How Much Does Chimney Removal Cost?

The three removal jobs

Removal projects fall into three broad groups. Knowing which one you mean is the first step to a useful number, because the work, the trades involved and the risk are different in each.

Homeowners often start by asking about the full job and end up choosing the smaller one once they see what each involves. Taking a leaking, unused stack down below the roof solves the weather problem without touching the rooms inside.

• Below the roofline: the stack above the roof comes down to below the roof deck, then framing, sheathing and roofing close the opening
• Chimney breast: the masonry projecting into one or more rooms comes out, then the masonry above needs support and the plaster, flooring and trim are patched
• Full removal: the chimney comes out through every floor, sometimes down to the footing, and the roof, floors, walls and ceilings are closed on each level

First, find out what still uses the chimney

Before a single brick comes down, every flue has to be accounted for. A chimney that looks unused from the living room may still carry exhaust from heating equipment or a water heater in the basement. Taking it down without new venting for those appliances would push exhaust and carbon monoxide into the house.

Attached houses add a second check. Many brownstones, rowhouses and Philadelphia twins share a chimney on the party wall, with flues for both homes inside one stack. Removing or lowering that chimney affects the neighbor's flues, and that has to be settled with them, and with the building department where required, before work is planned.

What adds to the price

Height and access lead the list. A tall chimney on a steep roof needs more staging, more careful lowering of every brick and more time. Debris is next: a chimney is heavy masonry that has to be carried down, bagged or chuted and hauled away, and on a dense block with no driveway that takes planning and sometimes permits for a container.

Then come the follow-on trades. Roof framing and roofing over the opening, interior framing and plaster where a breast or stack came out, new venting for any appliance that used the chimney, and engineering and permits when the job needs them all add to the total.

• Chimney height, roof pitch and roof material
• How the debris gets from the roof or the room to a truck
• Roof closure and matching the existing roofing
• New venting for any heating appliance or water heater
• Structural support, engineering and permits
• Interior repair: plaster, flooring and trim

Closing the roof

Once the chimney is below the roof, the hole has to be closed so it performs like the roof around it. On a pitched roof that means framing across the opening, new sheathing, underlayment and roofing in the same material: asphalt shingle, slate or tile. Slate on an older home is slower to match and to lay than shingle.

On a flat roof, common on rowhouses, the opening is decked over and the membrane is patched so it seals properly with the existing roofing. Ask whether the roof work is included in the removal estimate or quoted separately. A low removal price that leaves the roof to someone else is not the full cost.

Chimney breast removal

A breast removal costs more than its size suggests. The masonry above it, including the stack running up through the upper floors and the attic, has to be supported before anything comes out, often with steel and an engineer's design. Removing a breast while leaving unsupported brick above is how chimneys end up cracking or dropping.

The work happens inside a lived-in home, so floors, walls and ceilings are opened and finished again, and dust control matters as much as the masonry. Where the chimney sits on a party wall, the neighbor's flues have to be protected through the whole job.

Permits and structural questions

Taking a chimney down is structural work in most cases, and many towns treat it differently from routine repair. Requirements vary between New York City, the towns of Long Island and Westchester, New Jersey municipalities and Philadelphia, so ask your town or city building office before work begins, and ask the contractor in writing which permits the job needs and who files them.

Landmarked buildings and historic districts can add review for any visible change to the roofline. Factor that time into the schedule.

An engineer's input is common for breast and full removals, because the load path of the remaining masonry, floor joists pocketed into the chimney and any shared party wall all have to be considered before the design is final.

When repair costs less than removal

For a chimney that only needs its top rebuilt, repair can cost less than removal and keeps the fireplace usable. For a chimney that is unused, leaking and badly damaged above the roof, removal down below the roofline can be the cheaper long-term answer, because there is nothing left above the roof to maintain.

Resale and character are part of the decision too. A working fireplace is valued by many buyers in older neighborhoods, while a stack that serves nothing is simply a source of leaks.

There is also a middle path. An unused chimney that is structurally sound can be sealed at the top with a cap or a metal cover, its fireplace closed off inside, and left in place. That stops leaks and drafts for far less than removal, though the masonry above the roof still needs an eye kept on it every few years.

What you can check before calling

A few observations make the first conversation much more useful. Note every appliance in the house and where its vent pipe goes: into the chimney, through a wall or through the roof. Look at the chimney from the street with binoculars for leaning, loose brick or a broken crown. In the attic, see whether the stack passes through it and whether there are water stains on the framing around it.

Check with the neighbor if you share a party wall, and look for old building records that show when the chimney was last worked on. None of this requires going onto the roof, and all of it helps narrow down which removal scope, or which repair, fits your house.

How the work is sequenced

Removal runs from the top down. The roof is protected, the stack is taken apart by hand, and the brick is lowered or chuted rather than dropped. Openings into the house are sealed off from living spaces. The roof opening is closed as soon as the stack is below it, or tarped securely if weather interrupts the work, so rain stays out of the attic.

We price removal and repair side by side when both make sense, each in writing, so you can choose with the numbers in front of you.