GS Renovation removes chimney breasts in the older warehouse conversions around Old Street and Clerkenwell, where original industrial buildings sometimes retain redundant flues and stacks. With 30+ years of structural experience in EC1, we take out disused breasts safely, support any masonry left above, and square the room off cleanly for your reconfigured apartment.
Supporting the stack in Old Street conversions
Not every Old Street home has a chimney breast; the newer riverside apartments near the Angel rarely do. But converted warehouses and older EC1 buildings often keep original brick flues, and if you remove a breast on a lower floor you must support whatever masonry remains above. Leaving a stack hanging unsupported is never an option, so we begin with a structural engineer confirming exactly what the breast is carrying.
Where masonry is retained higher up, we support it on steel gallows brackets bolted into sound wall, or a small beam where brackets are unsuitable for that particular structure. In many conversions the redundant stack runs the full height and can be taken out entirely, with the roof or floor above made good afterwards. Either way the load path is engineered, propped and inspected before any breast comes down.
Party wall and consents in EC1
In an Old Street conversion the flue you are removing may share a wall with the flat next door, which can bring the Party Wall Act into play; where it does, we serve notice on the adjoining owner before work starts. As almost all these apartments are leasehold, we also secure the freeholder's licence to alter and work within the block's management rules on noise and access.
The structural support is notifiable under the Building Regulations, so Islington Council's building control inspects the gallows brackets or beam and certifies the work. We manage the full sequence: the engineer's calculations, any party wall notice, the freeholder consent, safe removal and propping, capping any redundant flue with ventilation to prevent damp, and replastering so the room reads as though the breast was never there.
- 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
- Flue capping, ventilation and building control sign-off
Why Choose GS Renovation in Old Street
Old Street 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, freeholder consent and Islington building control all handled, tidy working in an occupied leasehold flat, and a fully certified result, backed by 30+ years across EC1.
- 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