Thanks---the sticky part is that this actually isn't a brick chimney, as far as we know. I've found a bunch of great references for removing those, but we've seen no evidence of bricks, and I imagine there would likely be some at the base or some at the top if there were bricks in the middle? Our fireplace chimney is brick, but there the bricks are very clearly visible in both the basement and above the roof line. In contrast, the kitchen chimney has a large metal belly in the basement and then a small metal cap where it comes out the roof. Any thoughts on what might be in between the two? (I know, the answer is probably to give the plaster a whack or two---we're just hoping to figure out as much as possible before we take that plunge, since then we pretty much have to keep going!)

We had our local handyman do it for us about 3 years ago. Works best with a few guys with good backs and 5 gallon buckets. It also was a messy job as they had to sledge hammer the mortar and the dust had a tendency to float. In our case it was used for nothing, so we did not have to reposition any vents. The procedure was to get on the roof and knock the top off, patch the roof hole, then take the door off the clean out in the basement portion, knock a couple of bricks out around the door area to create a larger "doorway". Then one guy followed the chimmney down, through the house, knocking bricks off, a couple at a time, droping them through the center, where the guy at the bottom pulled them out and loaded them into buckets. The third guy hauled them out to the truck outside. By knocking it down in pieces like that, they could keep an eye on the structure. The roof needed no bracing in our case and they had to be careful to not damage the paster walls next to it. It took 2 days and we paid about $1500 and that is in small town Nebraska.

Wow...it's great to see what everyone is doing/has done. Moonkat--you are my hero. I LOVE what you did!! I got rid of my chimney about 2 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I've made in regards to the house. I have a small kitchen (maybe 10 x 10?) and the fridge was basically in the middle of it. Getting rid of the chimney meant we could build a "built in" cubby for the fridge and open the space in the rest of the kitchen. I've posted some photo links below.) I agree with what most posters have said--esp regarding an engineer. We could also see from the attic that there was space all the way around so it wasn't holding anything. We had 2 people look at it just to triple check. In terms of the process, it wasn't *nearly* as hard as ripping out my awful, awful kitchen tiles. :-( They were 18 x 18 and it took about 16 hours to get them all up. It was back breaking and mess and with none of the thrill of the chimney demo because they wouldn't "pop" up the way the bricks would "pop" off. :-) (The key to that, if nobody has said it, is to place the chisel right at the mortar seam where it meets the brick. It worked 90% of the time. We used both electric and human powered tools and it moved amazingly quickly.) Other thoughts... The worst parts were (1) patching the roof---this job isn't bad **but** we were working in summer. It gave us a new esteem for roofers--it must have been 120 degrees up there. So, I'd say work in a season when it's cool, if you can. In a cooler season, this would have been easy. (2) Dust. We put down drop cloths but not enough and although we hung plastic "drapes" dust really got everywhere. Keep in mind that we'd have to open the "drapes" every time we wheeled a new load of bricks outside so the dust in the air could float. An old theater trick--have a spray bottle handy and spray the air. The dust settles. And, maybe some kind of hepa filter. Keep the air-con *off* so the dust doesn't get into the system. You might even cover vents. Put a fan in any windows facing out so the dust gets sucked out. Oh yea...buy the best air mask you can! Next time I would probably *move* the furniture into other rooms. All in all this wasn't that bad. The plaster was heavy as heck and poured into the wire so that was worse than the bricks themselves. That part I rather liked (but I'm weird.) At the time, I didn't have a shopvac. I can see where that would be useful. For anyone interested, here are some photos. Sorry I can't get live links but you can cut and paste. Some of the photos on this page are obviously staged, but if you scroll through, you can see the heavy plaster, chicken wire stuff, etc...as we go along. Sorry that I can't seem to aggregate them. -->Old chimney behind the pot rack: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_1664.jpg CHIMNEY GOING DOWN: http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3095.jpg http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3098.jpg GONE: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3100.jpg http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3099.jpg (It was very tempting to keep the space open.) NEW FRIDGE CUBBY: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3120.jpg http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3132.jpg In the 2 years since I posted, the kitchen has had yet more remodeling. If you look at the album in general, you can see a side door, etc. I walled that up, put in cabs, moved the stove, cut a pass through into another wall, gutted the tile, added a dishwasher, added crown moulding, etc. (Well, *I* didn't do all that...I needed help...much better at *destruction* than construction.) Lastly, here's where we talked about it in 2006. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg071448024576.html Good luck!! Andi

Firstly, get an engineer in to confirm that it is not load bearing. I can't imagine that it is. Secondly, get a quote on removing it. I think first prize would be to remove it -- less for the look of it than for the crumbling interior brick.. If you can't, get the brick sorted out to the point where it's no hazard to either people or the house, and relax. It's not an ugly chimney, and symmetry isn't everything. Once you have the bottom windows sorted out you should find out that the large one to the right balances the chimney out visually. Right now the window has been disappeared with that white boarding.