GS Renovation removes chimney breasts across Kennington's Georgian and Regency terraces, reclaiming space in the tall, narrow rooms typical of SE11. With more than 30 years of structural work in Lambeth, we take out redundant breasts safely, support the stack above and leave the chimney wall squared off and replastered.
Supporting the stack in Kennington terraces
Most Kennington houses still carry their original chimney breasts, and in these period terraces the stack is heavy masonry that runs the full height of the building. You cannot simply remove the breast on a lower floor and leave everything above it hanging in mid-air, which is exactly the dangerous shortcut we are sometimes called in to correct. A structural engineer assesses what the stack weighs and how best to carry it before any brick is touched.
Where you keep the stack higher up, we support the retained masonry on steel gallows brackets bolted firmly into the party wall, or on a beam where brackets are unsuitable for the load. In many SE11 townhouses, though, the tidiest answer is to remove the full-height stack entirely and make the roof good afterwards. We recommend whichever solution the engineer's figures justify, never a guess.
Party wall and building control in SE11
In Kennington's tightly packed terraces the chimney stack almost always sits within the party wall shared with the house next door. Removing the breast, or bolting gallows brackets into that shared wall, is notifiable under the Party Wall Act, so we serve notice on your neighbour before work begins and manage any correspondence that follows, keeping the project moving without friction.
The structural support is a Building Regulations matter, and Lambeth Council's building control signs it off against the engineer's design; internal chimney work does not need planning permission. We handle the whole sequence: the calculations, the notices, safe propping and removal, capping any redundant flue with ventilation to stop damp forming, and replastering so there is no sign a breast was ever there. In a listed SE11 home we check consent before touching anything visible externally.
- Steel beam support where brackets are unsuitable
- Full chimney stack removal and roof making good
- Structural engineer calculations
- Party Wall Act notices for shared stacks
- Making good, plastering and reinstating the wall
Why Kennington Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Kennington homeowners choose GS Renovation because we treat chimney breast removal as the structural job it is. You get an engineer-designed support solution, party wall notices and Lambeth building control handled end to end, tidy working in an occupied period home, and a fully certified, squared-off result, backed by 30+ years across SE11.
- 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