Advice on removing some of the chimney

[GreenVision]

Just now, geogeo said:

maye get the kids away for the day !!  soak a heavy dust sheet in water ??

 

If I do it myself yh the house will be empty for a few hours whilst and after its done. 

 

I was gona use my 10L plant sprayer to mist the entire loft and the sheet before and after doing it.

 

 

I'm still not convinced about DIY'ing though. TBH part of the problem is telling a firm "WHY" I want it removed. It's not used any more, it just sits in the loft doing nothing, so they may ask why I want it gone and I cant think of any real reasonable excuse other than "I just dont want asbestos in my loft", which may not be enough of an excuse to avoid suspision. On the other hand they may totally understand and tell me its a good idea to get it gone. 

[GreenVision]

Just now, sweettooth said:

I was trying to use my chimnery but the tops are capped, often when its sealed up/decommisoined , the tops will be capped to some degree, you may find pushing a 12" at 75% wil either blow the cap off or create back pressure and start feeding into the house or even worse, into next doors chimneys??

 

I wasn't aware they did that tbh. I have to say though I have never noticed any breeze etc coming through before I boarded it off so you may have a point.

 

Maybe I'll get a better look at the eaves, Im gona be there getting the old insulation up anyway, and add in the danger of fucking about with old brickwork..... Might be the way to go then. 

[sweettooth]

Just now, GreenVision said:

 

I wasn't aware they did that tbh. I have to say though I have never noticed any breeze etc coming through before I boarded it off so you may have a point.

 

Maybe I'll get a better look at the eaves, Im gona be there getting the old insulation up anyway, and add in the danger of fucking about with old brickwork..... Might be the way to go then. 

Yeah, i was tempted to stick some green smoke as a test up there but bit of a give away and couldve alos back fired massively

 

most caps do leave some air gaps to breath but no way near enough for 3000cfm

 

[GreenVision]

1 hour ago, sweettooth said:

I was trying to use my chimnery but the tops are capped, often when its sealed up/decommisoined , the tops will be capped to some degree, you may find pushing a 12" at 75% wil either blow the cap off or create back pressure and start feeding into the house or even worse, into next doors chimneys??

 

 

[stu sleeper 20vt]

Hi mate.

I only run a 5inch and knocked a brick out of the chimney.

Luckily the chimney had been previously used for real fires so you could clearly see where the actual flues ran.

On mine there was 2 'flues' within the massive brick structure one from each side of the house I assume.

As soon as I took out the brick and cleared some soot the updraft was quite significant and seems to cope with my 360m2 at full chat

Good luck mate

[ravsta]

@greenvision if you drill 2 x 6 inch holes you can get a 12 inch to 2 x 6 inch plastic reducer that you can cut to size  

Edited July 3, 2023 by ravsta

[monkeypig]

1 hour ago, ravsta said:

@greenvision if you drill 2 x 6 inch holes you can get a 12 inch to 2 x 6 inch plastic reducer that you can cut to size  

 

But remembeer that 2 6 inch holes are only about half a 12 ich hole.

[GreenVision]

Jumped up in the loft yeaserday evening.

 

Turns out the chimney is about 500mm across, so making a 12" hole isnt a wise choice anyway, even dead center that would leave 100mm of brick either side of the hole, thats just too much removed from the brickwork to call it safe. Add in what Sweettooth has said about the pressure through the flues and its starting to feel like a no go.

 

So I got a better look at the eaves. They are about 11" or 290mm across on the outside, and I can easily reach them from the bedroom windows to put in a louvre. So two white 10" louvres which will blend with the white eaves should be OK. a 12" y splitter then reduce each piece to 10" should be good enough to avoid bottleknecking the airflow.

 

 

As for the watertank, found a local firm that can remove them for about £200 - £300, so I think I'm gona leave it to them. I'll remove all the previous insulation and clear everything up then tell them I just want it out for safety sakes before I "Re-Insulate" the loft area. Apparently just throwing it in the bins is right dick move as it puts other people and the environment at real serious risk, you need a firm to collect it anyway, and thats upwards of £100, so I may as well pay the extra and get er' done.

 

Cheers.

[pollenlover]

Hey mate. All the specialist company will do is double wrap in strong plastic to break the tank up. Had to remove some from my own property and my father in law helped who is a plumber and has stripped out quite a lot of it before. Won't be a nice job though up in the loft at this time of year. 

The hole size is definitely too big for the chimney size. I would leave well alone. Can't you punch a hole out of a gable end? Edited to add you can usually dispose of asbestos at your local tip for a small fee and as long as it is wrapped in plastic.

Edited July 4, 2023 by pollenlover

[mysticriver]

im a brickie - if ya can get me a photo ill prolly be able to help

 

 

mystic

[GreenVision]

6 hours ago, pollenlover said:

Hey mate. All the specialist company will do is double wrap in strong plastic to break the tank up. Had to remove some from my own property and my father in law helped who is a plumber and has stripped out quite a lot of it before. Won't be a nice job though up in the loft at this time of year. 

The hole size is definitely too big for the chimney size. I would leave well alone. Can't you punch a hole out of a gable end? Edited to add you can usually dispose of asbestos at your local tip for a small fee and as long as it is wrapped in plastic.

 

 

Its not just me mate, its th family. I'd have to kick them out for a few hours while I did the deed. Apparently if a firm does it you only need to leave when they bring it out the loft and not actually empty the house.

[GreenVision]

5 hours ago, mysticriver said:

im a brickie - if ya can get me a photo ill prolly be able to help

 

 

mystic

 

 

I can get you a pic tomorrow, I'll upload it here at some point in the morning / afternoon either way, might help other see what I'm dealing with as well.

 

 

Trouble is though its been rendered of sorts. Looks like when it was put up it was just smothered in render / cement so you cant actually see the brickwork.

 

From what is visable its a square column about 520mm each side and about 1800mm from loft floor to the pitch.

 

I just dont think it'd be wise for me to drill out a 315mm circular hole in something that size?

 

Feels that by the time the hole is drilled out there will be so little brickwork left either side of the hole it may not hold its own weight. Thats without the damage I'd do "Tommy Gunnin" with a hammer drill for 20 mins.

[pollenlover]

I am also a Bricky/Builder/Site Manager mate. Sounds like you have the right idea and a good plan.

[porky]

On 03/07/2023 at 5:34 PM, sweettooth said:

Yeah, i was tempted to stick some green smoke as a test up there but bit of a give away  

 

The neighbours could be toking catholics so you could say you'd just chosen some new dope.

[mysticriver]

17 hours ago, GreenVision said:

square column about 520mm each side

what do you mean by 520mm 'each side'? I got the hieght @ 1.8m, or do you mean two columns that merge into one

or the depth

need a picture

 

 

mystic