Chimney stack removal (cancelled)

[Westholme]

http://oi68.tinypic.com/mvreav.jpg

The stack is halfway along the party wall at the rear of my house. My neighbour and I would like to see it removed. It's sad, I suppose, but there are no fireplaces at all remaining next door, just the chimney breast sticking out 12" and getting in the way both sides, especially upstairs where it is much wider than downstairs.

Can anyone recommend a good roofing company in my area? My plan is to have the stack removed and roof patched professionally, then remove the chimney breast below roof level myself. Am I right in thinking that building control do not need to be involved if the whole lot goes?

As you can see, the stack is 5 bricks long by 3½ bricks wide. (A brick is 9" by 4½" approx.) The original slates have been replaced with concrete my side and fake slate next door. I can get concrete ridge tiles to match, covered in moss and lichen, from a local reclamation yard if needed. There appear to be three below the flashing. The rooms upstairs have a partially sloping ceiling and if there were a hole in the roof in front of the stack, I could stand up in the roof space with the top half of me sticking out.

I don't know the exact dimensions of the flues. Is the party wall likely to be one brick thick right up to the roof ridge?

 

[Edward Ian]

A house without a hearth is not a home.
Why not re-instate some fireplaces? Even if you don't want to, others after you might. I would never buy a house without any fireplaces, or potential re recreate them.

 

[Edward Ian]

and... it's a fine looking chimney, complete with pots

 

[MikeG]

You don't need a roofer to do that. Any jobbing builder will do it perfectly well. It's standard stuff. The only difficulty is access, and the bulk of your cost will be in scaffolding.

Whether you should do it is another question. If the building isn't listed or in a conservation area then you won't need permission. However, do bear in mind that you will be taking down part of the party wall in your loft, and this will need to be re-built as a matter of priority. Not having a fire break between properties could cost you your life.

 

[88v8]

Mmmm, the past erasure of original features usually features in our Grumps thread when we have to try and reinstate them

Ivor

 

[Westholme]

Thanks for the replies. Some relevant points:

1. I'm well aware that removing original period features should not be done on a whim. I've lived in this house nearly five years and I know it and understand it now.

2. The house was built with three chimney stacks and seven fireplaces. Two pots are missing, one small fireplace in the bathroom has been removed and plastered over (in chimney planned to be removed) and another in the sitting room has been replaced with rubbish. The three affected fireplaces can be seen in my first post here Victorian fireplace questions and two photos are copied below. The one in the dining room (formerly kitchen) would be moved to the sitting room where the insert probably came from. I'd be left with a surplus small cast-iron surround from upstairs with a fern design.

3. Removing the chimney will improve the house. Upstairs one must pass through the 10' x 8' bathroom to get to the third bedroom (a very unsatisfactory state of affairs) and the door between the two is where the ceiling slopes and is less than 6' tall. It is in this non-ideal location because the chimney breast is on the other wall with plenty of headroom. There is space for a corridor to allow separate access to the bedroom and half the chimney breast would be in this corridor and half in the bedroom if it is kept. Removing it maximizes the space left in a rectangular 10' x 5' bathroom (avoiding a tapered narrowing at one end) and I could have a bath and a shower instead of just a bath. I would gain about 15 square feet of space upstairs and downstairs in total.

Bathroom and bedroom fireplaces:

Dining room (formerly kitchen) fireplace:

 

[Westholme]

After further thought, I have decided not to proceed and my neighbour is also happy with that. The space gains were not worth all the disruption, expense and loss of an original feature. The chimney stack has been saved - along with a considerable amount of money!

 

[Clockmaster]

.............and you have retained all those lovely old cast iron fire places into the bargain.