Chimney Breast Removal Slough

Removing a chimney breast means supporting what is left above it, or taking the stack out entirely. The support is usually a steel beam on padstones, with gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them. We appoint the structural engineer, build to the calculations issued, and coordinate the building control side. This page covers what Slough asks for, and the two points people are caught out by.

For Slough, on London-derived ranges removing a breast on one floor typically costs £2,200 to £3,250 on a steel beam, and £3,000 to £5,000 across two floors; Berkshire work generally runs below that. GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Slough.

How the job runs

1. Free site survey at your Slough address: which floors the breast runs through, a shared stack, any live flue.
2. The engineer we appoint designs the support, and the work is registered with Slough Borough Council building control or an approved inspector. On a shared wall you serve the party wall notice as building owner; we supply the drawings.
3. The floor above is propped and the breast comes down in courses from the top; what remains sits on the support the engineer specified.
4. Building control inspects the support before it is covered. We make good, and the completion certificate follows.

Slough says removing a chimney will probably need building regulations approval

Slough Borough Council states that changes to an existing building, such as removing a wall or a chimney, will probably need building regulations approval. A chimney breast carries load and forms part of the fire separation, so it is not a job that falls outside the regulations simply because it happens indoors.

Whether a steel beam is needed, which is now the usual route, or gallows brackets are accepted is a question for the structural engineer and the inspector, not for the builder. We get the calculation first and price from it, so the figure you are given matches the support that will actually be approved.

Housing in Slough

Of the 57,360 homes the valuation list records in Slough, 5% were built before 1919, 20% between the wars and 73% since 1945; 37% are flats and 63% are houses. A terrace breast in Slough usually sits on the party wall, so removal needs a notice, and 34% of homes here are terraced.

All of Slough is a smoke control area

Slough Borough Council states that all of the Slough area is covered by smoke control orders, so it is an offence to burn an unauthorised fuel unless it is used in an exempt appliance. That matters if you are removing a breast downstairs and keeping a working fire elsewhere in the house.

It matters again if the plan is to take out one breast now and put an appliance back later. Decide what the flue is for before work starts, because a flue is far easier to keep than to put back.

A shared stack brings the Party Wall Act into it

On a Slough chimney job the council reminds applicants that the Party Wall Act and other civil law still apply alongside any consent, and that the neighbouring occupier must be given notice where work would encroach beyond the application site's curtilage. For a breast on a shared wall, that notice comes from you as building owner, before the stack is propped. Where a chimney breast sits on or in a party wall, that duty is live before any brickwork moves.

We are a contractor and not a party wall surveyor, so we do not serve notices and we do not advise either side. The notice is yours to serve as building owner, or your surveyor's. We raise it at survey, supply the drawings it needs, and programme the work so that any notice period sits in front of the start date rather than across it.

Book the inspections 24 hours ahead

Slough Building Control asks for site inspection visits to be requested 24 hours in advance, so that it can plan its site visits more effectively. On a chimney breast job the stages worth seeing are the support before it is loaded, and the making good before it is covered.

We make the booking and hold the following trade until the visit has happened. That is the difference between a finished ceiling and a ceiling that has to be opened back up.

• Structural engineer's calculations arranged and followed
• Ground floor removal with the upper stack fully supported
• Soot and debris contained with screens and sheeting

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 15 statistical areas in Slough. Counts rounded by the VOA.

If this is your first project in Slough, these are worth a look: home renovation in Slough, chimney breast removal in Windsor, builders across London, party walls and chimney breasts, chimney breast removal across London and Party Wall Act Explained.

Why Choose GS Renovation in Slough

A chimney breast removal is decided by what is left above it. We appoint the structural engineer to design the support, usually a steel beam, with gallows brackets only where the engineer and building control accept them, and we build to that answer rather than to a rule of thumb. The building control application goes to Slough Borough Council's own service, and we make it and book the inspections around the support going in. Because a stack may be shared, and because the whole borough sits under smoke control orders, we settle the neighbour question and the flue question before the first brick moves. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured and registered in England, company number 14611254, and rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder. Quotations are free and carry no obligation.

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254). Structural design is by the consulting engineer appointed to your project.