In an East Barnet terrace the breast usually sits on a party wall, and in a mid terrace there is often one to each side. Remove it and the stack above still has to land on something. Inspectors seldom accept a gallows bracket detail now that the standard drawing has been withdrawn, so we price a beam designed by the engineer we appoint.
Chimney breasts in East Barnet's terraces and semis
The Victorian terraces around East Barnet Village were built with fireplaces in the front room, the back room and the bedrooms above, all served by stacks in the two party walls. A mid terrace can therefore have breasts on both sides of the house, which is a lot of floor area given up in rooms that were never large. The interwar semis further out have the same arrangement on one wall only, shared with the attached neighbour. Either way, the breast is holding up brickwork, so it is a structural job from the first hammer blow.
We work from the top down, so the masonry above whatever we are cutting has either gone already or has its permanent support in place. If the stack is coming off the roof entirely, scaffold goes up and the roof is made watertight before any internal demolition starts underneath it. If the stack is staying, the retained brickwork lands on a beam bearing onto padstones cut into sound masonry, designed for the actual weight above rather than a standard detail. Nothing is left standing on temporary props overnight without being checked at the end of the day.
The flue, the damp and the party wall in EN4
Capping a redundant flue without ventilating it is the fastest way to get a damp patch on a chimney breast, and it shows up sooner in the lower lying streets near the brook where the ground is wetter and the drying is slower. A flue that has been used for fifty years is full of hygroscopic salts, and if warm moist air can get in at the bottom and nowhere out at the top, it condenses inside the stack and comes through the plaster. We cap with a vented cowl and fit an airbrick at the base, every time.
Because the breast sits in the party wall, removing it is notifiable under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and your neighbour has to be served notice before work starts. In a mid terrace that can mean notices in both directions. You serve them as building owner; we prepare the structural detail and work to whatever method is agreed. The support itself is a Building Regulations matter that Barnet Council building control signs off, with an inspection while the beam and its bearings are still open to view, before any plastering goes near them.
- Skirting, cornice and picture rail matched back in
- Steel beam support where gallows brackets are unsuitable
- Hearth removal and floor structure reinstatement
- Gallows bracket support for a retained stack above
- Ground floor removal with the upper stack fully supported
The GS Renovation Difference in East Barnet
East Barnet owners choose GS Renovation because we treat a chimney breast as the structural job it is, not a demolition job with tidying afterwards. Engineer designed support, party wall detail prepared for your notices, Barnet building control inspections booked at the right point, the flue capped and ventilated properly, and the room made good. Backed by 30+ years of hands-on experience.
- Hearth and floor structure reinstated where the breast is removed
- Free follow-up visit after completion if anything needs attention
- Steel beam support used where gallows brackets are not suitable
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Cornice, skirting and picture rail matched back in
- Honest updates if a date or a detail has to move