The house we are buying has very narrow passageways in one section of the house - they are possible fairly historic but the house is three buildings knocked into one and these corridors are at the connection of two of the buildings. There is a chuffing great dissed chimney breast next to them, I suspect the reason the passageways are so narrow. So I am considering widening the passageways - it's going to be a big and messy job because of the chimney breast especially as it is stone, if it is even possible. Should I leave it as 'authentic' or make my life a tad easier with wider passageways? Cant' post a pic as of yet as I have none on a public server - will try to amend
- Thread starter TheSpid
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Flyfisher
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My initial feeling is that an original stone chimney structure should not be sacrificed for the sake of a slightly larger passageway, but it's difficult to form an opinion without understanding the layout of the house.
How wide and long are these 'narrow' passages?
What rooms do they interconnect?
Presumably they have doors at each end - are these narrower than a standard door?
Also, if the chimney structure is hacked about, what will be the gain for the passages - ie, how much wider would they be?
How wide and long are these 'narrow' passages?
What rooms do they interconnect?
Presumably they have doors at each end - are these narrower than a standard door?
Also, if the chimney structure is hacked about, what will be the gain for the passages - ie, how much wider would they be?
I have posted a pic up of the downstairs but waiting for it to be approved (as will this message I suppose too) - the stone chimney structure is completely hidden behind stud walls at the moment (I think in an attempt to make the walls square) so it's not seen anyway and it is very bland. The connection is between a) on the ground floor the hallway and the living room and b) on the first floor the hallway and the master bedroom. This is guesstimate as not in the house yet and judging on the photos - they are around 2 ft wide maximum (it is difficult to get furniture down them) and about 4ft long max, no doors downstairs. Upstairs, there is one door in the middle and it is narrower than normal. No other door. The gain in the passageway width would be what ever we decided to do - maybe another foot wide? I'm not sure. If we took the whole chimney breast down there would be no passageway left as it is formed by the breast. If we just took a section off the side it would depend if a) that was even possible and b)how much was possible without compromising the chimney breast - it isn't used and we wouldn't reopen it for use, just as a feature. Trying to add a pic of the upstairs passageway not sure if it will work
As with so many threads, what is clear in the mind of the writer isn't at all clear to us the reader, unfamiliar with the building. Usually, photos would help. With this one, a drawing might be better, but it would still be useful to see a photo of the chimney. Until then, I'm struggling to find a useful comment.
Hi MikeG - sorry about that -- unfortunately as I am new my posts are taking a long time to be approved and so photos are waiting but at the time of writing this not yet up - nothing to see chimney wise as it is all behind a stud wall and just looks like a normal wall no evidence of a fireplace at all, it is only though asking that we know it is there - it was blocked off before the current owner bought the property, it could be wonderful behind the stud wall it could be a shambles! - I will include an extra photo or two though so you can see - hopefully approval will not be long. Both sides to the fire place served a different house originally, they are on different levels too - so I am assuming a wall across the middle and a fireplace each side when they were functional. Absolutely no idea what we will find once we go digging around.
First pic - is the bedroom wall - right at the back where the bed is - that is a stud wall the bed is against - the narrow corridor to the left.
Second pic - is the hallway downstairs - could be a stud wall, might be plastered straight onto the stone - owner is not too sure - now passageway is on the right, stairs on the left
Third pic - wall in the living rom - stud wall in front of the stone. [/img]https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?photo_id=500648672081&album_id=5277286288[/img]
Fourth pic - floor plan - I am assuming the separating wall between the two sides of the fireplace is where the door is in the upstairs plan.
I am hoping those photos upload properly - many thanks
First pic - is the bedroom wall - right at the back where the bed is - that is a stud wall the bed is against - the narrow corridor to the left.
Second pic - is the hallway downstairs - could be a stud wall, might be plastered straight onto the stone - owner is not too sure - now passageway is on the right, stairs on the left
Third pic - wall in the living rom - stud wall in front of the stone. [/img]https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?photo_id=500648672081&album_id=5277286288[/img]
Fourth pic - floor plan - I am assuming the separating wall between the two sides of the fireplace is where the door is in the upstairs plan.
I am hoping those photos upload properly - many thanks
Abi Cott
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The photo box image of the living room is uploading quite nicely on my phone but I can't see the others. Uploading images on this forum can be fun so it isn't just you or the approval system. Try this link.
https://ctrlq.org/images/
600mm corridors would feel very narrow. I think it might put me off the property. If I couldn't live with them I wouldn't buy it. There is a fair chance the corridors could be made wider. They may even have originally been wider with "pinch points" that have been evened out by an over zealous builder, but until you start stripping back you can't be sure. If the corridors make it a no deal. I would walk away.
https://ctrlq.org/images/
600mm corridors would feel very narrow. I think it might put me off the property. If I couldn't live with them I wouldn't buy it. There is a fair chance the corridors could be made wider. They may even have originally been wider with "pinch points" that have been evened out by an over zealous builder, but until you start stripping back you can't be sure. If the corridors make it a no deal. I would walk away.
Hello Abi - no it's not an issue at all in that respect - we love the house - if the narrow corridors have to stay we shall still love the house - there is another at a different part of the house that has no option but to stay as next to a working fireplace where we might gain 4 inches or so taking back the stud wall at the side but that is all. There are alternate ways to move furniture around - it was once 3 separate buildings and so has 3 front doors all regulation sizes and so moving stuff is 'doable' if a tad quirky. This fire place has no function - it impinges on the corridors for no functional reason - *I am hoping 'fingers crossed very tightly* - that we can somehow widen the corridors and expose some features (depending on how much damage was done blocking them off) and at the very least get to see some stonework - as you can see the house is very magnolia, straight lines and bland even though most of it dates from 1750 and we shall spend time reinstating what is hidden and popping the character back in. The potential gain could be the whole wall (but we don't want that) an extra 12 inches would be fabulous.
Now lets try those photos again (many thanks for the link to help host them).
So first pic is floor plans - top plan is the ground floor; I am assuming the separating wall between the two sides of the fireplace is where the door is in the upstairs plan
this is the wall in the living room - stud wall in front of the stone - the chimney is behind the large mirror, corridor on the left, the beams will have the black paint taken off so need to find how far back that long beam goes in order to get all of it cleaned (brown beams are being left as is - just black gloss removal happening)
this is the bedroom wall - right at the back where the bed is - that is a stud wall the bed is against - the narrow corridor to the left.
this is the hallway downstairs - could be a stud wall, might be plastered straight onto the stone - owner is not too sure (though to me this looks way too straight and I suspect at least some squaring up has been done) - now passageway is on the right, stairs on the left, vent behind bookcase
next the upstairs corridor - connecting the landing and the main bedroom - door positioned about 1/3 along (this is where I am assuming the original dividing wall was for the two properties)
this is the downstairs corridor joining the hallway and the living room - no doors
Hope that helps now. (yay I didn't have to wait for approval
)
Now lets try those photos again (many thanks for the link to help host them).
So first pic is floor plans - top plan is the ground floor; I am assuming the separating wall between the two sides of the fireplace is where the door is in the upstairs plan
this is the wall in the living room - stud wall in front of the stone - the chimney is behind the large mirror, corridor on the left, the beams will have the black paint taken off so need to find how far back that long beam goes in order to get all of it cleaned (brown beams are being left as is - just black gloss removal happening)
this is the bedroom wall - right at the back where the bed is - that is a stud wall the bed is against - the narrow corridor to the left.
this is the hallway downstairs - could be a stud wall, might be plastered straight onto the stone - owner is not too sure (though to me this looks way too straight and I suspect at least some squaring up has been done) - now passageway is on the right, stairs on the left, vent behind bookcase
next the upstairs corridor - connecting the landing and the main bedroom - door positioned about 1/3 along (this is where I am assuming the original dividing wall was for the two properties)
this is the downstairs corridor joining the hallway and the living room - no doors
Hope that helps now. (yay I didn't have to wait for approval
)I wouldn't be too concerned about the upstairs corridor. It's a nice quirk in a house which has been over-modernised and stripped too far. It won't prove inconvenient other than when moving furniture into the room. The downstairs one is more of an issue, though, as it will be much more widely used. With the sloped ceiling adjacent to the door it doesn't look as though you would gain much by any works that side (the wall away from the chimney). I wouldn't rule it out, though. However, as you say, the chimney looks to have been boxed in, and you could expect to gain at least 4" by the removal of this boxing. That doesn't sound much, but it is significant. Further, it will "feel" even more than that if the material of the corridor wall wasn't another flat bit of skimmed plasterboard and was actually something of interest such as the old stone.
I'm afraid you aren't going to know until you buy the house and start bashing it around. You are going to have to take a view on whether the gamble is worth the risk. Is the house right for you in other respects? If it is, you might just find there is a gem of a stone chimney there ripe for exposure. On the other hand, you might not, in which case the worst case is that you simply plaster the chimney, at no great cost other than your time and effort.
I'm afraid you aren't going to know until you buy the house and start bashing it around. You are going to have to take a view on whether the gamble is worth the risk. Is the house right for you in other respects? If it is, you might just find there is a gem of a stone chimney there ripe for exposure. On the other hand, you might not, in which case the worst case is that you simply plaster the chimney, at no great cost other than your time and effort.
Many thanks MikeG - I am actually looking forward to a bit of bashing around - having lived in magnolia bland as anything MOD quarters the last 25 years where we aren't allowed to do anything - bashing stuff seems like fun! If I have to plaster back over so be it. I will let you know how it goes.
Flyfisher
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I don't think the narrow corridors would bother me too much, especially (as mentioned above) the upstairs one would have relatively little use. The downstairs one will likely be used more frequently but it's not really that long and seems very unlikely to be a problem even if two people try to use it at the same time (in opposite directions) because both will be clearly visible and the short(ish) length would mean only a short wait. It just adds a bit of quirkiness really. I've seen plenty of houses with longer hallways that are not comfortably wide enough for two people to pass, so a slightly narrower one seems to be only marginally more inconvenient, if at all.
Having said all that, if four-inches could be gained by simply removing some plasterboard and stud walling and exposing the stone fireplace then I agree it would be tempting. The end result will depend on the condition of the stonework (one wonders why it was boarded up in the first place) but, as MikeG points out, it would add interest to a rather bland wall plus some useful extra space. All in all, not too difficult to DIY and worst case would be if the hidden stonework was too bad to leave exposed and would need to be covered up again.
Having said all that, if four-inches could be gained by simply removing some plasterboard and stud walling and exposing the stone fireplace then I agree it would be tempting. The end result will depend on the condition of the stonework (one wonders why it was boarded up in the first place) but, as MikeG points out, it would add interest to a rather bland wall plus some useful extra space. All in all, not too difficult to DIY and worst case would be if the hidden stonework was too bad to leave exposed and would need to be covered up again.