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Chimney breast removal in attic of 1930's property

Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:00 pm
by Ben123456
I am looking for some advice about regarding the removal of a chimney breast in my attic. The house is a 1930s detatched and has a chimney breast running at an angle along one of the walls in the loft. The chimney breast starts in the corner of our kitchen ie in the internal corner where the back and side of the house join. The breast then ascends up this inside corner of the house through into the corner of a first floor bedroom above the kitchen. It then enters the loft space at one corner just below the eaves and then runs at an angle against the wall of the eaves towards the apex of the roof. The stack has been removed above roof level. The section running at an angle of around 45degrees under the eaves of the roof is corbled into the wall and there seems to be a fair weight of chimney sitting on corbled bricks. Seems structurally unbalanced to me and i am worried it could fall. I guess it is unlikely to but the chimney is not used so I want to just start at the top near the apex and remove the chimney breast in the loft down to the first floor. What I don't know is whether the wall behind the chimney breast might only be one brick thick and so leave that part of the wall weak. If it is I was thinking of neatly laying some bricks to fill the gap.
I have never seen a chimney stack like this.
If anyone could offer any advice it would be very much appreciated

Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 6:35 pm
by stoneyboy
Ben123456,
You're probably going to do more damage than good in removing the chimney.
At the moment it is soundly built into the existing wall and to remove it you will have to chop off the bricks which are built into the wall. It's survived this long leave well alone.
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