My first post - please be gentle with me.
My partner has owned and lived in an old miners cottage for about 13 years. He's not particulary handy and works odd shift & so hasn't really done anything to the house in all that time and it shows!
The house is a little like the house that Jack built & over the years previous owners have done internal renovations. Thankfully however it still holds old fashioned charm.
In considering a renovation my partner wants to get rid of the original chimney. It is leaking, has a bit of a lean on it, and is slowly moving away from the walls so you can see daylight between the wall & the chimney brick. To top it all off the side that is in the house has been covered with some sort of a render which is starting to chip and buckle probably because it's moving slightly. Tear it down I hear you all say.
BUT - it is the original chimney and has been made with hand made bricks that have heart impressions on them. It could be a lovely feature and I feel a great loss to the house.
Anyone have any experience with renovating old places - chimneys inparticular? Anyone have any idea what the render may be? Do I call a bricklayer to give me a quote in a chimney repair or is there such a thing as a chimney specialist? Cost sadly may be a deciding factor to its staying or going. Having said that it's potentially going to cost as much to renovate it as to bring it down & then build the space it's left behind! Those lovely old bricks, would we damage them in the deconstruction of the chimney?
Any help or advise you can offer is greatly appreciated.
Paddles