Chimneys and parapets
A stack was removed in the roof and a ceiling binder below looks newly strained. What connection between those two notes was not opened up?
The connection between the removed stack and the strained ceiling binder was not opened up. The survey has two notes: a stack taken out in the roof, and a binder below that looks newly strained. It has not exposed how the ceiling is carried where the stack used to pass, and it has not shown that the strain is the result of the removal. Approved Document A is guidance on structure. The inspection has not calculated this and has not certified it. Two observations in one house are not yet one mechanism.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Taking a stack out of a roof can change how loads were shared, and a ceiling binder can pick up a job it was not doing before. It can also be strained for a reason of its own: a heavy loft floor, a water tank, a rotten bearing. The surveyor could see a missing stack and a binder that looks newly worked. They could not see the junction between those facts without opening the ceiling or the roof timbers around the old chimney path. That opening was not done.
Ask the solicitor for any design or building papers for the stack removal. If the binder's strain needs explaining, a structural engineer can open the question the survey left closed. Do not tell a lender the ceiling is failing because a chimney is gone. The connection was not opened up. Do not ignore the strain either. It is a real note. It is just not yet tied, by inspection, to the missing stack.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What remains in the roof where the stack was removed?
- What about the binder looks newly strained?
- Did you open the junction between those two notes?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the removed stack and the strained binder as two notes.
- Do not assume a connection that was not opened up.
- Ask an engineer to investigate if the papers do not explain the binder.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the stack was removed years ago, must the binder be unrelated?
Not proved either way. Age of the removal, if you even know it, does not open the junction. The survey has not shown the notes are linked and has not shown they are separate. The connection stays unopened. Time passing does not expose the ceiling where the stack used to rise.
Does a straight ceiling mean the binder is fine?
No. A ceiling can look straight while a binder above it looks newly strained. The survey recorded that strain. It did not open the connection to the removed stack, so straight plaster is not a structural check. Plaster can hide a binder the survey has already called newly strained.