Steel

Before all my house plans had to be rapidly abandoned and redrawn I'd been intending to remove the chimney breasts in the front and back rooms, downstairs and upstairs, to gain more space and flexibility. The redrawn plans saved money by leaving them in place. That was sort of OK for what I want to use both front rooms for but very clumsy for the way I'll be using the back rooms - both will be partitioned and each will become two spaces. 

I asked the builder how much extra it would cost to remove the rear chimney breast.
 
I showed the plans to those of my family who are interested and Secondborn was very forthright: 'I intend to inherit your house and I do not want that chimney breast left in. It makes a complete mess of the rooms and it won't be removable later. I'll pay for it to come out.' I told her the architect had said that the money would be better spent elsewhere in the house and she replied that her money was for the chimney breast. 'If you don't take it out, the money's not yours to spend elsewhere.' So that decided it and I told the builder that it was to come out and at whose expense. He was astounded. 'You have a very generous daughter.' Of course I won't take her money (nor will I tell her that the cost has almost doubled since the quote).

Today the builder sent me photos of the steelwork that has gone in at ceiling level to support the chimneys above. I couldn't use his copyright (low-res) photos so apologies for breaking the rules but this is my photo taken a few days later of what used to be my bedroom. The bricks of the chimney breast are now out and will be reused elsewhere. I like how the soot makes it very clear how chimneys work - downstairs and upstairs fireplaces in parallel.

The steel at right angles to the one supporting the chimney is to support changes to the roof once insulation for this part and the extension go in. The foreman did explain but I'll need to look at the engineer's drawings to understand fully.

My model is a part 1 architectural assistant working for my architect. I am intrigued at how the builders won't let me in without my hi-vis, hard hat and steel boots (actually Tivoli's, borrowed for the duration) but allow the architects to dress as they please. I guess the architects are covered for accidents on site by their own insurance whereas I am covered by the builder's.