Edwardian door threshold support- HELP!!!

[Peter Webster]

Hi, we have an Edwardian house built in 1905. We have a cellar directly under the hallway. We are currently replacing the front steps and path and now that the steps have been pulled way there appears to be very little support below the front door. When the steps were there, there was just a metal grille providing ventilation. Can anyone recommend if the hallway and door are supported in a way that can’t be seen from front on and whether we should brick the space up to provide extra support before putting the steps in?

I have put in a before and after shot.

Thanks in advance

Pete

 

[blup]

You can see where the brick “piers” at either side of - i.e. underneath - the door, have been chopped out. The damp proof strip has been left in mid air. I imagine reinstating that would resolve it.

Blup

 

[Peter Webster]

Thanks Blup- do you mean just brick up under the door ledge the whole way across? thanks Pete

 

[opps]

Doesn't the timber visible under the door frame support the floor frame?

The hallway? Do the floor boards run parallel or perpendicular to the door. I would have guessed that the floor boards are parallel (ie. short lengths) and that the flooring joist is partially fixed to the timber visible in the photo.

 

[Peter Webster]

Hi Opps. Yes that wood is solid and i believe it sits atop the cellar walls which is directly below the hallway. The floor joints run parallel to the door and the floorboards run perpendicular. So i think the hallway floor is supported but i dont believe there is anything supporting the door and doorframe.

My question is whether the gap should all be bricked up or not. I dont believe there has been any support under the door for a while as just a grille sat atop the old steps, under the door and it did not have any support behind it.

thanks

Pete

 

[opps]

Hi Opps. Yes that wood is solid and i believe it sits atop the cellar walls which is directly below the hallway. The floor joints run parallel to the door and the floorboards run perpendicular. So i think the hallway floor is supported but i dont believe there is anything supporting the door and doorframe.

My question is whether the gap should all be bricked up or not. I dont believe there has been any support under the door for a while as just a grille sat atop the old steps, under the door and it did not have any support behind it.

thanks

Pete

Hi peter.

In your image it does look like the door is sitting on timber. Am I wrong?

Given that your floor boards are perpendicular to to the door, can you see any nails in the ends of the boards? The timber doorstep itself, I would have imagined that it is longer than the opening and sits on bricks to the left and right.

I could be wrong though.

Have you noticed any bounce when you stand on the threshold ?

 

[Peter Webster]

Thanks for the quick replies Opps.

The unpainted timber below the door frame, sits back from the doorway. I have attached a picture to try and show this, so the door frame does not sit atop anything directly below it, apart from a brick at either end.

Unfortunately the hallway is tiled so i cannot see any nails.

I don't detect any bounce at all on the threshold and i think it has been this way for years, at least 3 since we moved in.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Peter Webster]

I have just taken a further look. It seems as though the doorframe is fixed to a lump of wood that is itself fixed to the flooring joists. You can see the lump of wood in the first pictures i attached. So the door frame is connected to that and then that is connected to the floor joist that is set back a little further. The door frame also has some support at either end from the bricks it rests upon.

thanks

 

[blup]

I would leave space for ventilation of the cellar if there was ventilation there before

Blup

 

[conny]

If you can get 2 rows of bricks under the threshold you could fit them but make sure one on the lower course is an air brick to allow air to flow past the joist.