"Matthew Durkin" wrote | I'm willing to accept that my DIY skills are not up to removing a | chimney breast - however I would like ot have one removed. | The chimney has already been removed from downstairs, and I'd now | like the bit upstairs removing also (small room, will make big | space difference). | It's about a foot deep and perhaps 3 feet wide. We live in a red | brick terrace and this is on a wall adjoining the neighbours. | Could someone let me know what will be involved and how big a job | it is? How much would I expect to pay for the chimney to be | removed? Are there any complications - i.e.could it be connected | to next door in any way?
The chimney structure has to be properly supported in the roof space, whether or not this was done when the ground floor chimney was taken out, using beams or gallows brackets in the attic. The structural steelwork etc required for this should be designed by a structural engineer who has professional indemnity insurance and can sign off the calculations to the satisfaction of Building Control. As the breast is in a party wall then Party Wall Act provisions will apply.
When you appoint a builder you should make it a condition of the contract that the work is carried out to the satisfaction of your StructE and have the StructE inspect the work before paying the builder. You really need the StructE before the builder, because the StructE can prepare working dwgs and specs against which you can invite builders to quote.
If it's a front-facing room you might want to arrange all access to the works to be via the room window and an access tower, and access to the attic through the ceiling of this room (you will probably need a new ceiling anyway) rather than having builders traipsing through the rest of the house.
Removing the chimney breast without supporting the stack above is probably the most common cause of "I did some DIY and the house fell down" stories, and builders cannot be relied upon to do the job properly on their own initiative.
Owain