enlarging an internal door frame

[nicanddave]

hi all need help fast lol
just wondering if anyone can give me any tips on how to enlarge an internal door frame?
been told its a supporting wall made from brick with a wooden lintel above door frame and i need to enlarge it by another foot what do i need to buy and how do i do it ? pleasssse help.

 

[noseall]

how wide is the current opening?

 

[nicanddave]

a standard door size at mo but need an extra foot cause got double doors to fit in and they bigger than lintel that already there.

 

[noseall]

you will be able to use a 1500mm p.c.c. builders lintel for a 1200mm opening.

you may need to support any overhead joists, though only two should be effected.

 

[nicanddave]

thankyou were would i get one and how much would it cost ? oh and last question lol ( hope so anyway) how would i swap the lintel without the wall falling down ?
thankyou again.

 

[noseall]

you may get some collateral damage but this will be local to and directly above the knock-out. any fall-outs can be replaced once the lintel has been bedded. so long as the joists are adequately propped, no problem.

if you pre-drill the intended knock out line, with a series of stich drilled holes, it will make the masonry easier to fracture. this applies to vertical and horizontal lines alike.

 

[Mr M]

Once you start cutting-out and removing the existing brickwork to get the new lintel in, you will invariably loosen some of the brickwork directly above the opening which you are increasing the size of. If you were to mark a triangle from 45 degrees upwards from the two extremes of the openings ie where the lintel ends will be, then the brickwork within this triangle is at risk of loosening but, you could still lose a bit more than this, depending on the age and strength of the existing mortar and how careful you are when you start bashing it out

Given that you are effectively chopping-out a 1500mm wide section for the lintel, you run the risk of at least effecting around 750mm high of brickwork above the underside of the lintel. This may mean that you loosen the brickwork/plaster into the room above the one which you are working in, depending on the existing door and ceiling heights. If it was me, I would hire a couple of Acrows and needles, before I started the knock-out

 

[nicanddave]

thankyou all for your help . doors in and fitted just need to do a bit of plastering around edges . once again thankyou all..