GS Renovation removes chimney breasts throughout Highgate, in the Victorian and Edwardian terraces that line the N6 streets near Hampstead Heath. With over 30 years of structural experience, we take out redundant breasts, support the stack that remains above and square off the room, leaving no sign the breast was ever there.
Removing a chimney breast in Highgate
Most of Highgate's period homes still carry their original chimney breasts, often several per house across the reception rooms and bedrooms of these tall terraces. Because the breast helps carry the masonry stack above, it can never simply be knocked out; we start every job with a structural engineer confirming what is being supported and how the retained stack will be held once the breast below is gone.
Where a breast is removed on a lower floor, the stack above is carried on steel gallows brackets bolted into the party wall, or a beam where brackets are unsuitable. In the taller N6 terraces, where the stack runs the full height of the house, it is often more sensible to remove the whole stack and make the roof good rather than leave masonry hanging.
Party wall and building control in N6
Highgate's terraces are built tight against their neighbours, so the chimney stack almost always sits within the shared party wall. Removing the breast, or bolting gallows brackets into that wall, affects the neighbour's structure, so it is notifiable under the Party Wall Act and we serve notice on the adjoining owner before any work begins.
The support to the retained stack is structural work under the Building Regulations, so Camden Council's building control inspects and certifies it. We handle the whole sequence: the engineer's design, the party wall notices, safe removal and propping, capping any redundant flue with ventilation to stop damp, and replastering so the room is left flat and finished.
- Structural engineer calculations
- Party Wall Act notices for shared stacks
- Making good, plastering and reinstating the wall
- Flue capping, ventilation and building control sign-off
- Chimney breast removal on one or all floors
Why Highgate Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Highgate homeowners choose GS Renovation because we never leave a stack unsupported. You get an engineer-designed gallows-bracket or beam solution, party wall notices served on the neighbour, Camden building control sign-off, flues capped and ventilated against damp, and tidy working in an occupied home, all backed by 30+ years across N6 and North London.
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Over 30 years of experience
- Dedicated project management
- Fully insured and guaranteed work
- Building control and planning support
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople