hi i am having an extension built on the side of my house and i am nearly ready for the knock through. the wall is an external wall of my house and will be 4 to 5 feet wide archway. what is the best way of approaching the work as i am doing this myself. there is an existing window at the spot where the archway will be going. any views would be great thanks.
knocking through external wall
- Thread starter supersead
- Start date
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Providing you stick to the same width opening as the existing window you can quiet safely remove the brickwork below the window to form an opening. The easiest way to do this is to hire petrol disc cutter & cut through each side using a stone cutting disc; these are cheaper than diamond discs & adequate if you’re only cutting one opening but there won’t be much left of the disc when you’re finished. It will make a hell of a mess & be careful as they can be very dangerous for the inexperienced. Close the cavities & re-plaster & it’s done.
If, however, you want to make the opening wider than existing or to take the arch up further, you’re going to have to prop, & replace the existing lintel with one of appropriate size which will be a much bigger job. BC will also want to inspect it & may require calculations depending on the load on the wall above.
If, however, you want to make the opening wider than existing or to take the arch up further, you’re going to have to prop, & replace the existing lintel with one of appropriate size which will be a much bigger job. BC will also want to inspect it & may require calculations depending on the load on the wall above.
Sorry to camp out on this post but I have just done exactly as above, but am not sure how I close the cavitiy along the floor. The DPC is about an inch below floor level.
Unguided I would fill the cavity with concrete, cover the two courses and cavity with a 250mm DPC and concrete over to floor level.
Unguided I would fill the cavity with concrete, cover the two courses and cavity with a 250mm DPC and concrete over to floor level.
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