Chimney Repairs and Removals in Hartley Wintney

The High Street frontage is largely terraced and historic, so a project there frequently involves both an adjoining owner and a heritage consideration at the same time. If the property is semi detached or terraced, or if the foundations for any new element sit close to a boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is likely to apply and notice has to be served before work starts. We can confirm the position once we have seen the property, and serve the notices as part of the same project rather than leaving you to arrange it separately.

Hartley Wintney falls under Hart District Council. It is the local planning authority, with Hampshire County Council above it for highways matters such as skip permits and any scaffold that reaches the pavement. That matters because a set of calculations and drawings has to be submitted to the authority that actually covers the address, and on this patch the boundaries run close together, so neighbouring towns can sit with entirely different councils.

Yes. Hartley Wintney is fully within our normal working area for chimney repairs and removals, from the High Street, the cricket green, Phoenix Green and West Green through to the surrounding streets. High Street loading is restricted and the frontages are directly on the pavement, so scaffold licences and delivery timing are usually settled before anything else on a village centre project.

Yes. The village centre is a conservation area with a significant number of listed buildings along the High Street, so internal alterations to an older property can need listed building consent as well as building regulations approval. Where any of that applies to a property, permitted development cannot be assumed, and on a listed building even internal alterations can need consent. We establish which of these apply to your address at the start, because it can change the structural solution as well as the paperwork.

It can, both structurally and in terms of fire separation, which is precisely why the party wall procedure exists. The work has to leave the neighbour's side properly supported and properly separated.

Yes. Alongside Hartley Wintney we regularly work in Fleet and Yateley, and across the wider Hampshire border area from our office in Fleet. Bear in mind that some of those neighbouring towns sit under a different council to Hartley Wintney, so the planning and building control route can change from one to the next even over a short distance.

Flashing failure is the most common cause. The lead detail where the stack meets the roof covering degrades with age and movement, and a stain that appears specifically after wind driven rain from one direction usually points to it rather than to the brickwork.

Yes. It is structural work, and building control will want to see the support arrangement for whatever remains, along with any effect on the fire separation between the property and its neighbour.

It can. Across Hartley Wintney the underlying ground is commonly London Clay with gravel cappings on the higher ground, and that has a bearing on foundation depth, on how a new bearing is detailed, and on how close to mature trees a foundation can sensibly go. That is a general description of the area rather than a statement about any particular plot, so where foundations are involved we design against what an investigation on the site actually shows.

Very often, yes. On a semi detached or terraced property the chimney is usually within the party wall, so cutting into it engages the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 and notice has to be served on the adjoining owner.