Is it worth removing chimney breast?

This depends on what you do with the extra space. If you own an older property, having a chimney can be considered a unique, traditional characteristic. Some buyers are interested in buying a classic home with preserved features, so this might increase the value of your property. Alternatively, if removing the chimney breast gives you enough space for an extra small bedroom, for example, this can also significantly increase the price you can ask for. You can look at similar properties in your area and decide what's best suited.

Do unused chimneys need ventilation?

If you retain any unused chimney breast, you need to ensure that it is ventilated at both the top and bottom. Any moisture in an unventilated wall or chimney will interact with the soot remaining in the used chimney and can cause staining.

Can you remove a chimney breast without removing the stack?

Yes, sometimes it suits to remove the breast while leaving the stack intact. This might be because, for example, your neighbour refuses to give you permission to remove their side of the stack. Once you've obtained your party wall agreement, you can proceed with putting your approved structural engineer's plans into place and removing the chimney stack in the loft area. Essentially, you have to prop the chimney up in place first by using supports. It used to be the case that two or more gallows brackets would be used for this purpose, with a concrete lintel across to support the brickwork above. Lots of local authorities won't accept gallows brackets now and insist that you use a Rolled Steel Joist (RSJ) to achieve the support. Additionally, your party wall (if relevant) must be at least 220mm thick to be strong enough, but your structural engineer will ensure that their designs are legally compliant. The same methodology would be used regarding chimney breast removal ground floor only, but exactly what sort of supporting is required and how much of it depends on the size of the masonry above and the strength of the adjoining walls which will need to bear the load.

How do I know if my chimney breast is structural?

Chimney breasts can sometimes serve a structural purpose, or they can have beams anchored on them for support. For this reason, we recommend getting a structural engineer to check if it's safe to remove. Doing it yourself could cause serious damage to your property. !form{723-popup Get a Survey Quote}form!

Buying a house with a removed chimney breast?

People have been known to remove either part or all of a chimney breast without getting building control sign-off or building regulations approval. This is a challenge because not only might you be left to find this out yourself, but also, your surveyor may not be able to assess how the chimney stack is being supported, and the structure of the property may be compromised. If this is the case, you are strongly advised to get a structural engineer to visit the property to calculate what the risk is and advise you on what work needs to be done. You may find that it's recommended to pull out of the purchase altogether. You could also negotiate with the vendor to either pay for your Structural Engineer report or give you an appropriate reduction in the asking price. Once the vendor's estate agent becomes aware of the issue, they would most likely expect the vendor to hire a structural engineer themselves, so you should be able to reach an acceptable compromise. You might, as another option, ask the vendor to get an appropriate letter of regularisation (retrospective building control sign-off), but this is likely to take time even though it might work out cheaper for the vendor. Regarding indemnity insurance, you may be able to get the vendor to pay for this, but it only covers you against future council enforcement charges and won't, for example, cover you in the event that your building falls down or you need to do remedial work.

Can I remove chimney from loft?

If you remove the chimney from your loft, you'll almost certainly have to remove the stack from the roof as well. Without the load bearing support from below, the stack on top of the roof would become structurally vulnerable to collapse. This is why you should always consult a structural engineer about removing any part of your chimney.

Can you knock down a wall with a chimney breast?

Walls and chimney breasts can be load bearing, which means they are necessary, structurally, to hold up the rest of the house. Often, the removal of a wall with a chimney breast will require steel reinforcements to hold up the weight which was supported by the old wall. Always consult a structural engineer regarding wall and chimney breast removal.

Can you remove a chimney in the middle of a house?

Chimneys in the middle of a house are more likely to be self-supported, which can mean that less structural reinforcement is required to remove them. However, many brick chimney breasts running through the middle of older houses, in particular, act as vital pillars which support the rest of the house. You should always have a structural engineer check it over to determine whether it is load bearing and make detailed drawings for the work required to make sure the property is safe during and after removal.

Can you remove an external chimney breast?

You can usually remove an external chimney breast (with the help of a structural engineer), but you should check with your local authority first. Older houses may be listed or in a conservation area, which may mean you're unable to remove the external chimney breast and stack.

Can you remove chimney breast from ground floor only?

It's possible to remove the chimney breast from downstairs and leave the rest intact, with proper reinforcement. Similar to removing the whole chimney, you'll need to consult a structural engineer. They'll need to make calculations to make sure that the house won't fall down. Unlike removing the whole chimney, when you remove just part of the chimney, the engineer will also have to account for the extra (now unsupported) weight of the upper parts and stack.

Do you need planning permission to remove a chimney stack?

Fitting, changing or replacing an external chimney usually falls within permitted development, so often won't require planning permission. However, you should always check with the local authority's planning office first. The stack is the part which protrudes up from the roof and is a noticeable feature of many historic properties, so you may require special permission if the property is listed or in a conservation area. If you cannot get permission, you'll need to keep at least some of the internal chimney too, to support the stack. Your structural engineer will be able to advise on what is safe and viable for your property.

Is a chimney breast load bearing?

Chimney breasts are almost always load bearing. Not only do they support their own weight, but they often support the weight of the upper floors of the house and roof. A general rule of thumb is that Chimneys on external walls are load bearing, and chimneys in the middle of the building often are not. Always consult a structural engineer to find out what load the chimney bears and what reinforcement is required to remove it.

A structural engineer makes drawings and calculations for a Chimney Breast Removal

If you don't get a structural engineer involved, you risk serious structural degradation to your property, which might result in the building collapsing. Chimney breast removal building regulations must also be met.

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Chimney Breast Removal: Structural Engineer & Building Regulations

by:

Andrew Boast

Created on:

01/07/2021

(Last Updated: 05/01/2024)

Read by:

3,727

12 min read

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Key Takeaways

Chimney breasts are more common in older properties and removing them can increase the value of your house.
This can require different planning permissions, building regulations and agreements with your neighbours (the latter is applicable for party walls)
The removal process is complex and you should never do it yourself, as you could compromise the structural integrity of your home. You must get a Structural Engineer to do it, who can also ensure that chimney breast removal building regulations are met.

Is it a good idea to remove a chimney?

If you've bought an older house, you may consider removing the chimney breast because of the gains you can make from the extra space. Older buildings generally have a chimney, breast and fireplaces feeding into the breast so the smoke from the fires can escape. New homes often don't because the space is better used in living spaces like bedrooms.

Does removing a chimney breast add value to the property?

Depending on what you do with the space when you've finished taking out a chimney breast, this might increase the value of your property to tens of £1000s.

How do I know if a chimney breast has been removed?

The best place to check is within the roof space. You can spot where the chimney stack comes into the property and meets the breast, and measure its width. Most removals are visible in the roof and loft space. If not visible there, trace it down vertically through the property to the ground floor, as the chimney breast width should remain the same.

Do I need a structural engineer to remove the chimney breast?

You are always likely to require the services of a Structural Engineer if you intend on removing the chimney and breast. A chimney breast invariably forms part of the basic structure of a house, and you have to be careful in your preparations before you carry out work to remove it.

If you don't get an expert involved, you risk serious structural degradation to your property, which might result in the building collapsing and even the risk of death. Unless you're going to remove the whole chimney, from the bottom fireplace right up to the roof stack, you need to incorporate suitable support beams to support any masonry above to avoid structural distress or damage or even the collapse of the building.

In many cases, even where you are removing the whole chimney, you'll still need to add reinforcement to replace the support offered by the chimney breast. As you can see from the diagram below, the breast acts as a hollow pillar from the ground up, which often lends its support to the upper floors and roof.

Chimney breast removal; why you need a structural engineer. A diagram showing the components of a chimney, including (ground up) the hearth, mantle, breast, flue, stack and pot.

Removing Chimney Breast Party Wall

It's also very common that your chimney is on a party wall with a neighbouring property - this of itself is a major process and has to be factored in in terms of costs and time. You might need to get a party wall agreement for chimney breast removal. We can help with this service.

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You'll also have to take special care if the chimney breast of an upper floor is going to be removed while leaving a working fire in the room below. Partial removal is possible, but a smaller chimney breast for the fire below must be left in place.

Finally, once you've removed your chimney, you'll need to repair the floor where the breast was - this also takes planning and involves more costs.

How to remove chimney breast?

Once you instruct a structural engineer, they will examine the chimney breast in your property, after which they will draw designs and create an appropriate method of work for the job. They then submit both the designs and the methodology to your local Building Control Office for chimney breast removal building regulations approval.

In the case of removing a chimney breast on a party wall, the Party Wall Act 1996 states that you'll also need to inform your neighbour/s and get approval from them for your work.

Once your structural engineer's proposal has been approved, all work must be carried out to the approved designs, and the local building control officer must be invited to inspect the work carried out. The local Building Control Office will, upon satisfactory completion of the work, issue a completion certificate.

You should safely keep the building control completion certificate for your chimney removal with the deeds/Land Registry documents for your property so that it is available for any remortgage or sale.

What permission do you need to remove a chimney?

Do you need building regs to remove chimney breast?

Your Structural Engineer has to abide by the Building Regulations 2010 regarding chimney breast removal - and these, as stated, entail at least one inspection from a local Building Control officer - to ensure compliance regarding the following:

Structural strength;
Fire safety;
Sound insulation;
Maintenance of any neighbour's chimney;
Damp prevention; and
Ventilation to rooms.

Do you need planning permission to remove a chimney breast?

You are unlikely to require planning permission to remove the chimney unless your property is listed, or in a conservation area because removing the outer stack will change the appearance of the house. You may wish to consult the Government's online planning portal just to be sure.

Can you remove a chimney breast without a party wall agreement?

One neighbour cannot just remove a shared chimney. As stated above, under party wall legislation in England and Wales you need to get written consent from the owners of any affected neighbouring property before any work on removing it starts. Either neighbour may ask for consent to remove the chimney.

Can I remove a chimney without permission from the freeholder?

If your property is leasehold, you'll need to get the permission of your landlord in the form of a licence, for which you may have to pay a fee.

Taking out a chimney breast when you have a gas boiler

Sometimes, your gas appliances make use of a party wall's flue in yours or your neighbour's property. You should ideally get a Gas Safe Engineer to inspect the appliance and get a proof of inspection and safety in writing (this can also be added to your store of essential house documents needed if you choose to remortgage or sell up).

Should you choose to remove your chimney stack where it goes through the roof, you'll need to extend the roof timbers to fill the gap and use matching roof covering.

Why are chimneys such a big deal?

Looking at this ruin in Bodmin and countless others like it, you can see how often the complete chimney is the last thing standing, long after the rest of a building has collapsed. In this case, the large stone chimney has kept the gable wall upright, despite there being nothing else left of the house.

Most chimneys are fundamental to the structural integrity of the building, which is why a structural engineer must be involved in planning the chimney breast removal safely to comply with building regulations.

A chimney complete chimney breast still standing amongst the ruins of a house in Bodmin UK demonstrating the structural importance of the chimney breast in removal projects

How much does it cost to remove a chimney breast?

As referred to above, there are many factors to consider when looking at the chimney breast removal cost. On average, you might look to pay £1,500 for removing a 1st-floor chimney breast, and the job might take three days. You have to add to this the cost of a Structural Engineer, which is likely to be in the £100s of pounds, depending on the work involved.

For an entire chimney breast removal, leaving the stack intact, you might have to pay around £2,000. If you get the stack removed, you can expect to pay a further £1,000 to £1,600 for a professional job.

So, for a hypothetical semi-detached house, if you wanted to get a whole chimney, breast and stack removed and ensure it is done in a legally compliant and structurally sound way (i.e. by instructing a structural engineer to produce drawings), you are likely to have to pay something in the region of around £4,000.

Our fee for a Structural Engineer Survey for a Chimney Breast Removal starts at £656 INC VAT.

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Written by: Andrew Boast

Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.

Reviewed by: Caragh Bailey

Caragh is an excellent writer in her own right as well as an accomplished copy editor for both fiction and non-fiction books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey and mortgage related articles.

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