Chimney Woes Part 2

[Specificbumbless]

Hello, I posted on here recently as we are in the middle of purchasing a Victorian property. The surveyor flagged that the rear chimney stack was unsupported. We revisited today with a friend who has experience in this area and the rear stack was bonded and was absolutely fine. We then looked at the loft chimney breast and was slightly horrified to find that it’s cracked and slightly bulged. We are trying to find a structural engineer to come out next week to properly diagnose, but I’m interested to see what people thing might be wrong with it and if it’s as bad as it looks. I got some really useful replies last time, so any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[cdbe]

It looks like an issue. Probably best trying to work out how much the seller's are willing to drop the price before you start commissioning engineers at your expense.

 

[Koolpc]

Looks expensive!!!

 

[ree]

OP,
Without more information I wouldn't like to guess whats happened & why its happened.
But the cost shouldn't be in the league of deal breakers?

FWIW: Your terminology is wrong - what you show is a loft chimney breast.
The chimney breast typically starts on the ground floor, & rises to just below the roof.
The chimney stack is the visible part of the chimney on the roof.

In the pic above are any of the flues active or are they all redundant?
Do you have any plans for using any or all the flues in that chimney breast?
Is the back wall a party wall or a gable wall?
Has any part of the chimney breast been removed in the floors below the loft?

 

[Specificbumbless]

Hi there, sorry about my terminology, we are FTB so this is all completely new to us. The chimney breasts are in tact and the person who lived there has gas fires installed in the fireplace, so I assume the flues are open. We wanted to take these gas fires out and restore the fireplaces as they are in the lounge and Dining room. It’s an end terrace, so the wall is not a party wall. I completely understand that no one can diagnose the problem, we are just on a run of back luck with finding things. We are at the point of wondering if we should walk away from the house, as we don’t have the spare funds to fix something like this. Thank you!

 

[blup]

If you are removing the flues in the house you will have to either support the remaining flue in the loft including the stack above, or remove them as well. Both have cost implications which you can factor into the price you offer. You are fortunate it is an end of terrace and don't have a neighbouring property to factor in. Get quotes from builders, it will tell you what the likely cost is and how easy it is get hold of someone to do it.

 

[Specificbumbless]

Thanks. We don’t want to remove the flues, we very much want the fireplaces!

 

[^woody^]

You need a image more from the side to show if the movement is in the breast or the wall.

Also of the external gable and the stack from two directions

 

[Specificbumbless]

We don’t have one flush along the wall unfortunately.

 

[^woody^]

No, still can't tell.

It looks odd for movement, rather it looks like bricks have been removed and replaced for some reason.

 

[ree]

OP,
Thanks for your reply. Presumably, you've had a mortgage survey - if the earlier unsupported c/b becomes a retention issue you could argue against it as unnecessary work - if the issue at hand has been missed then dont you refer to it or it will become a retention issue?

The chimney stack is leaning slightly - pics of the gable would help?
If you complete then first only do the necessary retention items - anything else ("fire places") can wait.
Although it would pay to have the flues smoke tested & swept.
All old houses have defects - if you see a sparkling, brand new looking Victorian then walk away: its a flip all surface, no depth.

Why not come back here after you have the SE's report.

 

[Specificbumbless]

Thanks for the reply. We had a mortgage valuation but it was a desk job I think, no one visited the property, so we are okay from a mortgage point of view. Here is a picture of the outside, is that what you mean? We are not sure if this is worth pulling out over and after sleeping on it, we are not sure if we want to commit to another £600+ for a SE as we can see it needs an immediate fix. The house has a range of other issues, including damp and asbestos, but we accept that comes from buying an old house. Decisions!

 

[ree]

OP,
Fair enough, your choice but the chimney breast business - damp - and asbestos(?) are mickey mouse items in terms of a house purchase.
The property has sound brickwork on the gable - sound purlins, rafters and roof shape plus the terrific free gifts of no retentions, & a loft thats ready for a conversion, plus a newish roof.

As above, I wonder if someone, perhaps whoever removed the rear chimney breast, had a go at the loft chimney breast. Perhaps they opened up the brickwork where there's now a large mortar patch - didn't know what they were looking at - so they then removed some bricks, failed again & carelessly put the bricks back.

There are no cracks or bulges to be seen so the loft c/b could wait for more funds - its not going to fall.
None of my business but Cancel the SE buy the house.

 

[Specificbumbless]

Thanks so much for your reply!

 

[blup]

Thanks for the reply. We had a mortgage valuation but it was a desk job I think, no one visited the property, so we are okay from a mortgage point of view. Here is a picture of the outside, is that what you mean? We are not sure if this is worth pulling out over and after sleeping on it, we are not sure if we want to commit to another £600+ for a SE as we can see it needs an immediate fix. The house has a range of other issues, including damp and asbestos, but we accept that comes from buying an old house. Decisions!

I don't see how a mortgage company can safely rely on a desktop valuation, maybe you are putting down a large deposit and they think their loan would be covered. As said it looks like the bricks may have been removed and replaced, rather than come loose as a result of structural failures, but its not clear without further information.