Extending opening at back of house

[eod123]

There are currently some fairly old, smallish french doors at the back of my house and I am thinking of extending the opening & fitting new, wider more standard size doors.

This would involve altering the brickwork. I want to find out what this would involve before deciding who to hire / what i can do myself.

There are 'soldiers' (bricks postioned vertically) over the doors at the moment (as there are over our windows). I presume these act as a sort of lintel?

Would it be possible to hold the brickwork above the door with acros, insert a bigger lintel & then chop out the brickwork as necessary or is this oversimplifying things.

Many thanks,,,,

 

[r896neo]

how old is your house? and what is the wall construction? Cavity or solid? The soldier course does not form any structural support unless it is an arch and probably means there is a catnic style lintel in there at the minute.

It is simple as you say but not to be undertaken lightly as it is structural work and if you haven't done anything like that before it might be a good idea to get a friend who has just for piece of mind and an extra pair of hands.

You put in the necessary support, remove and replace the lintel or lintels, cut and or tooth out the brickwork to suit the new opening, close your cavities and make good.

If you could answer the wall type and age questions there are plenty of knowledgable sorts on here to give you some detailed pointers!