How long before I can instal upvc windows

[leylandbobby]

Hi all,

I am going to divide an existing aperture where the stud wall of an en-suite i am planning will meet the aperture, creating a window within/without kinda setup from an existing single long UPVC window. I have settled on housebricks (long side facing out to match the aesthetic of the building) for the division.
What I don't know is whether one row of bricks going straight up between the top and bottom of the aperture will suffice, or if I need a more substantial job to fix the new windows to.

Also, before I can fit the new windows the old one will have to come out and the brickwork will need to be completed. How long would I have to leave the aperture open before the brickwork set up enough that I could fit the new windows.
Thanks.

 

[^woody^]

Fit the frame first and build it in.
Alternatively, the window can go in about 2 minutes after you lay the last brick

 

[leylandbobby]

Hi Woody, thanks for your response. Never considered being able to do it that way around. I saw another post regarding blocks that you answered, recommending foam (and screws) pre-fixing with foam sounds great, but these are really hard bricks so wouldn't want to destabilise anything trying to drill and fix.Is it the same setup time for bricks and blocks?

 

[^woody^]

When building a frame in, you can semi-secure the frame by wedging it (top and bottom) while you build your pier or whatever on the side. While building it, you can fix ties, or screw in to the frame from the wall side and then build on the tie or screw as you go, and then you wont have to dril and fix the frame afterwards. The wedges or whatever hold the frame firm enough whilst the brickwork sets.

 

[leylandbobby]

Thanks again Woody, it would never have occurred to me.

 

[tony1851]

What do you mean by 'one row of bricks going straight up between the top and bottom of the aperture'?
How wide and how tall will this brickwork be, and how wide are the two windows going to be?

 

[leylandbobby]

Existing window aperture is 2390, window in en-suite 1430, house brick face on 215 (row of, going straight up between top and bottom of aperture) window in bedroom 710
The stud wall of the en-suite will run from behind the housebricks into the room, either side of which will now be two new windows, one in the bedroom and one in the en-suite.

 

[tony1851]

Won't the single row of house bricks going straight up be unstable? How is it to be fixed at the top?
Sorry about all the questions, but this doesn't seem right to me. Slam one of the widows shut with a little too much force and I
can see the line of bricks coming out.

 

[leylandbobby]

Hi Tony, the bricks will be laid one on top of the other between the aperture. So will be anchored to each other, and at both ends (top and bottom)

 

[tony1851]

Hi Tony, the bricks will be laid one on top of the other between the aperture. So will be anchored to each other, and at both ends (top and bottom)

Do you mean like this?

 

[leylandbobby]

that's it.

 

[tony1851]

that's it.

Hmmmm....
To be honest, I don't think that would be at all secure.
I think you are putting too much reliance on the 'adhesive' strength of the mortar joints, which in practice are not reliable.
You cannot depend on the fixing between the frames and brickwork for strength; if you did this work under Building Control, they would flag this
up immediately.

 

[^woody^]

The pier will be [/ should be] wedged at the top which will provide the strength.

 

[John D v2.0]

We had to have very frequent ties around window openings, i think every 250mm. And that was only one edge of brickwork not two.
I'm not a builder but if you want brickwork finish,o to provide that support you could always fix a post on the inside with ties built into the new brickwork as it goes up. And you could even strap the window to the post instead of frame fixing into the brickwork.

 

[tony1851]

The pier will be [/ should be] wedged at the top which will provide the strength.

It would need to be mechanically fixed at the top (eg with a metal bracket to the underside of a possible existing lintel).
Even then, if it was to be checked by Building Control for lateral stability, it would be regarded as needing to sustain wind load from one-half the area of each window, and a one-brick wide pillar would fail in bending.
Some sort of wind-post arrangement as suggested above would be needed, which would require fixing at the top and bottom and to the brick panel itself.
But this is trying to make the best of a bad job - some timber framing clad in plywood and pvc would be a better alternative.