Door opening in outside wall

[EggsBenedict]

Hi all,

Looking at a house, and one thing it seems to need is a side door out to the garden. There's not an existing window that it suitable to change to a door (and therefore utilise the existing lintel). What's involved in making an opening in the wall and putting a door in?

Anything I need particularly look out for?

Ta

 

[ree]

Use the search facility for access to previous questions and advice and pics for exactly similar questions.

 

[LanceCorpralJones]

It's not too difficult, but to do a decent job you will need a few "pro" tools, e.g. acropops, and/or strongboys, 9"cutter or similar.

1. make 2 or 3 holes just above proposed lintel height, all the way through to take the needles, (decent bits of timber, or scaffold tubes, or similar, to temporary support the masonry above the proposed lintel). Or using strongboys, two holes sufficient to accept the strongboys. The number of temporary supports depends on the width of the proposed door. If using needles, core drills are ideal ways to make the hole. The hole may end up between ceiling and 1st floor level internally. If using needles, you'll need to support both ends of them.

2. Once temporary supports in place, remove sufficient masonry to accept lintels, and/or padstones. Lintel needs min 100mm support either end.
Properly bed the padstones and lintels. Use bits of slate, or other type of thin building material to sufficiently pack the lintel upto the underside of the other masonry.

3. Leaving that new lintel/padstones for a couple of days, cut out your door opening. Consider the frame opening. Pro's would use a cutter to make a straight neat vertical line, then remove the masonry in between. You'll need to make a decent cut inside and outside.

4. Fit frame and door.

5. Finish the step appropriately. You should have ensured that your proposed door cill will sit on or above the exisitng dpc.

After several days you can remove the temporary supports, make good masonry and finish the pointing around the new lintel.

If there's anything I've missed out or overlooked, I'm sure that the pros will assist.

 

[EggsBenedict]

^^^ Many thanks for this - those strongboys look just the job. I've done a similar thing in a previous house, and used akros to prop the ceiling either side of an internal wall. The wall then was a construction of bricks on their sides and timber verticals.

In this one, I think the wall is a double skinned cavity. Am I right in thinking I just need to do it twice? So effectively prop and cut the inside, followed by the outside skin?

 

[LanceCorpralJones]

If the strongboy "tongue" is not long enough to support both cavities, you'll need four of them. Two one side and two the other.
Support both skins, cut out both skins for the lintel(s), insert padstones and lintels for both skins, then you can continue with the rest of the door opening, leaving the acro/strongboys in place for a few days.

If it's a cavity/double skin, don't foget your cavity closers.

You could theoretically do a skin at a time with two lintels, one for each skin but it will considerably extend the job because you'll need to leave the strongboys in place, for a few days, for the first skin, before removing them to allow the wall to settle onto the lintel.

I've never done it one skin at a time. Perhaps the pros might foresee any problems/advantages with that method.

 

[EggsBenedict]

Top man. Makes perfect sense.

I did a bit of a search as was suggested. One thing that came up was Catnoic Lintels. They can span a cavity, so I guess no disadvantage in simultaneous propping as you suggest. They have a 'beak' that extends upwards, so guessing a little more jiggery-pokery in fitting one of these because of this perhaps?

 

[LanceCorpralJones]

More jiggery pokey than you realise unless you allow for it by placing your strongboys high enough to allow for the insertion of the "beak" and inserting the bricks below on the tongues of the lintels to support the masonry above.
Otherwise the tongues of your strongboys will prevent the insertion of the "beak" of the lintel.
But it would be a "proper job", and almost indistinguishable from an oiginally provided doorway, as long as you match masonry and mortar.

 

[LanceCorpralJones]

I don't know if you've already asked the question or are aware of it, but new openings in external walls for windows or doors may be subject to Planning Pemission, and almost defintely will be subject to Building Regs.

 

[EggsBenedict]

Yeah, usual story, BR for sure, if not the joy that is planning as well.