Some Marylebone flats still carry a redundant chimney breast eating into a bedroom or reception room. GS Renovation removes them cleanly across W1's mansion blocks and period flats, supporting the masonry above and squaring off the room. With more than 30 years in Westminster, we treat it as the structural job it is.
Chimney breast removal in Marylebone flats
Marylebone's mansion blocks and period flats were built with fireplaces in the main rooms, and the breasts often run up through several flats within the block's masonry. Removing one on a single floor means the stack above still has to be carried, so we never simply cut it out. Our engineer decides whether the retained stack is best supported on steel gallows brackets bolted back into the masonry, or on a small beam.
In a flat, you usually only own your own storey, so you cannot remove the whole full-height stack the way a house owner might; the sections above belong to the flats overhead. That makes proper gallows-bracket support essential rather than optional. We prop the breast, take it down in stages, fix the support, cap and ventilate any redundant flue to keep damp out, and replaster so the wall looks as though the breast was never there.
Consent and support in Marylebone blocks
Because the stack is shared with the flats above and below, this is exactly the kind of work your freeholder wants to control. The licence to alter, backed by the engineer's support design, must be in place first, and the managing agent will often notify affected neighbours in the block. Where the party wall to an adjoining building is involved, the Party Wall Act can also apply, and we serve any notices that are needed.
The structural support is notifiable under the Building Regulations, and Westminster City Council's building control signs off the gallows brackets or beam. We carry the whole thing for you: engineer's calculations, freeholder licence and agent liaison, any party wall notices, safe staged removal, flue capping and replastering. Working in an occupied W1 block near Oxford Street, we sheet up, protect the communal areas, and clear the rubble without disrupting your neighbours.
- 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 Marylebone Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Marylebone owners choose GS Renovation because we support the retained stack properly rather than leaving it hanging. You get an engineer-designed gallows-bracket or beam solution, the freeholder's licence and any party wall notices handled, Westminster building control sign-off, and tidy working in an occupied mansion block. More than 30 years in W1 stand behind every job.
- 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