do I need a lintel for crawl hole?

[Timaaee]

hi guys,

I have a crawl space under the house approx 70cm high accessed by a hatch under the stairs. Some of the sleeper walls already have small holes to crawl through however I need access the rear of the house to fix a leak which means making a hole through one of the load bearing interior walls which goes up one floor. One of the bricks 5 rows up has already been removed to pass a cable through so I was going to remove/cut the bricks below this to make a hole 1.5 or possibly 2 bricks wide at the bottom (just enough to squeeze through) keeping it between the joists.

Can I make a small hole like this without needing to fit a lintel or am I being stupid? I could make the hole under the hall doorway however there is a joist right in the middle so I might need a lintel there also?

thanks

 

[tony1851]

Can't see any issue with that - brickwork is very forgiving.

 

[ash_scotland88]

Is making a whole into a diamond shape an option? Think the holes in my crawl space are like that.

 

[Timaaee]

ok I managed to do it without too much trouble by drilling the mortar out and knocking the bricks out with a lump hammer. Final hole is 1.5/2 bricks wide 4 courses then one brick at the top. I was a bit worried about chopping the half bricks without disturbing the rest of the wall but I drilled a few small holes in the side where I wanted them to break, chiseled a line along the top and then gave them a few hard blows with the chisel (on the top not the side) and they broke off quite nicely.