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Take the Chimney Breast Out — Keep the House Up: A Structural Opening Done Right
How Diamond Drilling UK Ltd removed a ground-floor chimney breast in Winchelsea, East Sussex, and installed a steel beam to carry the stack above — safely, cleanly, and to the letter of the regulations.
At a glance
Job: Ground-floor chimney breast removal with a structural steel beam installed to support the retained stack above
Location: Winchelsea, East Sussex
Contractor: Diamond Drilling UK Ltd — specialist diamond drilling and concrete cutting
Method: Controlled diamond drilling and sawing, temporary needling/propping, RSJ beam on engineered padstones
Compliance: Structural engineer's design, Building Regulations sign-off, Party Wall Act where applicable
Accreditation: Member of the Drilling and Sawing Association (DSA)
Areas covered: Sussex, Kent, London, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Dorset and the wider South of England
Removing a chimney breast is one of the most popular ways to reclaim floor space in a period home — and one of the most dangerous jobs to get wrong. Here's how we did it in Winchelsea, and why it's a job for a professional, insured, specialist contractor.
Why is removing a chimney breast a structural job?
Take a chimney breast out at ground level and you remove the very thing that has been carrying the structure above it for a century or more. That load has to go somewhere.
The upstairs breast, flue and stack all sit on the breast below
Remove it without a new support and there is nothing holding the structure above up
The load must be transferred onto a new beam before anything is taken out
The sequence of work matters as much as the work itself — wrong order or an undersized beam can mean cracking or partial collapse
This is a structural opening, not a simple wall removal.
What we did on site in Winchelsea
Temporarily propped and needled the retained stack above — before any brickwork came out
Removed the chimney breast using controlled diamond drilling and sawing
Installed a structural steel beam (RSJ / universal beam) spanning the full width of the opening, to the engineer's specification
Built engineered padstones into the flank walls to spread the load into the supporting structure
Kept a clean, dust-controlled worksite from first cut to final tidy
Result: a solid, permanent structural opening and a room ready for the next stage of renovation.
Why you should never DIY a chimney breast removal
Doing it properly means every one of these is handled as standard:
Structural engineer's design — beam size, grade, padstones and bearings are calculated, not guessed
Building Regulations approval — notifiable work that must be inspected and signed off by Building Control (your completion certificate protects you at resale or remortgage)
Party Wall etc. Act 1996 — where the chimney sits in a shared wall, notice may need to be served on neighbours
Correct temporary support — needle beams, Acrow props and strongboys hold the structure while the opening is formed
The retained flue — proper ventilation and capping to prevent damp and condensation later
Why controlled removal beats brute force
Our specialism is diamond drilling and controlled sawing — a genuine safety advantage on a live structural opening:
Less vibration — no shockwaves through a century-old building
Less dust — a cleaner, safer, healthier worksite
Less risk to the brickwork, plaster and floors you want to keep
More precision — we cut and remove exactly what needs to go, nothing more
What does DSA membership mean — and why does it matter?
Diamond Drilling UK Ltd is a member of the Drilling and Sawing Association (DSA), the only body representing the UK drilling and sawing industry, established in 1984.
DSA membership is a real trust marker, not just a logo:
Not pay-and-join — companies must satisfy eligibility criteria to be accepted
Code of Safe Working Practice — members commit to the industry's recognised safety standards
Approved operator training — operatives are trained and qualified to industry-recognised standards
Accountability — choosing a DSA member assures you the work is done safely and competently, not by an uninsured man with a van
Why choose Diamond Drilling UK Ltd
We remove, we don't just demolish — controlled diamond cutting protects the structure you're keeping
We work to engineers' specifications every day — load-bearing steel, padstones and temporary support are our bread and butter
We're trusted on major projects — we work with tier-1 main contractors on some of the region's largest sites, and bring that same discipline to domestic jobs
We're established and accountable — DSA members, fully insured, with method statements and risk assessments (RAMS) as standard
When it's the floors above your head at stake, "cheap" and "quick" are the two most expensive words in the dictionary. Do it once, do it right.
Where we work
Based in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, with a London office in Hatton Garden, we cover:
East & West Sussex — Winchelsea, Rye, Hastings, Bexhill, Eastbourne, Brighton, Lewes
Kent — Ashford, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Canterbury
London — all boroughs
Surrey
Buckinghamshire
Dorset
...and the wider South and South East of England
Frequently asked questions
Do I need Building Regulations approval to remove a chimney breast? Yes. Chimney breast removal is notifiable structural work and must be inspected and signed off by Building Control. You'll receive a completion certificate, which you'll need when you sell or remortgage.
Do I need a structural engineer? Yes. A qualified structural engineer must design and specify the supporting beam, padstones and bearings. We install to that design.
Does the Party Wall Act apply? It can. Where the chimney is built into a shared party wall — common in terraced and semi-detached homes — you may need to serve notice on your neighbours before work begins.
Why use diamond drilling rather than a breaker? Controlled diamond cutting produces far less vibration and dust and greatly reduces the risk of damage to the structure you're keeping — a real advantage on a live structural opening.
Which areas do you cover? Sussex, Kent, London, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Dorset and the wider South of England.
Get in touch
Planning a chimney breast removal or a structural opening? Get the professionals in from the start.
Diamond Drilling UK Ltd 📞 020 3286 3428 / 01424 720259
📧 info@diamonddrillinguk.com
🌐 www.diamonddrillinguk.com
East Sussex Office: 215 Harley Shute Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 9JJ London Office: Unit 34, 67–68 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8JY
For diamond drilling across the South East — there is only one call to make.
precision Drilling. Concrete Cutting. Safe. Reliable. Professional. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation quotation — anywhere across the South of England.
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