Fitting sliding doors – what’s involved?

[mikeinthemidlands]

Hi all

I’m thinking of having sliding doors on the back of my house to replace the back door and window.

I would like to install a good set of aluminium sliding doors approx. 3.5m wide by 2.1m or 2.2m tall.

I’ve had a quote for supply of the doors which includes fitting but I would like an idea of what’s involved in getting the doors ready to be fitted by the provider i.e. cutting out the aperture, planning? regs? supporting, making good etc. Should I ask a general builder for a quote for this?

I’m trying to get a feel for the overall cost and whether it is worth all the hassle.

I’ve added a few photos which should help show what I’m looking to achieve.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

Mikeinthemidlands

 

[Gazman16]

Will definatley need building control sign off.
Probably a structural engineer to spec the lintel.
A plumber to move the radiator.
A builder to make the opening, fit the lintel and make good the plaster/render and floor.
New carpet/flooring as it will be short when the wall is removed.

Looks like a fairly new building? there may be covenants in the deeds that prevent changes to the look of the building?
If its a flat or fairly new building you may not have permitted development rights so you may need planning permission.

 

[Doggit]

Take the picture along to you're local building control department, and they may be helpful and give you some advice. This job is within the scope of a good DIYer, but can be daunting. Building control may just say they want, say an 8x6 steel beam, or they'll tel you to get a calculation done. You need to support the brickwork above the opening with a few acrows with strong boys pushed into a course of the bricks. You'd then wack out the brickwork below, and then take out a few bricks about 1 foot into the side of the walls where the steel is going to go. You then need to make up a padstone using engineering bricks, on which the steel will sit - then the sliding doors can go in, and you'll reinstate any brick that have dropped down As Gazman has already said; the radiator will have been removed, and repositioned elsewhere (possibly with a tall rad by the side of the sofa) and then the plasterer will make good, and they should also be able to cover over the lintel from the outside as well.

 

[mikeinthemidlands]

Guys I am now going ahead with this work and wanted to ask a couple of follow up questions. Thanks to those who replied above.

The wall is 4200 wide by 2450 high. Would it be possible to fit doors to that size by having the lintel sit on the intersecting walls or would this punch a hole into my neighbours house! The house is mid terraced.

The wall intersects as shown in this picture

 

[foxhole]

No you need a stub wall on your side to drop the steel onto and would also compromise external downpipes etc.

 

[RichA]

Why? It would also be more expensive, and (IMO) won’t look better.

 

[Gazman16]

Your structural engineer will tell you what can and cant be done when he specs the lintel.
Generally they do a 500mm ish return from an external corner but I'm not sure what they would want on an adjoining side.
Might be able to do a vertical steel post in the corner so its only a few 100mm.

 

[Notch7]

The wall is 4200 wide by 2450 high. Would it be possible to fit doors to that size by having the lintel sit on the intersecting walls or would this punch a hole into my neighbours house! The house is mid terraced

It is more involved than just the load on the ends of the steel.

You need to take into account the increased loading on the foundation and consideration to lateral stability -although not sure how that works with a terrace, since the lateral stability is then reliant on neighbours.

SE time!