French Door replacing window

[BluenoseUK3]

Hello hope you are all well.
A friend of mine has had a guy in to replace her window with a French Door and I was wondering if anybody could tell me whether they think this is a safe job please? The house will be rendered so not too fussed about what it looks like, just whether it's safe or not? Thanks in advance

 

[frutbunn]

Looks like there's not much end bearing and I can't see any evidence of a cavity tray. What has been used for a lintol on the inner leaf? Have B control seen it yet?

 

[BluenoseUK3]

Thanks for the message frutbunn, I've come in a little blind to be honest - I've not seen the actual work just this picture she sent to me. I will check on what you have asked about the Cavity Tray, Lintol and BC. I'm a layman really but told her I would ask as I didn't think there was enough overhang on the lintol, I was under the impression 150mm was required. Thanks again

 

[^woody^]

No it's complete shiite

The lintel is too short
The brick joints have not been filled to hold up the wall above
The wall above looks like it's cracked
The frame is too far forward which will lead to damp inside
The doors are out of alignment

Has he inserted vertical damp course up the sides internally?
Has he installed a cavity tray?
Has he applied for building regulations?
Has he changed the internal lintel?
Has he made good the threshold and damp-proofed it?
Has he inserted thermal breaks into the cavity reveals?
Has he got a well fed horse or a circus performance certificate?

 

[BluenoseUK3]

Thanks for the thoughts Woody, Seems like a bit of a nightmare, I'll tell her to get the guy back in

 

[kingandy2nd]

The frame is too far forward which will lead to damp inside

Has he inserted vertical damp course up the sides internally?

Hey Woody, out of interest, what’s the best practice with these two points you’ve raised?

How far back should doors (and windows I assume) be set back to prevent damp? Also would you always put a dpc up the sides, even if the window there previously didn’t have it? Thanks

 

[Notch7]

Out of interest, is a 100 x 65 pre stressed concrete lintel strong enough for an opening like that, say 1350mm wide?

 

[Bouy]

Out of interest, is a 100 x 65 pre stressed concrete lintel strong enough for an opening like that, say 1350mm wide?

UDL for that size lintel about 3.9kN/m, looks as if lintel is only supporting triangular brickwork load above it giving less than 2kN/m run loading so could well be

 

[^woody^]

Hey Woody, out of interest, what’s the best practice with these two points you’ve raised?

How far back should doors (and windows I assume) be set back to prevent damp? Also would you always put a dpc up the sides, even if the window there previously didn’t have it? Thanks

Any frame should be set back so as to cover the side of the external leaf and also the vDPC. But I am aware of some frame suppliers mentioning a set back dimension from the front face which doe snot achieve this.

The principle would be to stop damp on the external face showing up on the inner reveal, and to remove the thermal bridge from the cold external leaf on the inner reveal.

So if the frame is not set back enough, a DPC can be wrapped around the back of the external leaf and between the frame and the wall and this seals off the potential for damp, and then the reveal lined to remove the thermal bridge

 

[kingandy2nd]

Many thanks @^woody^ that makes sense to me. All my existing windows are only set back about 10-20mm from the front face of the walls. I think I will try to match them, but with the vDPC as you've shown. I was planning on using polystyrene backed PB for the reveals.