Steel beam too high for sliding doors

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Hi all,

The steel beam in my extension has been installed at a height of 2210mm but my sliding doors that are going in that opening require only a 2140 structural opening. What can I do to make up for the remaining 70mm? E.g. can I attach a timber plate under the steel beam and then install the sliding to the timber plate and through the steel as well?

Thanks in advance!
 
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You'll need to come up with a way to waterproof and make the outside look ok? If they are pvc then a cover trim will probably look fine. If they are metal though you may need to find a matching trim. Perhaps try the door supplier.

3" is a fair bit to make up so you'll need to plan something
 
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These are triple glazed composite (aluminium outside / timber inside) sliding doors but not bifolds.

My current thinking is attaching a 70mm timber plate to the underside of the steel beam and externally I'm going to insulate and render so it'll cover up the whole area and the timber won't be visible.
 
If you are rendering externally then its easy. Your plan sounds fine.
 
Stavros are you building our extension? That's literally exactly what we're having. The only difference is our opening is about 2500, and the composite window company told us it's bigger then the Max size for Velfac sliding doors.
Ours is all covered by the insulation and render - you need the insulation otherwise the steel beam is a terrible thermal bridge.
 
:)

I'm actually having VELFAC too, the biparting sliding doors. So John, I take you did use a timber under the steel -how did you attach it, i.e. what size bolts?

Also, which insulation system did you go for?
 
No bolts, the builders did it and it's just grip filled on. That's basically just a big packer and support for the insulation as well as a thermal break. The window well have expansion foam tape between it and that but the installer said all the dead load is taken by the base. Since the beam above has up to 7mm defection, there won't be any packers at the top. The window will be strapped to another piece of wood and the inner leaf where applicable to provide restraint in the right direction.
Are you using the proper Velfac brackets? They seem to be pretty much essential for large openings to avoid transferring load to the windows.
 
See the top section of this drawing, although the batten is actually 50 or 60mm I think
IMG_20161127_214400.jpg
 
Thank you John, helpful diagram.

I'm indeed going for the VELFAC installation lugs but I'm a bit confused: are you saying the lugs were not installed in this packer timber plate?
 
Correct, the straps are about 200+mm long back onto the inner leaf so nothing is actually putting strain on the packer.
 
I see. In my case the steel beam is very wide so can't go back to the inner wall leaf (if I understood you correctly). So it'll have to be the timber plate in which case I'll have to secure it properly to the steel beam.
 
Ours is about 300mm, but you can change the set back slightly if you want, and you can ask for longer brackets. I think they do 4 or 5 different lengths. The inner leaf only is accessible at the sides and bottom, at the top the blockwork is all supported on top of the beam.
On the original drawings the windows were strapped to a timber batten behind the beam but I'm not sure exactly what they'll do in the end.
 

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