Old flues in Woolwich's period terraces are sooty and salt-laden, and if that damp brickwork is simply plastered over the stains come through within months. We cap the flue, ventilate it, treat what needs treating, then reinstate the wall. The stack above is carried on steel to a structural engineer's specification.
Chimney breast removal in Woolwich terraces
Most Woolwich terraces still carry their original chimney breasts in the reception rooms and bedrooms, and because these houses stand shoulder to shoulder, the stack usually sits within the party wall shared with the neighbour. The breast helps carry the masonry above, so we begin every job with a structural engineer's assessment of exactly what the stack and breast are supporting.
On the lower floors, where a breast is removed but the stack above stays, we support that retained masonry on steel gallows brackets bolted into the party wall, or a small beam where brackets are unsuitable. A chimney stack is never left hanging unsupported. Where the stack runs the full height of the SE18 terrace, it is often simpler to remove it entirely and make the roof good.
Party wall and building control in SE18
Because the chimney stack in a Woolwich terrace almost always sits within the party wall, removing the breast or bolting gallows brackets into that shared masonry is notifiable under the Party Wall Act, and you serve notice on the neighbour before work begins. This protects both houses and keeps everything on the right footing from the start.
The structural support itself falls under the Building Regulations, so the Royal Borough of Greenwich building control department inspects and signs off the brackets or beam, not the planning department. We manage the engineer's calculations, safe removal and propping, capping and ventilating any redundant flue against damp, and replastering so there is no sign the breast was ever there.
Doing the work in a rented house
A good number of SE18 terraces are let, and a chimney breast removal in a tenanted house has an extra layer to it. Tenants have to be given proper notice and reasonable access, the work is best programmed into a defined window rather than spread across weeks, and anything affecting heating, hot water or cooking has to be planned around them rather than the other way round.
There are compliance points too. Any gas appliance connected to a flue you are removing is disconnected and capped by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the gas safety record is updated. Electrical work in the room is certified in the usual way and the certificate goes into the property file. Landlords generally want the completion certificate for their records as well, since it is the document that answers questions from a letting agent, a lender or an insurer later on, and it is far easier to file now than to find in five years.
The ceiling line and the room above
The details owners notice afterwards sit at the top and the bottom of the room rather than in the middle of it. Where the brickwork passed through the ceiling, that ceiling has to be closed properly, and in a Woolwich terrace with a plaster cornice the run has to be continued across the gap rather than stopped short with a length of modern coving that matches nothing else in the room.
There is a matching job upstairs. Where the breast in the bedroom above comes out at the same time, its hearth sits within the first floor structure, so joists are trimmed and boards let in there as well, and that room is disturbed even though the change people came for is downstairs. Owners are sometimes caught out by this. We set out at survey which rooms are affected, so decoration can be planned for both of them rather than one.
- Soot and debris contained with screens and sheeting
- Chimney breast removal on one floor or on every floor
- Full chimney stack removal and roof making good
- Fireplace opening infill and new plasterboard finish
- Loft inspection of the retained stack before work starts
Why Woolwich Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
Woolwich homeowners choose GS Renovation because we treat chimney breast removal as the structural job it is. You get an engineer-designed support solution, gallows brackets or a beam bolted properly into the shared party wall and Greenwich building control handled for you, tidy working in an occupied SE18 home, and more than 30 years of local experience.
- Neighbours spoken to early when the stack is shared
- Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
- Clean, tidy and reliable tradespeople
- Dust screens and floor protection in occupied homes
- The retained stack inspected from the loft before we start
- Rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder