Hi,

In the room with the sloping roof (see earlier post), there is a
small (9 inches deep, 40 inches wide) fireplace. I know it's a
fireplace because the occupants of the other end-of-terrace said they
had the same thing and there is the "shadow" of a small mantle piece
which has been plastered over. The "interesting" thing about this
chimney breast is that it is only 9 inches deep and there is no
chimney stack on the roof above it - only a ventilation tile. The room
is on the first floor and the (gently sloping) roof is directly above
the ceiling. I suppose there could have been a small stack in the past
that was removed when the house was re-roofed (about 20 years ago).

Enough speculation. The question is, can I just knock out the
fireplace? The room is to become a bathroom and I'm not removing a
priceless architectural feature of the house (the front room fire is
used - smokeless fuel, of course). I am supposing underneath the (to-
be-removed) ceiling will be the laths then the beams supporting the
roof. Most of the roof beams will run from one supporting wall to the
external walls. However, the beams won't project to the edge of the
roof where the fireplace is. I am guessing the end of the roof beams
will rest on the part of the chimney breast that projects into the
room. So .... if I knock down the chimney breast won't the beams come
a tumblin' down because they will have lost their support? If yes, how
do I remove this chimney? There's no external stack, so I suppose that
makes the job a bit easier. If there is an existing FAQ on this
subject, I apologise.

Thanks

Clive

On Dec 13, 12:20 pm, Clive wrote:
Hi,

In the room with the sloping roof (see earlier post), there is a
small (9 inches deep, 40 inches wide) fireplace. I know it's a
fireplace because the occupants of the other end-of-terrace said they
had the same thing and there is the "shadow" of a small mantle piece
which has been plastered over. The "interesting" thing about this
chimney breast is that it is only 9 inches deep and there is no
chimney stack on the roof above it - only a ventilation tile. The room
is on the first floor and the (gently sloping) roof is directly above
the ceiling. I suppose there could have been a small stack in the past
that was removed when the house was re-roofed (about 20 years ago).

Enough speculation. The question is, can I just knock out the
fireplace? The room is to become a bathroom and I'm not removing a
priceless architectural feature of the house (the front room fire is
used - smokeless fuel, of course). I am supposing underneath the (to-
be-removed) ceiling will be the laths then the beams supporting the
roof. Most of the roof beams will run from one supporting wall to the
external walls. However, the beams won't project to the edge of the
roof where the fireplace is. I am guessing the end of the roof beams
will rest on the part of the chimney breast that projects into the
room. So .... if I knock down the chimney breast won't the beams come
a tumblin' down because they will have lost their support? If yes, how
do I remove this chimney? There's no external stack, so I suppose that
makes the job a bit easier. If there is an existing FAQ on this
subject, I apologise.

Thanks

Clive

Stop guessign and have a look. I doubt any beams rest on the top of
the chimney. Seeing as you're converting this to a bathroom don't you
need planning permission anyway?

On 13 Dec, 13:05, adder1969 wrote:

Stop guessign and have a look. I doubt any beams rest on the top of
the chimney. Seeing as you're converting this to a bathroom don't you
need planning permission anyway?

Yep. As the ceiling will be coming down I can chip away at some areas
of plaster and see where the beams run.

I understand what you are saying about planning permission to effect
change of use of the room but how would this affect the removal of the
chimney breast?


Thanks

Clive