I'm moving soon but my next house doesn't have a gas supply, which I can't live without, so I've decided to get gas installed. The National Grid however, will install anything but a recessed meter box on your house! Of course, I want a recessed meter box because it's going in the alleyway down the side of the house and it needs to use the least space.
SO, I have to install this myself, and the closest I've ever come to knocking out bricks is with my LEGO kit as a child. I have a fair intuition about structures, and suspect that if I simply take a lump hammer and chisel to the outside of my house I should expect nasty things to happen. I obviously need to extract a rectangle of brickwork from the outer wall to sit this meter box in, pushing it in up to the inner wall.
So, my questions are:
1) Is this simple to do??
2) Will I need to worry about supporting the bricks above the box to prevent them from dropping, ie do I need a miniature lintel?
3) Do I need to somehow insert a damp proof membrane to prevent water ingestion into the cavity?
4) Are there any obvious things I need to look out for? Like cavity wall insulation spilling out, or the National Grid telling me I've done an awful job and refusing to install the gas line?
I do home DIY projects all the time, and not to a bad spec' if I say so myself, including dry-lining of my bedrooms, but never anything 'structural' like knocking bricks out of my house.
Any advice most appreciated
Thanks, Richard.
SO, I have to install this myself, and the closest I've ever come to knocking out bricks is with my LEGO kit as a child. I have a fair intuition about structures, and suspect that if I simply take a lump hammer and chisel to the outside of my house I should expect nasty things to happen. I obviously need to extract a rectangle of brickwork from the outer wall to sit this meter box in, pushing it in up to the inner wall.
So, my questions are:
1) Is this simple to do??
2) Will I need to worry about supporting the bricks above the box to prevent them from dropping, ie do I need a miniature lintel?
3) Do I need to somehow insert a damp proof membrane to prevent water ingestion into the cavity?
4) Are there any obvious things I need to look out for? Like cavity wall insulation spilling out, or the National Grid telling me I've done an awful job and refusing to install the gas line?
I do home DIY projects all the time, and not to a bad spec' if I say so myself, including dry-lining of my bedrooms, but never anything 'structural' like knocking bricks out of my house.
Any advice most appreciated
Thanks, Richard.