Pls Help. Builder cant provide brickwork above sliding door.

3win · Apr 14, 2009 2:04 am

My builder said they cannot provide brickwork above the aluminium sliding door & fixed window due to structural reason. So now I have to choose the infill, which I don’t like. The ceiling height is 2590mm. Pls see the pic.

I don’t understand why they can’t do it. Is the sliding door & window too long so they cannot support the brick weight? Anyone facing the same issue?

Any advice will be much appreciated. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

fredstar · Apr 14, 2009 8:27 am

Not sure why ur builder has said no to brick infills. Can you have brick infills on all other windows? Did u request brick infills before going to contract stage? Our ceiling height is 2700mm.
Check the photos of my house on my blog. All our windows and doors have bick infills. We also have atleast 6 course of bricks above where the double garage door opening will be.

JohnAndTarin · Apr 14, 2009 8:31 am

we have a 3 door stacker
Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

we have a beam over the door and then they have bricked on top of that.
i would have expected that they just would have had it extra long for yours

mattydals · Apr 14, 2009 8:38 am

we also have a three-door stacker (actually we have two) and we have brickwork over both.

Maple · Apr 14, 2009 8:48 am

If your contract calls for Brick infills over the door, then I would certainly push back on the builder. I'm sure the builder has his reasons, however, this could just mean they are too lasy/tight to put an adequate beam in place to carry the weight (or they forgot). Either way, you are the customer, you are in the drivers seat. if you want it, and the contract stipulates it, they must meet these obligations, or you get fairly compensated. Always question anything that seems out of the norm, or variations to what you had expected.

Good luck.

Casa2 · Apr 14, 2009 8:59 am

They build garage door openings of easily 5 metres wide. As long as your opening is less than 5 (or 6) metres and you have good support on each side (at least one full brick width) then I see no reason, apart from some cost, why you can't have bricks above the doors.

BTW, and this one is counter intuitive, you need less structural steel if there are more brick courses above the lintel than less. 3 or more is a better than two or less.

Bananas · Apr 14, 2009 9:16 am

The reason they may not be able to do it is the general rule is if you cant get 3 courses of bricks over a window etc you shouldn't do it as it will be very prone to cracking, other than that a steel beam over it should be ok. They could use a steel pfc within your timber frame with a plate welded on the bottom to carry the brickwork.
I noticed on the plan it shows infills over the back door as well as a note saying infills over windows. Has brickwork been allowed for in your tender ?

guest · Apr 14, 2009 9:27 am

how big are your openings?? ALso do you have eves?

3win · Apr 15, 2009 9:50 pm

I'm still in tender process now. Builder can provide brickworks above other windows, but unable to provide them above the sliding door & fixed window in the rear of the house. That's why I want to push them, hopefully it won't cost me that much.

The opening is approx 4.8 m. No eaves in the rear.

I noticed in the display houses that there is a steel plate above the window & sliding door before the bricks. Is that the steel beam? How thick is the beam so it's enough to carry the brick weight? So very technical to me

.

guest · Apr 15, 2009 9:58 pm

It can be done but it need a non standard L lintel. Metricon actually use an L beam in many of there garage door openings. Basically what they need is a 5.2m 10mm L bar 150mm X 100mm with an additional 100mm welded on the back to form a 250 X 100mm L bar. Now using those measurements you will need around 3 preferably 4 courses of brick work. The bar will cost aroun 400 to 500on its own. plus at least 100-150 dollars in brick work.

3win · Apr 16, 2009 6:03 pm

thanks heap for your help borg!

Casa2 · Apr 16, 2009 6:10 pm

borg

It can be done but it need a non standard L lintel. ***** actually use an L beam in many of there garage door openings. Basically what they need is a 5.2m 10mm L bar 150mm X 100mm with an additional 100mm welded on the back to form a 250 X 100mm L bar. Now using those measurements you will need around 3 preferably 4 courses of brick work. The bar will cost aroun 400 to 500on its own. plus at least 100-150 dollars in brick work.

That's what I like to see, a specific and spot-on answer to a question. Well done borg.

autogenous · Jul 02, 2021 8:46 pm

Needs TBAR which needs crane which is $400 or more, if the crane can reach

chippy · Jul 03, 2021 12:37 am

I'd say some time in the last 12 years they found an answer.
That is some deeeeeep digging!