Peter Taylor wrote:

JK wrote


Just been to look at a house, which was really nice, plenty of stuff
that needs doing! But I noticed one of the chimney breasts has been
removed


This is really bad isn't it? The presence
of the steelwork makes it look like a proper job was done, but the lower
bit on the makeshift supports makes me think otherwise. I really like
the house, but is there any way to proceed with a purchase?


Congrats on the ASCII art JK!

The steel gallows brackets make it sound to me as though the job was done
reasonably thoroughly - I have seen so many of these where the whole stack is
resting on the ceiling joists, so it is really not all that bad. Ideally the
brickwork under the brackets should have been corbelled (stepped) back to the
party wall rather than being supported on the joists, but this is not too
serious.

It confused me - the lower bit seems like a half-fearted effort, but
fiting the brackets looks more like a proper job.


Far more worrying for me is that the weight of the chimney stack above
the roof is now eccentrically loaded on the party wall, which means it is in
danger of leaning over. I have seen this happen quite often in older
properties, and it causes quite serious damage sometimes. If the stack was to
lean over far enough to collapse, or even just lose a chimney pot, you can
imagine how dangerous this could be, as well as the damage and mess it would
cause.

The chimney looks pretty straight. I assume the next door house did not
have their's done, hence the remaining bits in the roof. That would
mean the party wall at that point would be braced to some extent by the
remaining breast?

BTW I think the rooms look much the worse for the removal of the chimney
breast.


A far better way of supporting the chimney breast in the loft would be
to provide a steel beam long enough to bear on the main front and rear external
walls. This would restore the full support which is now missing.


Hmmm....wonder how much a 25' rsj would cost!

Only you can decide whether this is important enough to pull out of the
purchase. I wouldn't say it was, as long as you know there might be a problem
you have to tackle in the future, and particularly if you like the house - it
wouldn't be a really major job to improve the situation.


We do like the house, though it seems a bit overpriced given the amount
of work that needs doing. But I would not be able to sleep soundly
knowing a ton of bricks were resting on the rafters!


It would a good idea to have a full structural survey done and then if the
Surveyor feels the problem is serious you can use the report to try to get the
price reduced.


Yes. I was hoping to avoid a structural; ones that I've seen just say
things like "The chimney looks badly done, I recommend you get a chimney
specialist to look at it." I wondered about asking the seller if he has
building control approval for the work, as I presume it would be
required for what amounts to quite serious structural work. I can't
believe it has it but it would make a good bargaining chip.


THnaks for your help

JK