A chimney that is no longer in use is a maintenance bill waiting to happen. Mortar crumbles, bricks loosen at the top, the flashing leaks, and the whole stack takes up room in the middle of the house. If you have decided to get rid of it, this page covers what the job costs, how far down you can take it, and how the work goes. The brick is the easy part to remove. What sits around it, the roof, the furnace vent and the fireplace, is what needs planning.
For city-specific detail on semis and older brick, see chimney removal in Toronto.
Chimney removal cost in Toronto and York Region: the real ranges
Taking a chimney down above the roofline typically costs $800–$2,000. We remove the stack to just below the roof deck and leave the opening for your roofer to close. Full interior removal through one storey runs $2,000–$4,500. Removing a chimney through two storeys to the basement runs $4,000–$8,000, because there is a lot more brick to carry and more rooms to protect. Hauling the brick and rubble away is included in each price.
What moves the number: how tall and how wide the chimney is, how steep and high the roof is, whether the chimney is brick or block, how many floors it passes through, and how easily we can carry material out of the house. Photos of the chimney from outside and from the rooms it passes through are usually enough for a written quote.
Above the roofline or all the way down
There are two basic choices, and they cost very differently.
Above the roofline only. The part you can see from the yard comes down. This stops the leaks, removes the part that crumbles, and costs the least. The brick inside the house stays, so you keep the closet or the corner it passes through but you do not get the space back.
All the way down. The chimney comes out through the roof, every floor and into the basement. You get the floor space back, but there are openings in the roof, the floors and the ceilings to deal with afterward, and any interior demolition around it, like opening a wall or lifting flooring, adds to the scope. Roofing, carpentry and drywall are separate trades.
If you are not sure which, we will look at it and tell you straight which one makes sense for what you plan to do with the space.
What vents through it: furnace, water heater, fireplace
Before any brick comes down, find out what is connected to the chimney. In many older houses the furnace or water heater vents up the same flue as the fireplace. If that is the case, the appliance cannot keep venting into a chimney that is about to be removed. An HVAC contractor has to re-vent it through a new route, often a side wall, before we start. We will ask at the quote and will not start until we are told it is done.
A working fireplace is a separate question. Removing the chimney means the fireplace is either taken out with it or sealed off for good. Both are straightforward, and we price whichever you choose.
Brick by brick: how the work goes
- Look and quote. We check the roof access, the chimney’s path through the house and what vents into it, and give you a firm written price.
- Protect. Floors, walls and furniture in the chimney’s path are covered, and the work area is sealed off to hold the dust in.
- Take it down. The chimney comes down from the top in small sections, by hand. Nothing is dropped or pushed over, because it could damage the roof or the house.
- Clear the brick. Brick and mortar are lowered and carried to the bin as the work goes, not left to pile up.
- Leave it ready. The roof or floor opening is cleaned up and left for your roofer or carpenter. Everything is hauled away the same visit through our debris removal service.
Older Toronto and Thornhill homes
A lot of the chimneys we see are in houses from the 1920s to the 1970s: tall brick stacks on Toronto semis and bungalows in the east end and North York, and mid-century homes in Thornhill. These are often lined with old clay tile, may have stopped being used decades ago, and sometimes have parged (plastered) surfaces or old soot inside. Older brick work also tends to have lime mortar, which is softer and comes apart more easily, but makes more dust.
If the house has an old oil tank, an old boiler flue or an unused fireplace, tell us. We look at all of these before we begin.
Chimney removal across Toronto and York Region
We take on chimney removal across Toronto and York Region from our Thornhill base. Photos and a few measurements are usually all we need to quote.