Chimney Breast Removal- Yay or Nay?

[Renovator312345]

[Namechanged for this one for privacy reasons. If you saw another similar thread, apologies!]

Hi lovely people,

We've been going back and forth on this for months, so I could really use your opinions! We are in the process of renovating a 1930s semi-detached house. We already need to do lots of extremely messy jobs (rewiring, ceiling replacements, changes to external walls etc), so we thought- why not add chimney breast removal to the list? For context, the original fireplaces are long gone and we would never use a fireplace anyway, so the chimney breasts are basically just wasted space for us! It's not a massive house so the extra space would be brilliant.

Unusually, our chimney breast is on the central wall of the house NOT the party wall with our neighbour. However, from speaking with a surveyor and structural engineer, we would still need a party wall agreement because we would need to put support beams in that would cut into the party wall.

We're a bit worried about getting a party wall agreement for a few reasons:

1. We've only recently moved in, so we don't know our neighbours well unfortunately. We don't expect them to agree to the party wall agreement immediately or share a surveyor. Completely within their rights obviously, but it makes us wary of getting into it.

2. We have concerns about the open-endedness of liability and cost that seems to come with a party wall agreement. Just seems tricky to know exactly how much we could end up paying. From what I've read, it's possible that we'll have to cover surveyor costs long after the work is done to determine if any damage on their side was caused by our work or not.

3. Most importantly: we'd like to get on with the work ASAP. After we took on this project, we've had some health problems come up, so we just want to get all the work over with now.

Our structural engineer has come up with an alternative design for us to remove the chimney breast without cutting into the party wall in any way. He's proposed an extra horizontal beam connecting up to one of other walls. Our concern with this is that it could lower property value in the future by effectively losing a bit of ceiling height (not that we're planning to sell anytime soon!).

So our options are basically:
Option A. Don't remove the chimney breast and live with it.
Option B. Go ahead with a party wall agreement and wait the extra time.
Option C. Change the design so that we don't need to impact the party wall and have an extra support beam.

Whatever we do, we'll try our absolute best to minimise disruption for our neighbours, of course.

What would you do? Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

Personally...
Option A. Don't remove the chimney breast and live with it.

I saw a DIY show where they cut squares into the chimney breast to make storage.
Sort of like a built in ikea expedit. It looked pretty cool!

We are taking ours out but detached so no party wall hassle . The room with it in is going to change from a lounge to a bedroom and then a bedroom is going to become a lounge so a new one will go in there.

Personally I'd keep it, partly because it's the easiest thing to do and partly because it's a period feature of a 1930s house.

Take the whole thing down from above roof to the ground, no need for any steels or party wall awards

Thanks for the replies so far- very helpful! Will have a look for ways to use it for storage.

I don't think we get any period feature benefits from it, as we don't have the fireplaces- but maybe the chimney itself is a feature for some.

Unfortunately, we can't remove the entire chimney as the house is in a conservation area so it has to stay looking the same externally.

I think the chimney breast and alcoves are a period feature.

Keep and put some reclaimed fireplaces back?

I think rooms lose focus without a chimney. They are a period feature even with no original fireplace.

I removed my chimney breast last year and got a utility room out of the space created so I say YAY!

Ours had to remain above the roof (semis) so has a steel support in the roof space.

A
A chimney breast has been removed in a bedroom in our house and we hate it.

If you want the room I would go with removing. You have to pay the party wall surveryor - whatever but as I understand it and there will be those who know better - once signed off by structural engineer and party wall surveyor as safe - it will be fine. But do ask someone qualified.

I’ve just paid a fortune to add a chimney breast to our house! Keep it.

Chimneys are an integral part of the structure and stability of a house. Think about a ruined house, the chimney is usually the last bit standing

It sounds like a whole lot of very invasive work for not a huge amount of gain

I'd either keep it or have the extra beam.

The party wall could be a major hassle.

Or: ask the neighbours. How would they feel? Do they need a party wall agreement? (It's not legally required - it's optional, if they choose not to have it)

Lots of people have this done and lots of neighbours don't mind and don't ask for party wall.

Strictly speaking ever single rear extension could be subject to party wall agreement. But billions are done without one.

Definitely keep it. Get to a reclamation yard and find a fireplace. If you need to keep the chimney anyway, then why wouldnt you keep it?

Thanks all. Surprising but helpful to see so many of you in the 'keep it' camp! We don't have any plans to sell (it could well be our forever home), but worth knowing what others will value.

From a quick look at reclaimed fireplaces online, they are seemingly uber expensive, so if we do keep the breasts in place then it isn't likely we'd restore it to its former glory any time soon!

You could use the fireplace bit for books or other storage if you are not going to use as a fireplace. - Also the alcoves do make for very easy shelves / cupboards & then later you can reinstate a fire.

I absolutely wouldn't do it unless completely desperate for the space. As a PP has said, chimneys are an integral part of the structure and stability of a house. My last house had a ongoing structural problems relating to the removal of the chimney breasts years before; cost a bunch of money to try to fix, was a huge stress for us and we lost a lot of money when we came to sell. I learned my lesson and will never buy a house that's been structurally tampered with again.

That’s what I was going to say. Odd that your surveyor/structural engineer did not apprise you of this. Is he after the work?

I think it also depends on the size of the rooms. I removed it from two bedrooms which were pretty small to get extra much needed space. But kept it in a larger bedroom where it’s a period feature.

And there's me thinking about having a false chimney breast put in. We don't need a fire but I love the look of alcoves as much as anything. Flat walls are boring

I would keep it and add a reclaimed fireplace. These can still be picked up reasonably inexpensively at some reclamation yards or on the likes of eBay.

We've previously added a faux chimney breast (where the actual breast was on the outside of the house) plus fireplace to give character to a mid Victorian house...not to mention the much valued alcoves!

The only time we removed one was in a room that was changing its use (from living room to kitchen), where a flat wall for a run of cabinets was required. In this instance there was another - larger, more attractive chimney breast - at the other end of the room and, more importantly, historically the room wouldn't have had a chimney breast/fireplace anyway, being a former agricultural building.

A. - without doubt.

I have just turned down an otherwise lovely house, in a beautiful location, because of the lack of a chimney and the cost / hassle of trying to retrofit one (AONB).

I personally find a Living Room without a fire, soulless.

We moved into our 1930s semi in May of this year. Every room has a chimney breast and we love them as without them the rooms are like featureless boxes. Only the living room has the original fireplace and mantelpiece and the dining room has just a space for the fireplace.

Like you, we also rewired, installed a new boiler and central heating, are decorating the entire house and had a new kitchen and bathroom installed.

If you are desperate for the space, get rid of your chimney breasts. We wanted our house to remain as close to the style in which it was built as possible, but I realise you may not be so bothered about that.

I lived in a Victorian terrace with chimney breasts in every room for years and they looked lovely but practically were a real pita. They make it really hard to place furniture. The rooms there were all of a size to take a chimeney breast though, and because of that and the age of the property I left them and it definitely helped when I came to sell.

I now live in a 60s semi with a chimney breast running up from living room through the two smallest bedrooms and I am planning to remove it because it really makes the two bedroom impossible, but they are very small rooms so taking it out will make a huge difference. I will also remove it in the living room because I want the flexibility of furniture placement and I don't think a 60s house needs a chimney breast, particularly a non functional one.

If it will make a fundamental difference to the space in any of the rooms, then remove it, but if not I'd be inclined to leave due to the age of the house.

My first step would be to talk to your neighbours openly about it, to see if they will take the most expensive party wall option or not. That might inform your thinking.