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I'm planning to take down the rest of our interior, non used chimney in a few weeks. As I look at it more and more a joist, which has several others tied to it, appears to rest on the chimney, and the section below this point on the chimney is wider than above.

What do I need to do under the joist that rests on the chimney? (both during demo and permanently, afterwards)

I think I need a lally column under the end of the green dashed line. The problem is the only possible place to locate a jack post while I'm working is a very tight fit, where the 2 green double lines come together, just to the right of the chimney in the drawing. Other than putting a jack post there, my other thought is to try to remove 1/2 the width of the chimney first.

I may hire an engineer or just leaving the basement section, but am trying to figure out if it even seems possible first. Part of me thinks this is easy with a jack post and then lally column, part me thinks it's impossible.

enter image description here

Green double lines are 2 joists doubled. Black lines are single joists. Blue are still plates on block walls. It's an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper, 1 inch per foot, so total area shown is 9.5 by 7.5 feet.

user20127
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  • I don't see a question up there, other than the title (which is pretty vague). Please edit to clarify what you're asking. – isherwood Mar 10 '16 at 22:36

2 Answers2

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I would recommend hiring an engineer. There may be issues you aren't seeing, and structural integrity is not something you want to pinch pennies on.

keshlam
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It sounds like you've taken a portion down already & didn't find the floor above to be supported by the chimney. So, take the chimney down to the bottom of the joist to see if it's attached or sitting on a ledge or in a pocket within the chimney structure.

If it's a combination chimney & support pier, then you can take the chimney foundation out to where you're leaving the same amount of brick on either side of the beam. You're basically just carving out the previously built-in pier & however it is wide is how deep it should be. You want a nice solid undisturbed square column left behind. And, that should be all that's involved.

Get an engineer out & see what they say. But, I wouldn't replace old established brick with a lally column unless & until the need arises. You don't have much of any load or structure going on here.

Iggy
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