Removing a chimney breast means removing something that is carrying weight, along with whatever sits above it. The support has to be designed, whether that is gallows brackets or a steel beam, and building control has to see it before it is covered up. We appoint the structural engineer and build to the design issued. Free, no obligation quotations, and the company is fully insured.
Epping treats chimneys as part of the town's character
The Epping Town Neighbourhood Plan lists pargeting, iron railings and tall ornate chimneys among the town's vernacular features it seeks to retain. The Epping Conservation Area Character Appraisal describes the north western side of the High Street as steeply pitched handmade red clay tile roofs at different heights, with gables, chimneys and dormer windows breaking the roofline at intervals. If your stack forms part of that roofline, taking it down is a heritage and planning question as well as a structural one. Removing the breast internally and leaving the stack standing is the alternative, and it changes what support the remaining brickwork needs.
The older High Street buildings have complicated stacks
Numbers 98 to 102 (even) High Street, Epping are Grade II listed plastered timber framed houses of the 17th and 18th centuries with a diagonal chimney stack. 29 Church Hill is a Grade II listed former two bay open hall of about 1550, with a 17th century floor inserted over the entire plan area and an infilled inglenook at its south east end.
A diagonal stack, an inserted floor and an infilled inglenook all change where load travels. In buildings like that the breast can be doing more than carrying itself, so an opening up survey comes before any fixed price. We do not assume the arrangement above from what the room below looks like.
What it costs, and what consent it needs
For one floor with gallows brackets accepted, expect £1,500 to £2,500. Where a steel beam is needed instead, £2,200 to £3,250. For two floors, £3,000 to £5,000 (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). Which support the engineer specifies is what moves you between those figures, so it is settled before the quotation is issued.
Consent is the other half of the answer. The Epping Town Neighbourhood Plan records 47 statutorily listed buildings in Epping High Street, and in a listed building the removal of a breast or a stack needs listed building consent as well as building regulations approval. We tell you which applies to your address before anything is opened up.
- Hearth removal and floor structure reinstatement
- Skirting, cornice and picture rail matched back in
- Party Wall Act notices for stacks in a shared wall
- Ventilated caps and airbricks to disused flues
- Roof tiling, flashing and leadwork made good
Why Choose GS Renovation in Epping
A chimney breast is one of the few structural jobs where the heritage question can outweigh the engineering one. The neighbourhood plan names tall ornate chimneys as a feature the town wants to keep, and the High Street roofline is part of the conservation area's described character. We handle both sides: the engineer's support design and the building control application, and a straight answer on whether consent is needed first. One point of contact throughout.
- Aftercare and snagging support once the job is finished
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- The retained stack inspected from the loft before we start
- Neighbours spoken to early when the stack is shared
- Rubble bagged and carried out, not tipped into the room below
- Our own trades on site rather than a chain of subcontractors