Is there a lintel?

[mikey2004]

I want to remove this old front door (there is a porch) and put a new internal door in and stud the other half.

The internal walls are brick and there are concrete lintels above them, am I ok to remove this old wooden door and frame?

House is 1960's and at some point new PVC windows have been fitted throughout the house. This is the only older part that has been left.

 

[CJRatch]

Cant see the lip of any lintel on show and the bottom of the solider course doesn't line up with a mortar join on the adjacent brickwork which usually implies no lintel.

I wouldn't recommend taking the frame out without propping the brickwork.

 

[Doggit]

It looks as though the frame has gone in, and then they've bricked up above it. What's it like trying to drill about 3 " above the door inside the hallway - that'll prove a concrete lntel on the inside. Is the a cavity wall; in which case, you'd need to support the bricks outside, take out the frame, and then you'd need need a cavity wall lintel to support the bricks, and you'd need to ope up one side of the opening, so that you can slide it in and back.

 

[^woody^]

There is no external lintel. Those bricks may or may not be tied to the internal lintel though.

Best to take the bricks out first as they will loosen and drop once the frame comes out. Put back an external 'L' type lintel and bricks if to be seen, or timber and plaster of not

 

[mikey2004]

There is no external lintel. Those bricks may or may not be tied to the internal lintel though.

Best to take the bricks out first as they will loosen and drop once the frame comes out. Put back an external 'L' type lintel and bricks if to be seen, or timber and plaster of not

Is a lintel needed at all? What is supporting the bricks above? This won't be seen as it will be boarded and plastered.

A L type lintel looks like it will do the job though.

 

[Doggit]

The lintel holds up the bricks on the outside, so if as Woody suggests, they are cemented into the lintel on the inside of the wall, then you could replace the window in the same position, and you'd be fine, but they might still loosen as you take the windw frame out. Trouble is, you may not know what's there, until you take the window out.

 

[mikey2004]

Ok thanks. If I get a lintel put in do I need to let Building regs know?

 

[Doggit]

Someone else may know better, but as you're not making any structural changes, I personally wouldn't bother.