Fireplace and wall removal

Hal3000

See picture. This wall runs upstairs also into bedroom. Any idea how much it could cost just to get the walls and fireplace removed so I could gain the space? Could I do the labor myself ( taking down the walls etc) or would removing it affect the structure or support? I've a good plasterer to do plastering after so covered on that front.

Thanks all.

Hal3000

Hal3000 wrote: »

See picture. This wall runs upstairs also into bedroom. Any idea how much it could cost just to get the walls and fireplace removed so I could gain the space? Could I do the labor myself ( taking down the walls etc) or would removing it affect the structure or support? I've a good plasterer to do plastering after so covered on that front.

Thanks all.

See Pic below

Hal3000

Hal3000 wrote: »

See Pic below

Any ideas?

rn

I take it you're taking out entire chimney from ground up? I think you need an engineer to take a look at it as there's a couple variables. Is chimney backed by another chimney, built as one structure? What's holding the floor boards around the chimney? How are you going to suitable fill that hole in first floor? Have you suitable slates to cover the hole in the roof?

Hal3000

rn wrote: »

I take it you're taking out entire chimney from ground up? I think you need an engineer to take a look at it as there's a couple variables. Is chimney backed by another chimney, built as one structure? What's holding the floor boards around the chimney? How are you going to suitable fill that hole in first floor? Have you suitable slates to cover the hole in the roof?

Sorry no not taking entire chimney out. Just the breast in the front room and bedroom.

ChuckLarry

Hal3000 wrote: »

Sorry no not taking entire chimney out. Just the breast in the front room and bedroom.

And if you do that and get to ceiling height of the bedroom and just stop nocking bricks out what’s going to hold up the chimney stack from there up?

It’s structural, it basically can’t be done. Is it a detached or terrace house? If it’s terrace it’s more than likely your chimney is backed on to your neighbors and almost built as one all the way up.

If it’s detached walk outside the house and have a look to see if the stack protrudes out, the opposite way to how it looks inside, what do you think is holding all that up

listermint

This is not possible without removing the entire chimney stack or doing some really expensive engineering supporting the stack above with steels which would be pointless as the stack above would have no purpose.

Have a think about how many bricks go all the way up through the 1st floor and then through the roof pitch into the external stack and then rethink your question. Can I remove this myself...

As above, what's on the other side of the chimney breast/fireplace matters (ie; is it a detached house and the breast is against an external wall? Is it a terraced house and the next door neighbour's backs onto it? etc.)


In my own case, I'm in an end-terrace house, and my chimney breast is slap-bang in the middle of my house. So it is a double-sided one, with a fireplace in the kitchen on one side, and the sitting room on the other side. It then runs up between two bedrooms and up through the roof.

I wanted it out, as I felt the extra space it'd free up in the 4 rooms affected, would be well worth having.


I got a general builder to look at it, and he said I would be looking about 7-12k. He said the figure varies so much based on how i want it to look when I'm done. He said 7k gives me a builders finish, but to keep in mind that once the breast is removed, the floors in the 4 rooms have to be redone, the walls affected need to be painted again, new skirting has to go in, etc. so he said you'd easily see yourself going towards 12k for an all-in job depending on what you wanted to floor the place with, and that apparently some of my plumbing/pipes run down the side of the breast and they'd need to be moved (possibly underground) which would be messy aswell.

He was also of the opinion that I'd be de-valuing the house as apparently the option to stick in a stove in a pre-existing breast is a good thing. He said a few people have asked him to quote for this job, but invariably they end up coming back to him with a bigger budget and doing an extension instead, as you get more 'value' in terms of how much space you're getting and how much you're spending.

He said you'd also have to support the floors above so steel would be possibly required as in my particular house, the floors are running towards the breast and it's a central/structural support.


So I felt like it wasn't worth doing, in the end. I can spend 7-12k on much better things around the house. My approach has instead been to get a fitted kitchen that covers the breast in the kitchen altogether (so you'd never know it was there in the first place) and then do the same in the sitting room (which i've drawn up a rough sketch of what I want, but haven't actually done the work yet).


I'm in Drogheda/Louth, so presumably you'll pay more in Dublin, less in Westmeath, etc.

Hal3000

Thanks all. Excellent advice. I'll look into it with a builder

jmBuildExt

If it is shared with a neighbour you can forget about it. Propping the top up on steel and the risk of the neighbour blaming you when something goes wrong on their side wouldn't be worth the risk/hassle.

I took mine out. But as per KKV mine was in the middle of the house.

I was able to get back additional space alongside it upstairs by getting rid of the hot water tank and using combi boiler. I gained a downstairs loo and an ensuite from removing it.
(granted, in this case, it looks shared and I don't think the space gain would be that significant)

Personally speaking, I'd disagree with it being a disadvantage/de-valuing the house.
Besides the space you gain, it has a positive effect on your BER, which I believe is significant enough. Basically you no longer have an open air hole into your living room, and no concrete conductor extracting heat away. win win.
New houses aren't generally built with a chimney (since they have to achieve an A rating)
Re the stove - I put in a balanced flu gas stove - which terminates out the side wall much like a gas boiler. I know people prefer solid fuel stove (which generally benefits from, or requires, a taller flu) but I think its realistic (it has ceramic logs), great heat off it, and you dont have to clean it.

In my case I was getting a full re-furb + extension done and the builder charged 4-5k extra to remove it. That was last year.
Also, I had an engineer look into it first.

...Ghost...

I considered doing this before, but decided it was too much trouble for little gain. The lost space in the bedroom is where it bothers me, as it restricts how the room can be organised.

As for the downstairs, you could just remove the fireplace and block it up, or install a fire/stove with a door. I use either side of my chimney breast for shelving and a custom built desk with storage and shelving.

If you have no plans for the extra space, then it's not worth scratching that itch.