Hi,
We have an internal archway that we would like to remove and square off. The house was built in 1989 and the interior walls are plasterboard.
I have removed a small square of plasterboard at the bottom of one of the vertical sides of the arch (photo 2). It appears that the plasterboard has been attached with plaster blobs to breeze block. I assume the breeze blocks would run from floor to ceiling?
I have also drilled some pilot holes to try and find out how the arch is constructed.
I have drilled into the side curve of the arch (photo 3) which confirms, I think that there is breeze block running vertically from floor to ceiling. Does that seem most likely?
I have also drilled into the top centre of the arch (photo 4). As the drill bit goes through about 7 inches without any resistance, I assume there is nothing supported here. When the drill bits goes through 7 inches it feels like it hits wood rather than brick, but am not entirely sure. Would you expect there to be a wooden cross beam here?
I am a little nervous about starting to do this myself, but am thinking if I proceed as follows, I should be OK:
1) Draw the new squared off arch in pencil on the wall, carefully cutting the plasterboard with a plasterboard saw, up to 1 inch from the final line. Take out the final 1 inch all around when happy.
2) Make a wooden frame for the new squared off arch, attaching the vertical wood to the breeze block. The horizontal frame would need to be attached the the vertical wood, with the horizontal wood sitting on top of the vertical wood (no mitring required).
3) Find a way to attach/support the horizontal wood to the hollow above the existing arch. I am thinking that I will probably need to attach to vertical blocks inside the hollow, attaching to the wood/brick that is 7 inches above the existing arch.
Does that all sound about right? I am just looking for some confidence before I start!
Final question, presumably, the correct thing to do would be to remove the skirting board at the bottom of the arch and have the new vertical wooden frame sides go right to the floor?
Also, I assume that I should have some kind of side fascia piece of wood around the new squared of arch, so that it kind of looks like a door frame?
Many thanks for any suggestions!
We have an internal archway that we would like to remove and square off. The house was built in 1989 and the interior walls are plasterboard.
I have removed a small square of plasterboard at the bottom of one of the vertical sides of the arch (photo 2). It appears that the plasterboard has been attached with plaster blobs to breeze block. I assume the breeze blocks would run from floor to ceiling?
I have also drilled some pilot holes to try and find out how the arch is constructed.
I have drilled into the side curve of the arch (photo 3) which confirms, I think that there is breeze block running vertically from floor to ceiling. Does that seem most likely?
I have also drilled into the top centre of the arch (photo 4). As the drill bit goes through about 7 inches without any resistance, I assume there is nothing supported here. When the drill bits goes through 7 inches it feels like it hits wood rather than brick, but am not entirely sure. Would you expect there to be a wooden cross beam here?
I am a little nervous about starting to do this myself, but am thinking if I proceed as follows, I should be OK:
1) Draw the new squared off arch in pencil on the wall, carefully cutting the plasterboard with a plasterboard saw, up to 1 inch from the final line. Take out the final 1 inch all around when happy.
2) Make a wooden frame for the new squared off arch, attaching the vertical wood to the breeze block. The horizontal frame would need to be attached the the vertical wood, with the horizontal wood sitting on top of the vertical wood (no mitring required).
3) Find a way to attach/support the horizontal wood to the hollow above the existing arch. I am thinking that I will probably need to attach to vertical blocks inside the hollow, attaching to the wood/brick that is 7 inches above the existing arch.
Does that all sound about right? I am just looking for some confidence before I start!
Final question, presumably, the correct thing to do would be to remove the skirting board at the bottom of the arch and have the new vertical wooden frame sides go right to the floor?
Also, I assume that I should have some kind of side fascia piece of wood around the new squared of arch, so that it kind of looks like a door frame?
Many thanks for any suggestions!