deal with and the support of the stack above.

Building regulations apply.

 

[blup]

Removing a chimney breast from one room can leave it unsupported above as may already have happened at kitchen level.

Can you upload pics including at loft level. You will need to involve neighbours if it is a party wall.

Blup

 

[HOUSER1980]

Hi here are a couple of picture. I've opened the front of the chimney and left the sides on. The brickwork is fine with no lose bricks. As your can see on the sides every other brick is bonded into the wall.

 

[blup]

Is it holding up much of a stack in/above the roof?

Blup

 

[HOUSER1980]

Inside the roof there is just under 2m of stack and on the roof we r talking 0.75m. See attached.

 

[blup]

Looks like a shared chimney from the different pointing on each half, not great condition. The toothed brickwork is less effective at supporting the front part of the flue, personally I would remove the stack and flue in the chimney, checking it doesn't affect your neighbour, how long ago was the ground floor breast removed?

Blup

 

[HOUSER1980]

Well I've had the house for 8 years and the kitchen was fitted 10 years before that so guessing it was removed around then.
So basically with toothed brickwork the sides are supported fine but the front needs support?

 

[blup]

Toothed brickwork is built into the front as well as the rear walls of the flue, meeting in the middle where it is parged to form the lining. But further up, the stack and loft section are only half supported. Your call.

Blup

 

[cdbe]

The higher up you remove the breast, the less support there is for the remaining stack. Its not that much of a job to properly support it, either with gallows brackets or a steel - and will avoid problems when you come to sell.

 

[HOUSER1980]

Yeah I think I will put a couple of gallows brackets in. Better to be safe than sorry.