cutting brick walls ..

jimm¥ · Aug 22, 2006 7:55 pm

i want to cut 2 doors ,2 x 1 mtrs and a window 90 x 30 cm window ....
my simple brain tells me to jus dig it and snap the doors on , but from research i found the use of lintels...
for the sizes of the openings,do i need to use lintels? ...does this depend on where the wall actually is ?
also how will the brick cutters suppose to cut them?
i have no experience and havent seen it done before,so not sure of the methods used..

i called a concrete and brick cutting company to make a booking ,and they were prompt to take the job without a question...so theyre coming on monday

...my concern is they dont seem to be concern about safety .They simply ask me when i want it done and booked it ..
is this such a simple job they dont need to be concerned or have i got the wrong people to do it?

3timesbuilda · Aug 23, 2006 2:39 pm

Have you checked if they are load bearing walls?

builda · Aug 24, 2006 8:58 am

Internal walls or external walls?
How much brickwork is remaining above the cut openings?

Yes you will need lintels but depending on the loads will determine if you can remove all the bricks first or not - very risky.

If you don't know what you are doing then I suggest you don't do this yourself. Depending on how much brickwork you are supporting above the new opening, the safest way is to poke a 'needle' (100 x 75 Hardwood is fine) through the wall, above where the new lintel will fit and then prop either end of needle on either side of the wall.

This supports whatever is above and will prevent the whole crashing down if the mortar is weak etc. Basicly all the bricks under the needle will probably fall out but that is OK as you simply relay those bricks on top of the new lintel anyway.

In the old days they used timber lintels which were the same height as one or two brick courses, but these days mostly steel. 8mm thick is about the most you can go otherwise it is too hard to slide it into the bed joint.

If you have to use a steel angle instead of a flat bar (because of the loads that you have already checked!!) then you need to make sure that you can hide the vertical leg of the angle behind the architrave or plaster - this can be a bit of a bugger!

Again, would not recommend doing this unless you know what you are doing!