Failed brickwork and rotten wood behind plaster

[Joecox92]

Im currently fixing up the ground floor flat of a split victorian terrace house.
I recently decided to turn the bedroom window into a set of french doors to lead out into the garden.
I was planning on removing the brickwork myself and simply having the door company fit the door in the hole I had created.
I was having to remove most of the plaster on that wall that was damp from a now resolved damp problem anyway so decided to take the whole wall off so I could get a better idea of the wall and what state the lintel was in.
It appears as though there was once a door here before but slightly wider and so to accommodate the smaller window put in after, a small column of brick was added to either side of the opening, which partly collapsed when i removed the plaster.
When I further removed the plaster, which in places was almost 3 inches thick, i uncovered the original brickwork behind it that essentially has been held together by the inches of plaster and now I have removed that, the bricks which lie directly under one end of the old wooden lintel have movement and wobble in place.
There is also a large length of wood inset into the wall in between the wobbly brickwork which is fairly rotten from the previous damp problem.
There also appears to only be a lintel on the inside of the wall, but not on the outside, if that makes sense?
I appreciate this is a long read and have attached as many photos as possible to help illustrate the problem.
Is there a simple solution to this that I can feasibly carry out myself or is it time to call in a professional?

 

[Mr Chibs]

I had the stepped brickwork (around windows, in my old house) the old window/door frames were usually sat in these rebates, and it was common to not see much frame from the outside.

Looks like you have a wooden lintel on the inside brickwork, you might have stone/brickwork on outside, take a pic of the outside if you can.

Generally if you don't make the opening wider than current, should be straight forward. If you want a wider door, things get more involved.

Obviously there's a bit of brickwork repair to do, but this is DIY-able.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

First question- what does the outside wall look like above the window hole? Typically there'll be a brick arch of some sort which supports the brickwork above the window, pic will help
Second Q- grab a screwdriver and stab your internal timber lintels. If the screwdriver sinks in you'd be wise to replace them, if it bounces off then it becomes a choice rather than necessity.

Lintel replacement is fairly straighforward in that setup but it is structural work so should be notified to Building Control.

For the blind lintel (the one halfway down the wall) if it is rotten, replace with bricks. Structurally, 2 acros with strongboys should be fine, cut the lintel out in bits (rather than trying to rag the whole thing out in one- multitool or stitch drilling with big timber bits will be favourite here), bricks, mortar, slate packing. Use old solid bricks- the coursing will be hard work with modern bricks. Or cut concrete blocks to size (9" grinder, diamond disc, very messy but quick and accurate)

The odds of the row of bricks above the window lintel staying still when you remove it are pretty low. Which direction do the floor joists above run, what is above that window? (Usual sketch if the joists run into the window wall is a couple of acros and a scaff plank to support the ceiling, pull the lintel out, put new in, brick and pack above- that will be a right faff unless you are prepared to lose a bit of ceiling as well and potentially remove skirting boards in the room above). New lintel- get a catalogue from Birtley or Catnic or some other prefab lintel manufacturer, talk to the BCO when he comes for a shufti (using a prefab instead of a bit of RSJ will mean no SE calcs required). BCO may advise that a concrete lintel will be fine- they are cheaper but heavier so just bear that in mind. Again given the wobbly brickwork, go for longer than the minimum required overhang (don't go mad, 200mm each side should be fine).

 

[Joecox92]

First question- what does the outside wall look like above the window hole? Typically there'll be a brick arch of some sort which supports the brickwork above the window, pic will help
Second Q- grab a screwdriver and stab your internal timber lintels. If the screwdriver sinks in you'd be wise to replace them, if it bounces off then it becomes a choice rather than necessity.

Lintel replacement is fairly straighforward in that setup but it is structural work so should be notified to Building Control.

For the blind lintel (the one halfway down the wall) if it is rotten, replace with bricks. Structurally, 2 acros with strongboys should be fine, cut the lintel out in bits (rather than trying to rag the whole thing out in one- multitool or stitch drilling with big timber bits will be favourite here), bricks, mortar, slate packing. Use old solid bricks- the coursing will be hard work with modern bricks. Or cut concrete blocks to size (9" grinder, diamond disc, very messy but quick and accurate)

The odds of the row of bricks above the window lintel staying still when you remove it are pretty low. Which direction do the floor joists above run, what is above that window? (Usual sketch if the joists run into the window wall is a couple of acros and a scaff plank to support the ceiling, pull the lintel out, put new in, brick and pack above- that will be a right faff unless you are prepared to lose a bit of ceiling as well and potentially remove skirting boards in the room above). New lintel- get a catalogue from Birtley or Catnic or some other prefab lintel manufacturer, talk to the BCO when he comes for a shufti (using a prefab instead of a bit of RSJ will mean no SE calcs required). BCO may advise that a concrete lintel will be fine- they are cheaper but heavier so just bear that in mind. Again given the wobbly brickwork, go for longer than the minimum required overhang (don't go mad, 200mm each side should be fine).

The outside is rendered so havent been able to see whats going on on the outside.
The lintel feels solid for the most part, I'm more concerned about the way it’s sitting in the brickwork as it doesnt seem very stable. And above that the joists go into the window wall that are resting on a horizontal piece of timber that has definitely seen better days.

I think, taking into consideration what you’ve said; My plan is to remove the rest of the plaster, get 2 acros with strong boys to hold up the lintel, then working from the bottom, repoint and replace the brickwork up to the lintel.
Then, as you say, support the ceiling with a scaff board and the acros and repoint the brickwork around/above the lintel and potentially replace the damaged horizontal beam thats supporting the joists.

 

[ree]

joecox92,
Why not get a bricklayer to come in for a heads-up and quote for what you want, and what they see?
Your lintels, wall plate(?) and timber inset in the wall will need removing.
You will also need the installation dimensions for the new Doors.

As above, posting pics of the outside will help - esp with the new threshold levels.