Building a brick archway over a door

[FooManChu]

Hi

I am trying to get ahold of some information regarding building an brick archway over an internal door. I want to build this archway out of brick and not use plaster mesh. Someone told me to make 2 half moons out of plywood to help support the bricks when I lay them.

The doorway crosses a cavity so the archway needs to bridge this as well.

What would be the best way to approach this please?

Cheers

FooManChu

 

[^woody^]

To make an arch centre ...

Mark your two arch faces out on a sheet of ply, and cut these out

Join the two with some timber strips (say 2x2) so that the arch center is the required width of the wall.

Fix some thin ply or hardboard along the circumference of the arch (ie along the top.

Prop the arch centre up to the correct height - use wedges underneath it or you wont b eable to drop the centre to get it out afterwards

Mix your compo, and away you go

 

[FooManChu]

Thanks woody, much appreciated.

To follow up on this, do you have any tips on laying the bricks around the archway? Would I need to cut them at all?

The way I see it is I begin by laying each brick on its longest edge starting from one side of the arch and moving upwards and over the arch support.
As it will span a cavity, I guess I would need to cross set them to make it more structurally sound? i.e. one full brick length and then one smaller brick and then interlock them?

Would a single layer be enough?

Cheers

FooManChu

 

[^woody^]

You should guage the bricks so that they are equally spaced and you get either a joint or a brick at the top.

Bricks are not cut, but the joints are 'v' shape instead. For example you may have 5mm at the bottom and 15mm at the top. The tighter the arch, ie smaller the radius, the greater this 'v' will be.

The important thing is that all the joints are full with mortar, and they should be equal if they will be seen.

Yes the bricks are half bonded across the arch

Unless you have a substantial point load above the arch (such as a steel beam) then one ring should be OK in a house

 

[FooManChu]

Thanks again Woody. You have been most helpful