Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Aug 04, 2015 6:08 pm Hi everyone, my house was built in 1930 and although the previous owners renovated and extended, they were big fans of original features and kept the tiny kitchen with the chimney and cooking alcove. I also love original features but the alcove has to go for so many reasons! I know we have to get a demolition permit and that's fine, but if anyone here has knocked out an old chimney and alcove, I'd appreciate words of advice. We'll have a huge hole in our kitchen wall when the back of the alcove is removed. Actually most of our external kitchen wall will be open when the alcove goes. The plan is to then hole it up asap of course. I have no idea how long that would take! We have two young children at home. Fortunately the rear living areas (bedrooms, bathroom, a lounge area) of our house can be shut off with the hallway door, so we can move cooking appliances and such to the other end of the house and close off our hallway door while the kitchen work is being done. However a builder acquaintance said it's safer for the family to be out of the house completely while the chimney is getting knocked out and the wall patched up. Is it really necessary for us to move out? Sure we can go out during the day but I'd like to be around for security reasons but also to tidy up and that kind of stuff. Thank you! Re: Removing 1930s kitchen chimney and alcove: help! 2Aug 04, 2015 7:28 pm If the guys removing all the brickwork know what they are doing and don't go at it like a bull at a gate you shouldn't have to move out. In saying that you should be prepared for lots of dust - very fine white dust from the mortar ( probably the old lime mortar ) but also lots of very fine black dust from the soot in the chimney. It also sounds like with the extent of the brickwork coming out that a visit from a structural engineer would be a good idea. Stewie Re: Removing 1930s kitchen chimney and alcove: help! 3Aug 06, 2015 11:45 am thanks Stewie, yep we'll get a structural engineer out too. As much as I would love the kitchen reno and opening up a huge amount of space to replace the current tiny set up, the thought of the actual work and inconvenience while the kids are young holds me back-- another builder estimated the job taking two months and that ideally we shouldn't be living there. The full reno will involve the chimney/wall being knocked out then some internal walls and a new laundry being built. Thanks again! 6 11133 The best advice is for you to get a competent building consultant to guide you through your build 7 4664 I recently went through a similar renovation and move scenario when updating our family home. We also swapped some rooms around and tackled a major… 2 9871 |